Neville Brand


Brand in 1966

Born: Lawrence Neville Brand; August 13, 1920; Griswold, Iowa, U.S.
Died: April 16, 1992 (aged 71); Sacramento, California, U.S.

Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American actor. His most memorable film roles were in Stalag 17 (1953), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Brand was a highly decorated World War II combat soldier.

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World War II

Brand trained at Fort Carson and served in World War II, seeing action with B company, 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division (Thunderbolt Division) in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central European campaigns. Brand, a sergeant and platoon leader, was wounded in action along the Weser River on April 7, 1945. He was shot in the upper right arm and nearly bled to death.

Brand was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration for valor in the U.S. military, for gallantry in combat. His other awards and decorations were the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Battle Stars, one Overseas Service Bar, one Service Stripe and the Combat Infantryman Badge. In a 1966 interview Brand explained the Silver Star, stating that withering fire from German machine guns in a hunting lodge kept him and his unit pinned down. "I must have flipped my lid," he said. "I decided to go into that lodge." He was discharged from service in October 1945.

Brand worked on a 1946 U.S. Army Signal Corps film with Charlton Heston and next settled in Greenwich Village and enrolled at the American Theatre Wing, working off-Broadway, including Jean-Paul Sartre's The Victors. He also attended the Geller Drama School in Los Angeles on the G.I. Bill.

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Acting career

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Laredo

Brand was given the star role in a TV series, Laredo (1965–67) which ran for 56 episodes.

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Personal life

Brand was an insatiable reader who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, many of which were destroyed in a 1978 fire at his Malibu home. He and his wife, Rae, had three daughters.

A Republican, he supported the campaign of Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.

In 1975 Brand admitted in an interview that he was an alcoholic, and had spent most of his fortune.

Death

Brand died from emphysema at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, California, on April 16, 1992, at age 71. After a private funeral service he was cremated, and his remains were interred in a niche of the Morning Glory Room at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.

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