He was a master class in cerebral eloquence and audience command...and although his dominant playing card in the realm of acting was quite serious and stately, nobody cut a more delightfully dry edge in sitcoms than this gentleman, whose calm yet blistering put-downs often eluded his lesser victims. Acting titan Roscoe Lee Browne was born to a Baptist minister and his wife on May 2, 1922, in Woodbury, New Jersey. He attended Lincoln University, an historically black university in Pennsylvania until 1942, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he served in Italy with the Negro 92nd Infantry Division and organized the Division's track and field team. He graduated from Lincoln University in 1946, and studied French through Middlebury College's summer language program. He received his master's degree from Columbia University, then subsequently returned to Lincoln and taught French and comparative literature, seemingly destined to settle in completely until he heard a different calling. Roscoe relished his first taste of adulation and admiration as a track star, competing internationally and winning the world championship in the 800-yard dash in 1951. He parlayed that attention into a job as a sales representative for a wine and liquor importer. In 1956, he abruptly decided to become an actor. And he did. With no training but a shrewd, innate sense of self, he boldly auditioned for, and won, the role of the Soothsayer in "Julius Caesar" the very next day at the newly-formed New York Shakespeare Festival. He never looked back and went on to perform with the company in productions of "The Taming of the Shrew", "Titus Andronicus", "Othello", "King Lear" .
Before turning to acting, Browne taught literature and French at Lincoln University.
Was nominated for Broadways 1992 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for August Wilson s "Two Trains Running."
Has appeared with Steven Hill in two different, completely unrelated productions in which Hill played the New York County District Attorney: Legal Eagles and the "Law & Order" episode "Consultation".
Ever the wry quipster, he was once told by a director that his speech sounded "white", to which he responded, "We had a white maid".
Began his acting career on the New York stage.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch).
Played Frederick Douglass in both the TV movie "Swing Out, Sweet Land" and on an episode of the series "Meeting of Minds".
His year of birth was often given as 1925, although Browne himself said it was 1922.
Did not start acting until 1956.
He was awarded the 1992 Drama-Logue Award for Performance for "Two Trains Running" in the 25th Anniversary Season presented by Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson at the James A. Doolittle Theatre (University of California) in Los Angeles, California.
He was awarded the 1970 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Performance for "The Dream on Monkey Mountain" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
He never married or had children.
