Robert Brown, R.I.P.

Actor Robert Brown, star of the ABC TV series Here Comes The Brides and probably best remembered for his 1967 Star Trek guest appearance as Lazarus in "The Alternative Factor", passed away on September 19th at the age of 95. 

Brown worked primarily in television and appeared on TV shows such as Wagon Train, Bonanza, Perry Mason, Bewitched, Columbo, Mannix, Archie Bunker's Place, Fantasy Island and In The Heat of the Night. His appearance on Star Trek was done at the last minute when John Drew Barrymore was a no-show.

While Brown would star for two seasons on Here Comes The Brides with David Soul and Bobby Sherman, he also had the chance to star in Hawaii Five-O as Steve McGarrett. But only days before shooting began, executive producer Leonard Freeman abruptly replaced Brown with Jack Lord. It might have been the right decision as Hawaii Five-O stayed on the air for a dozen years. Still, one never knows what could have been. 

I had the opportunity to watch a marathon of Here Comes The Brides on the Decades Network a few years back and thought Brown to be a charming leading man in a family show, but Westerns were falling out of fashion as the decade switched from the 1960's to the 1970's.

Aside from his appearance on In The Heat of The Night as a favor to his friend Carroll O'Connor, Brown had been done with acting for more than 35 years and lived a good long life. R.I.P.