Jim Brown: A Force to Be Reckoned With
Jim Brown, a legendary athlete, established the pathway from sports to Hollywood that many celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson and LeBron James would later follow. A man of many talents, Brown played various tough-guy roles in cowboy flicks, Blaxploitation movies, and even spoofs like his self-parody in I’m Gonna Git U Sucka. Despite his limited range, Brown compensated with his incredible charisma and never took himself too seriously, making him a beloved figure on the big screen. Over six decades, Brown built a career in acting that began as a side gig and evolved into a star-studded journey. However, his contribution to sports and politics mattered the most.
Brown broke barriers for athletes seeking fame on the big screen, but politics was his true passion. His life became the subject of many films, including the upcoming 2022 release, One Night in Miami. The movie follows Brown’s inner circle and his growing interest in social issues of the era when African Americans had to fight for civil rights. Brown hobnobbed with some of the most prominent black voices and personalities in the sixties, from Malcolm X to Muhammad Ali, while also mingling with Hef and Sinatra at the Playboy mansion. Brown was a man who refused to be boxed in, debating segregationist governors with the same level of poise and wit he demonstrated while fighting mafia gangsters in revenge movies.
Brown started his career unappreciated and ignored, despite being possibly the greatest NFL running back ever. Multiple teams disregarded his skill set and race, but the Cleveland Browns knew what they had and signed the rookie to a then-staggering $15,000 contract. However, in 1966, Art Modell, one of the most toxic meddlers in sports history, chased Brown out of the sport he dominated. Brown never converted to Islam, but his friendship with Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali made him contemplate his role in society and his nation’s path.
Luckily, Brown found a new team in movies, which he stumbled upon from football. He was sprung into stardom when he signed onto the cast of misfits in the classic war film The Dirty Dozen. Brown approached films as an avenue for showing black people in a positive light but was aware of the risk of coming off as moralizing or sappy. Finding adequate scripts proved challenging, and he believed that liberals were confused about the black movement’s direction. Brown disagreed with the idea of “passive resistance” and reinvented himself in the Blaxploitation franchise as Slaughter. He chose a simple, effective route of making accessible action films with wide appeal that showcased thoughtful, nuanced black roles.
Brown returned to sports-related roles in his later acting career, landing cameos in He Got Game and Draft Day. He even managed to land a good line in the film The Running Man, amid a slew of one-liners from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura, as a cold-blooded killer armed with a flamethrower on a dystopian reality TV show. Brown also notably returned to the football field in Any Given Sunday, playing against type as an obscenity-hurling coach on the verge of popping a blood vessel, acting alongside Al Pacino, which he named as one his favorite moments of his long career.
Brown never forgot where he came from and dedicated himself to causes like ending gang violence, using his reputation to de-escalate the rivalry between Bloods and Crips. Solving the issue of violence in America, to him, meant reaching people on an individual level, not some broad social welfare band-aid. Brown’s films, no matter how varied in style or genre, always emphasized the need for self-respect above all else, a message that resonated with audiences worldwide.
Jim Brownmore than anyone, established the sports-to-Hollywood pipeline that Dwayne Johnson and LeBron James would later take for granted. Playing his share of tough guys in cowboy flicks, Blaxploitation movies, and even the occasional spoof like his self-parody in I’m Gonna Git U Suckathe jock-turned-thespian made up with charisma what he lacked in range, never taking himself too seriously. With a movie career spanning six decades, Brown only broke into acting on a lark, making a name in star vehicles, then as a character actor. Not bad for a side gig in the off season.
Though he could take credit for blazing the trail for athletes making a name for themselves in front of the camera, it was politics that mattered for more. In time, his own life would become the subject of films. The 2022 film One Night in Miami chronicles Brown’s inner circle and his burgeoning interest in social issues of the era where African Americans had to fight for civil rights. When not dishing out his share of pain on hapless defenders, he hobnobbed with the likes of some of the most important black voices and personalities in the sixties, from Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali.
Not that it stopped him from mingling with Hef and Sinatra at the Playboy mansion. Brown didn’t box himself in, debating segregationist governors with the same level of poise and wit he demonstrated kung-ku fighting mafia gangsters in revenge movies.
Brown Is Beautiful
MKH
Seven Arts Productions
Unappreciated at first, Brown would establish himself a gridiron icon, ignored not only because of his position but his race. Arguably the greatest NFL running back ever, he was rejected by multiple teams who disregarded his skill set. Regardless of the oversight, the Cleveland Browns knew what they had and signed the rookie to a then-staggering $15,000 rookie contract. By 1966, he was chased out of the sport he dominated by one of the most toxic meddlers in sports history, Art Modell, who had years earlier chased revolutionary future Hall of Fame coach (and team namesake) Paul Brown into early retirement.
While Brown never converted to Islam, Muhammad Ali is strongly believed to have converted thanks to mutual friend Malcolm X, the group commiserating on the plight of the movement as they individually contemplated their role in society, their nation’s path, and their respective careers. In Regina King’s One Night in MiamiBrown’s decision to depart the NFL is explored in some depth, his friendship with others in the civil rights movement nudging him to forego the battering he took from obnoxious owners and defenders (clotheslining and headshots still perfectly legal).
Luckily for Brown, he happened to have stumbled onto a hobby from football, finding a new team in movies. He was sprung into stardom when he signed onto the cast of misfits in the classic war film The Dirty Dozen. A film that inspired countless knock-offs and loving “homages” … yeah, we’re looking at you, Quentin.
Pride Comes at a Cost
MKH
Seven Arts Productions
The idyll of that night in Miami in 1964 faded into a memory as the social situation in America grew uglier. By the late-60s, his buddy Ali was banned from boxing for refusing to submit to the draft for the Vietnam War, and pal Sam Cooke had perished in a shooting, that to this day remains shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories. Malcolm X was assassinated by his enemies in the Nation of Islam, having left the group months earlier.
Sneaked into Brown’s intro in The Dirty Dozen is a not-so-subtle jab at the draft. And if that was considered controversial, things were about to get even more shocking when he made the western 100 Rifleshis sex scene with Raquel Welch unheard of for a film at the time. And that was day one of shooting. Brown approached films as an avenue for showing black people in a positive light, but was aware of the risk of coming off as moralizing or sappy. Finding adequate scripts proved difficult, he told Dick Cavett in 1970: “I think that liberals are very confused on what to do as far as the black movement is concerned. I think the black movement is at a standstill.”
Despite his respect for Martin Luther King, he disagreed with the idea of “passive resistance.” This philosophy of not taking abuse laying down would permeate every future role he took, reinventing himself in the blaxploitation franchise as Slaughter. Perhaps because he felt his political causes had hit a brick wall, he chose a simple, effective route of making accessible action films with wide appeal that showcased thoughtful, nuanced black roles. Oh, and he also beat up a bunch of aliens dressed as King Tut in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!.
From the Back Field to the Front Line
Fittingly, Brown, a two-sport All American in college, drifted back to sports-related roles in his later acting career, landing cameos in He Got Game and Draft Day. He even managed to land a good line in the film The Running Man amid a slew of one-liners from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura as a cold-blooded killer armed with a flamethrower on a dystopian reality TV show. Brown also notably returned to the football field in Any Given Sundayplaying against type as an obscenity-hurling coach on the verge of popping a blood vessel, acting alongside Al Pacino, which he named as one his favorite moments of his long career.
Never forgetting where he came from, or what his friends like Malcolm X had lived and died for, Brown devoted himself to causes like ending gang violence, using his reputation to de-escalate the rivalry between Bloods and Crips. Solving the issue of violence in America, to him, meant reaching people on an individual level, not some broad social welfare band-aid. “It isn’t a matter of teaching a person how to change their life,” he said before he died, “it’s giving them an opportunity … to learn certain skills.” It comes as no shock that his films, no matter how varied in style or genre, always had one thing in common, the need for self-respect above all else.
