Harry C. Browne

Harry Clinton Browne (August 18, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American banjo player, actor, and religious leader,^[1] who appeared on stage and in silent films and recorded for Columbia Records in the 1910s and 1920s. He also served as the President of the First Church of Christ, Scientist from 1948 until his death in 1954.

Harry C. Browne
Alice Calhoun and Browne in Closed Doors
President of The First Church of Christ, Scientist
In office June 7, 1948 – November 15, 1954
Personal details
Born	August 18, 1878 North Adams, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 15, 1954 (aged 76) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Children	1 adopted daughter
Occupation	Musician actor religious leader
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Years of service	1898–1900
Unit	Massachusetts U.S. Volunteers
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War

Biography

Browne was born on August 18, 1878, in North Adams, Massachusetts to Isaac Shell Browne and Elizabeth Tobin. He married Edith Elizabeth Jackson on November 7, 1900, and the couple had one adopted daughter, Jane Elizabeth Browne. Before his acting career, he served in the Second Massachusetts U.S. Volunteers during the Spanish–American War and had a brief career campaigning for the Democratic Party. William Jennings Bryan, then the Secretary of State, offered Browne a diplomatic position in February 1914 but the latter declined. Browne later worked for a stock company as an actor, casting him in plays such as Arizona and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm in the early 1900s.^[2]

A skilled banjo player, Browne performed in vaudeville for seven years before recording a series of songs for Columbia Records, starting in 1916. His first record, perhaps his most well-known, is a re-interpretation of the American folk song "Turkey in the Straw". Released in March 1916, Browne appropriated the standard as a coon song re-titled "Nigger Love a Watermelon, Ha! Ha! Ha!".^[3] It is commonly referred to as one of the most racist songs in American music. The song relied heavily on the watermelon stereotype, a belief popularized in the 19th century that African-Americans had an unusual appetite for watermelons.^[4] For the B-side, Browne chose to record the minstrel show favorite "Old Dan Tucker", marking the tune's first commercial appearance on a major label.^[5]

Between 1906 and 1925, Browne appeared in at least 14 Broadway shows, including Oh, Lady! Lady!!^[6] His feature length film debut is believed to have been in August 1914 with the release of The Eagle's Mate, although he appeared in a number of shorter films before that.^[7] During his acting career, Browne had roles in notable films such as The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch, The Heart of Jennifer, and Closed Doors.^[2] Afterwards, he worked as an announcer and production director for CBS radio, a position he resigned from in 1931.^[8] He thereafter devoted himself wholly to religion. A Christian Scientist, he was elected president of the First Church of Christ, Scientist—which is deemed the mother church by the sect's adherents—on June 7, 1948.^[1]

Browne died on November 15, 1954, at the age of 76, in Boston.^[9]

Selected filmography

Source: IMDb

• The Eagle's Mate (1914) as Fisher Morne
• The Heart of Jennifer (1915) as Stephen Weldon
• The Flower of No Man's Land (1916) as Big Bill
• The Big Sister (1916) as Rodney Channing
• Scandal (1917) as Pelham Franklin
• The Inn of the Blue Moon (1918) as Warde MacMahon
• The Battler (1919) as Duncan Hart
• Know Your Men (1921) as John Barrett
• Closed Doors (1921) as Jim Ranson
• Moral Fibre (1921) as George Elmore