Roscoe Lee Browne was a master of cerebral eloquence and audience command, with a dominant playing card in the realm of acting that was serious and stately. However, he was also known for his delightfully dry wit and blistering put-downs in sitcoms, often leaving his lesser victims bewildered. Born on May 2, 1922, in Woodbury, New Jersey, to a Baptist minister and his wife, Roscoe attended Lincoln University, an historically black university in Pennsylvania, until 1942, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in Italy with the Negro 92nd Infantry Division, where he organized the Division's track and field team, and graduated from Lincoln University in 1946.
After studying French through Middlebury College's summer language program, Roscoe received his master's degree from Columbia University and subsequently returned to Lincoln University to teach French and comparative literature. However, he soon heard a different calling and decided to pursue a career in acting.
Roscoe's first taste of adulation and admiration came as a track star, competing internationally and winning the world championship in the 800-yard dash in 1951. He parlayed this attention into a job as a sales representative for a wine and liquor importer, but eventually decided to become an actor in 1956. With no formal training, he boldly auditioned for and won the role of the Soothsayer in "Julius Caesar" at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
Roscoe went on to perform with the company in numerous productions, including "The Taming of the Shrew", "Titus Andronicus", "Othello", "King Lear", and "Troilus and Cressida". He became a rare African-American fixture on the traditionally white classical stage, and his rich, mellifluous tones and imposing, cultured air earned him numerous awards, including an Obie and the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award.
Roscoe also found success in television, appearing in a number of sitcoms, including "All in the Family", "Maude", "Sanford and Son", "Good Times", and "Barney Miller", for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He also won an Emmy Award for his guest appearance on "The Cosby Show" in 1984.
In addition to his work in film and television, Roscoe was a preeminent recitalist, known for committing hundreds of poems to memory. He and actor Anthony Zerbe toured the U.S. with their presentation of "Behind the Broken Words", an evening of poetry and dramatic readings. Roscoe continued to work until his death from cancer on April 11, 2007, at the age of 85.
