Thomas Allen Brown (May 24, 1937 - April 4, 2020), known also as Timothy Brown and Timmy Brown, is a former professional American football player and actor. He appeared in the CBS-TV series version of M*A*S*H as Dr. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones and as Corporal Judson, a Corpsman, in the 1970 film version of M*A*S*H*.
Early life[]
Brown was raised in Knightstown, Indiana. Brown is a 1955 graduate of Morton Memorial High School at the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Children's Home.
Football career[]
Brown played college football at Ball State University. As a pro (when he was known mainly as "Timmy" Brown), he played only a single game with the Green Bay Packers, eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, and one season with the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League. His final game was Super Bowl III with the Colts.
Brown went to the Pro Bowl in 1962, 1963, and 1965. He is the only player in Philadelphia history to return a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, and the only Eagle (and the first of nine NFL players ever) to return two kickoffs, 90- and 93-yarders, for touchdowns in the same game.[1]
Acting career[]
Brown's acting career began while he was still an active player, with a guest appearance on the Season 3 premiere of The Wild Wild West as Clint Cartwheel in the episode titled "The Night of the Bubbling Death",[2] which originally aired on September 8, 1967.
Following his retirement from the NFL, he became a full-time actor, appearing in such films as M*A*S*H*, Nashville (another Robert Altman film), Dynamite Brothers, Zebra Force and Doombeach. He also appeared in a half-dozen episodes of the first season of the M*A*S*H television series as in the "Spearchucker" Jones chararcter, but was dropped from the show reportedly because the producers learned there were no African American surgeons serving in Korea during the Korean War, along with the desire of Brown to move on to other projects outside of the series. Along with Gary Burghoff, G. Wood, and Corey Fischer, he is one of only four actors who appeared in both the original M*A*S*H* movie and the spin-off television series.
He made a guest appearance on I've Got A Secret, during which he sang a song of the same name. In addition, he made two guest appearances in the 1960s-1970s TV show Adam-12.
Brown died on April 4, 2020, of complications from dementia at the age of 82.
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