‘Here Come the Brides,’ ‘Star Trek’ Actor Robert Brown Dies @ 95

Robert Brown, best remembered for his starring role on TV's Here Come the Brides, died September 19 at his Ojai, California, home, THR reports.

Brown (center) with Sherman (L) and Soul (Image via ABC)

The retired actor was 95.

Brown was born on November 17, 1926, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, and, later, in the Bronx, New York.

He served in the Navy, then studied with Lee Strasberg (1901-1982) and appeared twice on Broadway, including in 1948's Skipper Next to God opposite movie star John Garfield (1913-1952), and again in 1951's Barefoot in Athens.

Blacklisted for his political views — he had been among the youngest and last-surviving of that dark period of Hollywood history — he had troubling finding acting work for part of the '50s.

Brown began working again in films including The Flame Barrier (1958) and Tower of London (1962), the latter for Roger Corman (b. 1926).

Brown was also a frequent TV guest star, including on such shows as Wagon Train (1960), Bonanza (1962), Perry Mason (1960, 1963 & 1964), and as Lazarus on the 1967 Star Trek episode "The Alternative Factor."

Brown stepped in when John Drew Barrymore (1932-2004) failed to materialize on the Star Trek set! (Image via video still)

He was all set to play Det. Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-O (which ran for 12 seasons) in 1968, but was replaced at the last minute by Jack Lord (1920-1998).

Here Come the Brides (1968-1970) — based on the 1954 film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers — found him embodying handsome lumberjack Jason Bolt opposite teen heartthrob Bobby Sherman (b. 1943), Bridget Hanley (1941-2021), David Soul (b. 1943), Mark Lenard (1924-1996) and Joan Blondell (1906-1979).

He worked less frequently after the series ended, but in 1970, he was a statue-come-to-life on an episode of Bewitched, he starred on 26 episodes of the series Primus (1971-1972), and he also appeared on Mannix (1973), Columbo (1975), Archie Bunker's Place (1979), Fantasy Island (1984), and — his final work as an actor in any medium — on In the Heat of the Night (1994).

Brown, later a photographer, was preceded in death by fourth wife Elisse Pogofsky-Harris (1941-2018), a painter. He is survived by his daughter Laurie, stepdaughter Kimyla, and grandsons Max and Jeremiah.

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