Joe E. Brown - Later Life, Family, and Legacy

Later Life, Family, and Legacy

He had four children: two sons, Don Evan Brown (December 25, 1916 — October 8, 1942, Captain United States Army Air Force, killed during pilot training) and Joe LeRoy "Joe L." Brown (September 1, 1918 — August 15, 2010), and two daughters, Mary Katherine Ann (b. 1930) and Kathryn Francis (b. 1934). Both daughters were adopted as infants.

Joe L. Brown shared his father's love of baseball, serving as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 to 1976 and briefly in 1985, and building the 1960 and 1971 World Series champions. Brown's '71 Pirates featured baseball's first all-black starting nine.

Joe E. Brown's final film appearance was in The Comedy of Terrors (1964). Weeks earlier he had appeared with Joan Blondell and Buster Keaton in an episode of Jack Palance's ABC circus drama, The Greatest Show on Earth. Brown died at his home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California from arteriosclerosis on July 6, 1973. He began having heart problems in 1968 after suffering a severe heart attack and underwent cardiac surgery.

Bowling Green State University dedicated one of its three theaters to him (the one in which he appeared in Harvey in the 1950s) as The Joe E. Brown Theatre.

Joe E. Brown has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1680 Vine Street.