David Brian

Brian was born Brian Davis in New York City. After school at City College, he found work as a doorman, then entered show business with a song-and-dance routine in vaudeville and in night clubs. He did a wartime stint with the United States Coast Guard during World War II and returned to acting on the New York stage after the war.{{Citation needed |date=August 2021}}

Persuaded by Joan Crawford to try his hand at film acting,{{Citation needed |date=August 2021}} Brian joined her in Hollywood and, in 1949, signed a contract with Warner Bros. The New York City native appeared in such films as Flamingo Road (1949) and The Damned Don't Cry! (1950) with Joan Crawford, and Beyond the Forest (1949) with Bette Davis. He also had a role in the film Springfield Rifle (1952), which starred Gary Cooper, and in the John Wayne movie The High and the Mighty (1954) as Ken Childs.

Brian was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Intruder in the Dust (1949).{{cite web|title=Golden Globe Awards for 'David Brian'|url=http://www.goldenglobes.com/person/david-brian|website=Golden Globe Awards|access-date=8 April 2016}}

In the 1950s and 1960s, Brian was active in television with guest roles in dozens of shows ranging from dramatic to comedic, from Rawhide to I Dream of Jeannie. In 1954 and 1955, he portrayed the lead character on the TV show Mr. District Attorney, a role he originated on radio.{{cite news|last1=Pace|first1=Eric|title=David Brian, 82, Actor, Is Dead; Starred in 'Mr. District Attorney'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/19/obituaries/david-brian-82-actor-is-dead-starred-in-mr-district-attorney.html|access-date=8 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 19, 1993|location=New York City}}

Brian has a star in the television section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.{{cite web|title=David Brian|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/david-brian|website=Hollywood Walk of Fame|access-date=9 April 2016}}

Brian was married to Bonita Fiedler; they divorced in 1948. In 1950, she filed a paternity suit against him, seeking his support for a son born to her. The suit claimed that Brian had admitted to being the baby's father. Brian's attorney, on the other hand, said that Brian did not think he was the child's father. At the time of the suit, Brian was married to Adrian Booth, an actress{{cite news|title=David Brian Named in Paternity Suit|newspaper=Independent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4870612/long_beach_independent/|agency=Long Beach Independent|date=September 7, 1950|location=Long Beach, Calif.|page=14|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = April 7, 2016}} {{Open access}} known as Lorna Gray. On August 11, 1951, a jury found in Brian's favor after another man testified to having been intimate with the mother "several times during the year before the child was born".{{cite news|title=David Brian Wins Paternity Case|newspaper=The Ogden Standard-Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4871211/the_ogden_standardexaminer/|agency=Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=August 11, 1951|location=Ogden, Utah|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = April 7, 2016 }} {{Open access}}

Brian's marriage to Booth also had legal problems. In 1949, columnist Jimmie Fidler reported that Booth's "recent marriage to actor David Brian has been set aside by an L.A. judge because of illegalities in his divorce from a former mate".{{cite news|last1=Fidler|first1=Jimmie|title=In Hollywood With Jimmie Fidler|newspaper=Monroe Morning World |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4871092/monroe_morning_world/|agency=Monroe Morning World|date=October 2, 1949|location=Monroe, Louisiana|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = April 7, 2016}} {{Open access}}

Brian died July 15, 1993, of heart disease and cancer in Sherman Oaks, California.Aaker, Everett (2006). Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-6409-8}}. pp. 68–70.

File:DavidBrianHighandMightyTrailerScreenshot1954.jpg]]

{{reflist}}

{{Commonscat}}

• {{IMDb name|0108406}}

{{Memory Alpha}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brian, David}}

Category:1914 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:American male dancers

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Deaths from cancer in California

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:Male actors from Greater Los Angeles

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American dancers

Category:Male Western (genre) film actors

Category:City College of New York alumni

Category:United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II

Category:Warner Bros. contract players

Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players