Biography
David Brown (28 July 1916 – 1 February 2010) was an American film and theatre producer. Born in Manhattan, New York City, he graduated from Stanford University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He worked as a journalist and managing editor at Cosmopolitan before joining 20th Century-Fox in 1951, where he headed the story department and rose to executive vice president of creative operations.
In 1972, Brown formed the Zanuck/Brown Company with Richard D. Zanuck. Their productions included The Sting (1973, executive producer), The Sugarland Express (1974), Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), The Verdict (1982) and Cocoon (1985). Brown later produced Driving Miss Daisy (1989, executive producer), The Player (1992), A Few Good Men (1992), Deep Impact (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999) and Chocolat (2000).
Brown and Zanuck received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1991. He also produced Broadway musicals including Sweet Smell of Success (2002) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005). He was married to Helen Gurley Brown from 1959 until his death.
