--- name: "Robert Brown" canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-brown" roles: ["Actor"] born: "23 July 1921" died: "11 November 2003" reviewed_on_fi1m: 7 average_fi1m_score: 66 average_as: "actor" average_over: 5 updated: "2026-09-18T11:35:46.031841+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Robert Brown Actor. Born 23 July 1921 in Swanage, Dorset, England, UK. Died 11 November 2003. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 23 July 1921, Swanage, Dorset, England, UK - **Died:** 11 November 2003 - **Active:** 1977–1989 - **Also known as:** Robert James Brown, Bob Brown - **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 5 acting, 2 other - **Frequently works with:** [Albert R. Broccoli](https://film.one/person/albert-r-broccoli.md), [John Glen](https://film.one/person/john-glen.md), [Michael G. Wilson](https://film.one/person/michael-g-wilson.md), [Richard Maibaum](https://film.one/person/richard-maibaum.md), [Tom Pevsner](https://film.one/person/tom-pevsner.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as actor, over 5 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 92 (1), 1950s 76 (1), 1970s 77 (1), 1980s 64 (4) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 62 across 5 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Action 5, Adventure 5, Thriller 5 - **Screen time:** 11 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $873m across 5 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Brown_(British_actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q510769, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114533/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10513 ## Fi1m on Robert Brown > Robert Brown played M as a man with a desk, a deadline and no time for what Bond had done in the field. He never made the part his own as Bernard Lee had, and he never got in the way of the film. Four times, Robert Brown sat behind M's desk, heard what Bond had been up to, and declined to be impressed by it. That was the performance, and it was the right one. The briefing scene is where a Bond film stops to tell the audience what the plot is, and it needs someone who can read the plot aloud as if it were a signal from the Admiralty and make it sound like a matter of some weight. Brown could. He had served in the Royal Navy during the war, and it is there in the way he sits rather than in anything he says. He had been on screen since 1949, in parts too small to be credited: a military policeman in the sewers of *The Third Man* (1949), the chief of rowers in *Ben-Hur* (1959). Bernard Lee was also in *The Third Man*; thirty-four years later Brown took over his office. In between came the long middle of a British character actor's life, supporting roles in historical adventures and epics through the fifties, sixties and seventies, and a run on television in *Ivanhoe* (1958–59) alongside Roger Moore. He turned up in *The Spy Who Loved Me* (1977) as Admiral Hargreaves, and when Lee's chair fell vacant Moore recommended his old colleague for it. Brown was M from *Octopussy* (1983) to *Licence to Kill* (1989), then retired, having outlasted one Bond and served a second. What he brought was sober authority, and that is what the job asks for. The knock against him, then and since, is that he was less distinctive than Lee, and it is fair. Lee's M seemed to dislike Bond personally; Brown's seemed merely to have a great deal on. Our own reviews of *Octopussy* and *The Living Daylights* (1987) do not mention him at all, which tells you how the part was written in those years as much as how he played it. Watching *The Living Daylights* again, we found we could not afterwards recall a single thing he had done at that desk, and we were slightly ashamed to notice that we did not mind. The tension in that film is all in the field, in the first hour Dalton spends being a spy rather than a joke, and the office is where the film goes to catch its breath. Brown let it. He was the one fixed point across a change of Bonds and a change of tone, present when the series was cracking jokes in India and present when it stopped cracking them, and his expression did not alter between the two. If you want to see what he did, watch *The Living Daylights*, which is the better film, and pay attention when it goes indoors. You will have to make an effort. Nothing about him asks for one. ## Biography Robert James Brown (also credited as Robert James Brown or Bob Brown) was an English actor. He was born in Swanage, Dorset, on 23 July 1921 and died there on 11 November 2003. Brown had a long career as a supporting actor in film and television. He starred as Gurth in the 1950s ITV series *Ivanhoe* alongside Roger Moore. He first appeared in the James Bond series as Admiral Hargreaves in *The Spy Who Loved Me* (1977) and was recommended by Moore for the role of M following the death of Bernard Lee. He played M in *Octopussy* (1983), *A View to a Kill* (1985), *The Living Daylights* (1987) and *Licence to Kill* (1989). Brown was married to Rita Becker from 1955 until his death; they had two children. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (7) ### Performed in (5) — the average rests on these - *Licence to Kill* (1989), Fi1m 70, as M — [page](https://film.one/film/licence-to-kill.md) - *The Living Daylights* (1987), Fi1m 74, as M — [page](https://film.one/film/the-living-daylights.md) - *A View to a Kill* (1985), Fi1m 46, as M — [page](https://film.one/film/a-view-to-a-kill.md) - *Octopussy* (1983), Fi1m 64, as M — [page](https://film.one/film/octopussy.md) - *The Spy Who Loved Me* (1977), Fi1m 77, as Admiral Hargreaves — [page](https://film.one/film/the-spy-who-loved-me.md) ### Also credited (2) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Ben-Hur* (1959), Fi1m 76, as Chief of Rowers (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) - *The Third Man* (1949), Fi1m 92, as Britush Military Policeman in Sewer Chase (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-third-man.md) ## Complete filmography (87) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Merlin of the Crystal Cave* (1991), series, as Gorlois - *Licence to Kill* (1989), as M — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/licence-to-kill.md) - *Hannay* (1988), series, Acting - *The Hidden* (1987), as Agent Bach - *The Living Daylights* (1987), as M — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-living-daylights.md) - *A View to a Kill* (1985), as M — Fi1m 46, [page](https://film.one/film/a-view-to-a-kill.md) - *The Life and Death of King John* (1984), as Earl of Pembroke - *Octopussy* (1983), as M — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/octopussy.md) - *Lion of the Desert* (1981), as Al Fadeel - *Pilgrim, Farewell* (1980), as Luke - *Time of My Life* (1980), series, as Mr Richards - *Henry IV Part 1* (1979), as Sir Walter Blunt - *The Passage* (1979), as Major - *Danger UXB* (1979), series, as Civil Defence Officer - *The BBC Television Shakespeare* (1978), series, as Sir Walter Blunt, Earl of Pembroke - *Warlords of Atlantis* (1978), as Briggs - *Red Shift* (1978), as Rector - *All Creatures Great and Small* (1978), series, as Mr. Hewison - *The Spy Who Loved Me* (1977), as Admiral Hargreaves — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/the-spy-who-loved-me.md) - *Jesus of Nazareth* (1977), series, as A Pharasee - *The Message* (1976), as Otba - *Angels* (1975), series, Acting - *Fall of Eagles* (1974), series, as Uncle Serge - *Demons of the Mind* (1972), as Fischinger - *The Protectors* (1972), series, as Governor - *Fun and Games* (1971), as Ralph - *Private Road* (1971), as Mr. Halpern - *Play for Today* (1970), series, Acting - *Big Brother* (1970), series, as Edward Cheeseman - *One Million Years B.C.* (1966), as Akhoba - *King of the River* (1966), series, as Ben King - *Operation Crossbow* (1965), as Air Commodore - *Gideon's Way* (1965), series, as Bill Campbell - *Thursday Theatre* (1964), series, as Sam Sixty - *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, as Sam Sixty - *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964), as Guard - *Clash by Night* (1964), Acting - *Smuggler's Bay* (1964), series, as Sam Tewkesbury - *Macbeth* (1964), as Bloody Sergeant - *All in Good Time* (1964), as George Fitch, Landlord - *Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow* (1963), as Sam Farley - *The Double* (1963), as Richard Harrison - *Billy Budd* (1962), as Arnold Talbot, Maintopman - *The Saint* (1962), series, as Atkins, Howard Jackman - *The 300 Spartans* (1962), as Pentheus - *A Story of David* (1960), as Jashobeam - *The Case of the Dangerous Robin* (1960), series, as Hakim Ben Shanpara - *Sands of the Desert* (1960), as 1st Tourist - *Armchair Mystery Theatre* (1960), series, as George Hibberd - *The Challenge* (1960), as Bob Crowther - *Sink the Bismarck!* (1960), as Gunnery Officer - 'King George V' (uncredited) - *Where I Live* (1960), as Bert Turner - *Ben-Hur* (1959), as Chief of Rowers (uncredited) — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/ben-hur.md) - *No Hiding Place* (1959), series, Acting - *Interpol Calling* (1959), series, as Sergeant at Car Impound, Attendant - *Bonanza* (1959), series, as The Reverend - *Shake Hands with the Devil* (1959), as First Sergeant 'Black & Tans' - *Passport to Shame* (1958), as Mike - *The Invisible Man* (1958), series, as Prof. Howard - *The Steel Bayonet* (1958), as Sgt. Maj. Gill - *Ivanhoe* (1958), series, as Gurth - *Campbell's Kingdom* (1957), as Ben Creasy - *The Abominable Snowman* (1957), as Edward Shelley - *Kill Me Tomorrow* (1957), as Steve Ryan - *A Hill in Korea* (1956), as Pvt. O'Brien - *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Singer, Joe Mawson - *The Man Who Never Was* (1956), as French - *Colonel March of Scotland Yard* (1956), series, as Hastings - *The Count of Monte Cristo* (1956), series, Acting - *Lost* (1956), as Farmer with Shotgun - *Helen of Troy* (1956), as Polydorus - *Dixon of Dock Green* (1955), series, as Dick Hastings, Mr. Lee - *The Dark Avenger* (1955), as First French Knight - *Passage Home* (1955), as Shane - *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1954), series, as Douin - *Wuthering Heights* (1953), as Hindley Earnshaw - *The Large Rope* (1953), as Mick Jordan - *Noose for a Lady* (1953), as Jonas Rigg - *The Gambler and the Lady* (1952), as John - Waiter at Max's Dive (uncredited) - *Time, Gentlemen, Please!* (1952), as Bill Jordan - *Derby Day* (1952), as Foster - Berkeley's Butler - *Death of an Angel* (1952), as Jim Pollard - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Bloody Sergeant - *Cloudburst* (1951), as Carter - *Sunday Night Theatre* (1950), series, as Benjamin Lassies, Hubert Drew - *The Third Man* (1949), as Britush Military Policeman in Sewer Chase (uncredited) — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/the-third-man.md) - *Kraft Television Theatre* (1947), series, as Crewman / Officer ## Gallery - ![Robert Brown](https://film.one/media/person/329149/gallery-6d8140305574.jpg) Robert Brown — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Robert_Brown%2C_1954.jpg/1280px-Robert_Brown%2C_1954.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Robert Brown](https://film.one/media/person/329149/gallery-eb8162cc0253.jpg) Robert Brown — Image via TMDB - ![Robert Brown](https://film.one/media/person/329149/gallery-4dbec991f66c.jpg) Robert Brown — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/robert-brown