{{Short description|American entertainer (1900–1946)}} {{More footnotes|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Teddy Brown signed photo 1939.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Abraham Himmelbrand | birth_date = {{Birth date|1900|5|25}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1946|4|30|1900|5|25}} | death_place = Birmingham, England | other_names = | occupation = Entertainer, musician | years_active = {{circa}}1916–1946 | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Teddy Brown''' (born '''Abraham Ted Himmelbrand''', New York, May 25, 1900 – Birmingham, England, April 30, 1946) was an American entertainer and musician who spent the latter part of his life performing in Britain. His main musical instrument was the [[xylophone]].
==Life and career== Son of David and Anne Weisberg, brother of Jacob (b. 1895) and Herman (b. 1898), he first played in the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]], but moved to the field of popular music in the late 1910s. Between 1917 and 1919, Brown played [[xylophone]] and [[marimba]] with Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orchestra, whose recordings prominently feature his playing. At a performance with Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orchestra at the Brunswick Hotel in [[Lancaster, New York|Lancaster]], New York, he was introduced as the leading marimba soloist of the world and played four-mallet arrangements on a Deagan Marimba-Xylophone No. 4726 accompanied by the 18 piece band. This performance inspired xylophonist [[Clair Omar Musser]] (1901-1998) so much that he took up studying the marimba with Brown's former teacher and became a marimba virtuoso himself. He was a percussionist for a time with [[Julius Lenzberg]]'s Riverside Theatre Orchestra, and his later<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Greg |title=Teddy Brown |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2564245-Teddy-Brown-4?srsltid=AfmBOopLpi2poHDzqXV80nl86skiII4kQpkznUfo3pcMS0bl0EM7SKV4 |website=Discogs |access-date=25 January 2025}}</ref> recordings were xylophone solos with Lenzberg's band on [[Edison Records]] in 1919 and 1920.
Between 1924 and 1925, he played drums with Johnny Basilone and his Harlem Tea Garden Orchestra, which broadcast from New York's WEBJ station.
On July 16, 1918 he married Sophie Inselberg in New York and the couple had three children: Joseph (1921-1921), Blossom (1925-1996) and Stewart (b. 1929 - deceased).
He arrived in London in 1925, with Joseph C. Smith and his Orchestra.<ref name=double>Oliver Double, "World's Greatest Xylophonist", ''Music Hall Studies'', Number 7, 2011, pp.278-285</ref> The next year he formed his own [[orchestra]], playing at the [[Café de Paris (London)|Café de Paris]]. He went on to play in other [[nightclub]]s both in London and Paris including the Kit Kat Club, often performing as a solo act, or playing xylophone with a piano accompaniment.<ref name=double/> The custom-made [[Besson (music company)|Besson]] xylophone he played had a five-octave range, one more than the normal. In 1927, the UK division of [[Lee de Forest]]'s [[Phonofilm]] made a short film of Brown playing this instrument. He also played a six-octave instrument.<ref name=double/>
He was noted for his rotund appearance, approaching 400 pounds (180 kg) in weight, and was often compared to (or considered the British answer to) another rotund band leader of the same era, [[Paul Whiteman]]. He was sometimes billed as "The ''Great'' Xylophonist", emphasising his physical size. Besides the xylophone, Brown played the other percussion instruments very well, in addition to the tenor saxophone. He also whistled melodies while playing percussion, and his act included comic patter. Brown's rapid-fire style, performing on fast-paced tunes, was an early influence on percussionist and bandleader [[Spike Jones]], who would launch his own career a decade later.
As Brown's considerable percussive skills and fame in the UK spread, he appeared in an early sound feature-length movie in 1930, co-directed by a young [[Alfred Hitchcock]], titled ''[[Elstree Calling]]'', a musical variety review that answered Paul Whiteman's music review feature film of the same year, ''[[King of Jazz]]'', with both films featuring early colour sequences. Elstree was the movie and radio studio complex where many famous films and radio shows were produced in the early days of British media entertainment. A variety of impressive older musical and comedic [[vaudeville]] acts and new talent were featured in each of the two films. His third appearance in the film was the most impressive, as he plays the xylophone with amazingly fast precision, using only one hand at a time, and sometimes behind his back. He played "a continuous run of notes right down the full length of the instrument while simultaneously spinning his entire body around through 360 degrees... so swiftly and effortlessly that it is difficult to see how it is done, although repeated [film] viewings reveal that he achieves the continuity of playing by swapping from his right hand to his left and back to his right while spinning".<ref name=double/>
From 1931 on Brown played xylophone on the radio, in films and on the [[Variety show|variety]] stage. His appearance was dapper but stout, but he was nimble and often danced around the xylophone while playing. He appeared in the [[Royal Variety Performance]] in 1931. He was associated with [[Crazy Gang (comedy group)|The Crazy Gang]], and was often the subject of their jokes.
He was a member of the British [[Grand Order of Water Rats]]. He was King Rat in 1946, although his term was cut short as he died at 5:30 a.m. on April 30, 1946, at the Queens Hotel in Birmingham from coronary thrombosis at age 45, after appearing in a concert at the [[Wolverhampton]] Hippodrome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography of a Water Rat |url=http://www.gowr.co.uk/all-water-rats/v/260 |access-date=2022-03-30 |website=www.gowr.co.uk}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== * ''[[Elstree Calling]]'' (1930) * ''[[The Indiscretions of Eve]]'' (1932) * ''[[On the Air (film)|On the Air]]'' (1934) * ''[[København, Kalundborg og - ?]]'' (1934) * ''[[Variety Parade]]'' (1936) * ''[[Convict 99]]'' (1938) as Slim Charlie
==References== {{Reflist}} ''Oxford Companion to Popular Music'' published by Oxford University Press, 1991 {{ISBN|0-19-280004-3}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0114768|Teddy Brown}} * {{YouTube|abGfgWGflVs|Teddy Brown in Elstree Calling (1930)}} * {{youTube|rDGqBJNU6t0|Teddy Brown (British Pathé, 1930)}} (s.a. [[British Pathé]]) * {{find a Grave|7469058}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Teddy}} [[Category:1900 births]] [[Category:1946 deaths]] [[Category:Xylophonists]] [[Category:Snare drummers]] [[Category:American percussionists]] [[Category:British male drummers]] [[Category:20th-century American drummers]] [[Category:American male drummers]] [[Category:20th-century American male musicians]] [[Category:Drummers from New York City]]