Tony-Nominee Roscoe Lee Browne Dies at 81

Roscoe Lee Browne - who received a Tony nomination for his work in August Wilson's Two Trains Running - passed away on April 11 in Los Angeles at the age of 81, according to the Associated Press.

Browne, who was born on May 2nd, 1925 in Woodbury, NJ, made his Broadway debut in 1960's The Cool World.  He had also been featured in the inaugural season of the New York Shakespeare Festival, in which he performed in Julius Caesar.  He also appeared on Broadway in General Seeger, Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Danton's Death, A Hand is on the Gate, and the Gershwin-scored 1983 musical My One and Only, in which he played Rt. Rev. J.D. Montgomery.  He received a Tony nomination for his work as Holloway in 1992's Two Trains Running. 

Before becoming an actor, he had taught literature and French at Lincoln University, and was an award-winning track star.  As an actor, he was noted for his "rich voice and dignified bearing."

Film and TV work included "Will and Grace," "Law and Order," "The Shield," Babe: Pig in the City and Babe, Judas Kiss, The Mambo Kings, "Falcon Crest," "The Cosby Show" (for which he won an Emmy Award), "Soap," "All in the Family," and many more.