About
Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in Withnail and I, the security guard Aaron (aka “85”) in Alien 3, DJ Bob Silver in The Boat That Rocked, super-roadie Del Preston in Wayne’s World 2 and the pilot Ric Olié in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He won The Samuel Beckett Award for his first play Sanctuary written for Joint Stock Theatre Company in 1987, and the Raindance and Sapporo Film Festival awards for his first screenplay for the British film New Year’s Day in 2001. His film roles include Dil’s on-off boyfriend Dave in the Academy Award-winning film The Crying Game, Danny the drug dealer in Withnail & I, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs in Buster, roadie Del Preston in Wayne’s World 2, teacher and rugby league player Phil in Up ‘n’ Under, prison guard captain Mr Burton in Mean Machine, Sgt Major Harris in the Paul Schrader film Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and CIA renegade Mr Collins alongside Wesley Snipes in The Contractor. In 1995 Brown appeared in Steven Spielberg’s slavery epic Amistad. In 2007 he filmed Caught in the Act, an independent British film, and appeared in the series Cape Wrath for Channel 4/Showtime as the moustachioed policeman Wintersgill. Among TV appearances, Brown appeared in Dennis Potter’s Karaoke in 1995, he also played Prince John in the BBC’s adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe in 1997 and did a memorable turn as shaven-headed gang-boss “Miami Vice” in the 2000 series Lock, Stock…The Series. In 2005 he appeared in Coronation Street as Barney, roadie to Status Quo, and with Julia Davis in the cult TV sitcom Nighty Night. He appeared in the final two episodes of Life on Mars as Frank Morgan, an interim DCI in 1973 sequences, and Sam’s (John Simm’s) surgeon in 2006 sequences. Brown stars as DJ Bob Silver in The Boat That Rocked, a film by Richard Curtis released in April 2009.
In 2009 he made four films: The Kid directed by Nick Moran, Huge directed by Ben Miller, Mission: London a Bulgarian comedy directed by Dimitar Mitoviski which premiered in Sofia on 13 April 2010, and Sus, written by Barrie Keeffe, writer of The Long Good Friday, which premiered 24 April 2010 and ran in the West End for several weeks. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 Brown has worked on the BBC Three comedy Him & Her. In 2010 he worked on the film Killing Bono and shot the feature film Dark Tide in Cape Town opposite Halle Berry. In 2011 he filmed I, Anna with Gabriel Byrne and Charlotte Rampling, then went on to work on Jack the Giant Slayer, directed by Bryan Singer, Tower Block in London, and Stoker in Nashville, the latter directed by Park Chan-wook. In 2012, he has worked on Inspector George Gently with Martin Shaw, The Poison Tree for ITV, and The Mimic for C4. Ralph is currently directing his first film “Red Light Fever”. Personal life Brown was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Heather R and John F W Brown. He has been married to actress Jenny Jules since 1992. He is a member of a Brighton-based Beach Boys tribute band, the Brighton Beach Boys. abridged from wikipedia
LNL Questionnaire
Your favourite virtue?
Compassion
Your favourite qualities in a man?
Lack of ego
Your favourite qualities in a woman?
Understanding
Your main characteristic?
Creativity I hope
What draws you most to your friends?
Lack of competitiveness
Given the opportunity what would you most like to change?
Greed. I’d abolish all tax havens.
Who would you most like to take out for dinner?
My wife
Your idea of happiness?
Rehearsing with my band the Brighton Beach Boys
What is your favourite way of spending the day?
Walking in the countryside with my wife taking photographs of butterflies
Whose life other than yours would you most like to have lived?
George Best
Where would you most like to live?
Jamaica
Who is your favourite author?
Philip K. Dick
Who is your favourite poet?
William Blake
Your favourite heroes in fiction?
Milo in The Phantom Tollbooth
Your favourite heroines in fiction?
Tess Durbeyfield & Natasha from War & Peace
Your favourite painters?
Breughel, Turner, Blake, Van Gogh, Goya
Who is your favourite composer?
Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Brian Wilson
What is your favourite Film?
Love and Death, The Exterminating Angel, Casablanca
Your favourite food?
Chocolate
Your favourite drink?
Tea
Who do you most admire?
My wife Jenny Jules
What is your present state of mind?
I’m doing my best
For what fault have you most toleration?
Low self-esteem
Your favourite motto?
Never go to party hungry
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ImDb
Wikipedia
