39 Facts About Josef Brown

Josef Brown was born on 8 October 1969 and is an Australian actor, dancer and choreographer.

Josef Brown joined the Sydney Dance Company in 1997 and appeared in and choreographed various productions.

Josef Brown originated the role of Johnny Castle in the stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing.

In 2010, Josef Brown was cast as Auctus in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Josef Brown appeared in the first series of Dance Academy.

In 2012, Josef Brown originated the role of Charlie Redding in An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical and made a guest appearance in Home and Away.

From February 2013 to March 2015, Josef Brown appeared as Matt Turner in the long-running soap opera Neighbours.

Josef Brown was born on 8 October 1969 in Woomera, South Australia.

Josef Brown was raised in a working-class suburb of Sydney by his parents, a secretary and an information technology manager, who later divorced.

Josef Brown was an energetic child, who was initially into sports.

When he was sixteen, Josef Brown realised that he wanted to act and he enrolled at The McDonald College of the Arts.

Josef Brown finished his high school education and learned how to dance there.

Josef Brown then "fell in love" with classical ballet and began attending the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne in 1991.

In 1996, Josef Brown danced with the Modern Dans Toplulguu in Ankara, Turkey and a year later, he joined the Sydney Dance Company.

Josef Brown choreographed productions for both the Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Ballet.

In December 2003, Josef Brown travelled to the Palestinian city of Ramallah to view the work of dancer, choreographer and writer Nicholas Rowe.

The footage Josef Brown shot while he was out there, was turned into a short documentary called Art, During Siege, which was later broadcast on ABC Television.

Josef Brown went with the Sydney Dance Company on its American tour of Ellipse in February 2004 and shared the lead role of Dorian in Shades of Gray with Joshua Consandine.

Josef Brown decided to leave the Sydney Dance Company in mid-2004.

Josef Brown told Sharon Verghis from The Sydney Morning Herald that the parting was amicable, although Murphy and associate director Janet Vernon had been "a little shocked and sad" when they were told the news.

Josef Brown went on to originate the role of Johnny Castle in the stage musical Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage.

When Eleanor Bergstein decided to open the stage show in Australia, she initially struggled to find someone to play Johnny, but after being told about Josef Brown, she approached him to play the role.

Josef Brown met with Bergstein and successfully auditioned for the part.

Josef Brown then studied Patrick Swayze's performance from the film, took lessons in mambo and the cha-cha-cha and went through intensive acting training.

Josef Brown hired a voice coach to help him with an American accent.

Dirty Dancing had its world premiere in Sydney in November 2004 and Josef Brown went on to win the Outstanding Performance in a Stage Musical accolade at the 2005 Australian Dance Awards.

Josef Brown continued to play the role of Johnny throughout the production's run in New Zealand, Germany, London's West End and the pre-Broadway tour in the United States.

On 6 August 2010, a staff writer from AfterElton reported that Josef Brown had been cast in the role of gladiator Auctus in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

That same year, Josef Brown made a guest appearance in Rake and joined the first series of Dance Academy as Patrick.

Josef Brown choreographed Joana Weinberg's musical Every Single Saturday, which premiered in February 2012.

Josef Brown played Lord Capulet in the Australian Ballet's Romeo and Juliet.

From March 2012, Josef Brown appeared in the brief guest role of Dale Canning in Home and Away.

Josef Brown originated the role of Charlie Redding in the premiere production of An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical, which opened at the Lyric Theatre on 18 May 2012.

On 4 November 2012, it was announced that Josef Brown had joined the cast of the long-running soap opera Neighbours, as Sergeant Matt Turner.

Josef Brown made his first appearance as Matt in early February 2013.

Josef Brown departed Neighbours in March 2015, following his character's death.

Josef Brown reprised the role for one episode in August 2016.

Josef Brown made another guest appearance in Home and Away in 2019 as Dr Mike.

Josef Brown has a supporting role as Bryce Anderson in the 2021 feature film Buckley's Chance.