31 Facts About Neville Brand

Lawrence Neville Brand was an American soldier and actor.

Neville Brand was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and films noir, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance in Riot in Cell Block 11.

Neville Brand received multiple meritorious citations for his service, including the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

Neville Brand was born in Griswold, Iowa, and raised in Kewanee, Illinois.

Neville Brand entered the Illinois Army National Guard on October 23,1939, as a private in Company F, 129th Infantry Regiment.

Neville Brand was enlisted in the United States Army as Corporal Neville L Brand, infantryman on March 5,1941.

Neville Brand trained at Fort Carson and served in World War II, seeing action with B Company, 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central European campaigns.

Neville Brand was shot in the upper right arm and nearly bled to death.

Neville Brand was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration for valor in the US military, for gallantry in combat.

Neville Brand was sometimes cited in media reports as the 4th most-decorated American serviceman of the war, but this was incorrect and repeatedly denied by Neville Brand himself.

Neville Brand had an uncredited bit in Battleground and Port of New York.

Neville Brand's hulking physique, rough-hewn, craggy-faced looks and gravelly voice led to his largely playing gangsters, Western outlaws and various screen "heavies", cops and other tough-guy roles throughout his career.

Neville Brand was uncredited in My Foolish Heart, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and curiously Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye where he plays a significant early role as James Cagney's fellow chain gang inmate, but had a good role on TV in The Bigelow Theatre.

Neville Brand was in Kansas City Confidential, The Turning Point, and, notably, Stalag 17.

Neville Brand moved up to leading roles with Man Crazy and then Riot in Cell Block 11.

Neville Brand was down the cast list for The Lone Gun but had the lead in Return from the Sea.

Neville Brand had a supporting role in The Prodigal and The Return of Jack Slade and guest roles in Appointment with Adventure, Screen Directors Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, Chevron Hall of Stars, Schlitz Playhouse, General Electric Theater, The United States Steel Hour, and Stage 7.

Neville Brand had lead film roles in Bobby Ware Is Missing and Fury at Gunsight Pass and supported in Raw Edge, and Mohawk.

Neville Brand had the distinction of being the first actor to portray outlaw Butch Cassidy, in the film The Three Outlaws opposite Alan Hale Jr.

Neville Brand became well known as a villain when he killed the character played by Elvis Presley in his debut film Love Me Tender.

Neville Brand twice portrayed Al Capone on the television series The Untouchables, in the pilot and opening scene of the premiere "The Empty Chair" and then in the double episode "The Big Train"; as well as often glimpses in flashback throughout the series.

Neville Brand was in Five Gates to Hell, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Last Sunset, and The George Raft Story, reprising his role as Al Capone in the latter.

Neville Brand co-starred with George Takei in "The Encounter," a 1964 episode of the Twilight Zone, as a World War II veteran.

Neville Brand was given the star role in a TV series, Laredo which ran for 56 episodes.

Neville Brand played Hoss Cartwright's Swedish uncle Gunnar Borgstrom on Bonanza in the episode "The Last Viking".

Neville Brand was top billed in Eaten Alive directed by Tobe Hooper.

Neville Brand had a key part in Five Days from Home directed by George Peppard, and in Angels' Brigade.

In 1980, Neville Brand appeared as Major Marvin Groper in The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty.

Neville Brand was top billed in his last film, Evils of the Night.

Neville Brand was an insatiable reader who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, one of the largest private libraries in Los Angeles.

Neville Brand died from emphysema at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, California, on April 16,1992, at the age of 71.