Obituary for Alan L. Brown
Alan (“Al”) Louis Brown died peacefully in his Las Vegas, Nevada home on January 13th, 2023 after a two-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83 years old. The consummate entertainer, he was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1939 to John and Dorothy Brown, a salesman and homemaker respectively. Alan was the oldest of three children, and he grew up in Southampton, Pennsylvania alongside his younger sister and brother. After graduating from William Tennent High School, he attended Dennison University in Ohio, on a full scholarship majoring in English and Theater, and performed in a variety of theater productions at the school.
Putting his college degree and acting career on hold, he married his first love, Barbara Eberz in 1961, and the two welcomed their first child, a son, in 1962. The need to support his new family pushed Alan into the construction business, where he worked for his uncle, but managed to attend La Salle University in Philadelphia part-time and finished his bachelor’s degree in 1964.
With his college degree in hand, he entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force, graduating from Officer Candidate School at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1964. During the next six years of active duty, he volunteered twice for tours in Vietnam, serving as a Supply Officer for more than 26 months during his two assignments in Thailand, and he remained particularly proud of his Vietnam War service throughout his life. Alan would go on to serve in uniform for a total of 28 years, retiring from the USAF Reserves in 1992 as a Lieutenant Colonel, and his personal decorations included the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, and various service and campaign awards.
After his six-years on active duty, Alan left the full-time military behind and moved his family to Bucks County, Pennsylvania to pursue a career in pharmaceutical sales. Having added another son and a daughter to the fold, the family of five settled in Doylestown in 1972 where they purchased a home just outside town which included a mother-in-law cottage, where Barbara’s mother Florence would live for the rest of her life. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Alan raised his family and distinguished himself working for major pharmaceutical companies including American Cyanamid, Lederle, and Searle.
Never content with just one job, Alan continued his military service by working part-time for the Air National Guard at Willow Grove Naval Air Station and was finally able to rekindle his love of acting when together with his wife, they joined the State Street Players in 1978. Originally a church theater group at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Doylestown, sharing his writing and acting talents, Alan contributed to the State Street Players becoming a highly successful fund-raiser for the church, entertaining thousands of locals during the late 1970s and 1980s with their popular variety show that continues to this day.
Alan’s marriage to Barbara ended in 1990, and he later met and married his best friend Janet Newhart, and the couple remained married until his death. Moving to the Washington, DC area and later to the Eastern Shore area of Virginia, Alan left the sales industry behind to take a federal position working for the Environmental Protection Agency, where he again distinguished himself working in their Hazardous Site Clean-up Division, and won several awards until his final retirement in 2003.
Alan’s true passion was acting. He remembered wanting to be a professional actor as a child in a school play in elementary school. He never felt as alive and energized as he was when on stage. In the late 1980s Alan opened the phonebook and called every theater in his area until he found the Huntingdon Valley Dinner Theater was holding upcoming auditions. Alan joined the ensemble and served as Master of Ceremonies for many of the productions. It was during this time that Alan hired a New York acting agent and reignited his acting career. Alan worked as an “extra” in several films in Philadelphia and New York and recorded several television and radio commercials. Alan would go on to achieve his professional dream, starting with supporting roles in films including “Philadelphia,” “Beloved,” “Red Dragon,” “Lay the Favorite” and “The Replacements,” and as an extra in several television series including “Rescue Me,” “Men of a Certain Age,” and “Law & Order SVU.” His biggest television role was on the short-lived series “Commander in Chief” where he played Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pollack, opposite stars Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland.
But Alan’s breakout and best-known role was his five-season recurrence on the critically acclaimed Baltimore-based television series for HBO “The Wire,” where he played the morally shady, irascible and vindictive Major Stanislaus “Stan” Valchek of the Baltimore City Police. Interviewed for an article in the Baltimore Banner shortly after Alan’s death in January, co-creator and writer of “The Wire” David Simon, described him as a “competent professional, who knew his lines and hit his marks.” He called Alan “a gem,” who crew and cast alike enjoyed working with, and added that Alan’s portrayal of the power-hungry Valcheck was one of the most realistic parts of the show.
In addition to his wife Janet Newhart, Alan is survived by his sister, Dr. Constance Brown, and brother John Brown, his wife Jeanne and daughter Tracy; his son Christopher, and his wife AnnTrisha Ramrattan; his son Timothy, and his wife Teresa, and his daughter Jennifer, and her partner Bart Cerami; his grandchildren Anysia Valko, Christopher Brown, Marissa Salta, Hannah Thomas, Abigail Thomas, Owen Thomas, Timothy Brown, and Cody Brown, as well as seven great-grandchildren.
A committal service with military honors will be held at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, PA 18940 on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 11:00 am. The family has extended an invitation to the public to attend and asks anyone that does come to please be respectful of the occasion.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Alan’s name to the CharityWatch A+ graded charity, Tunnel to Towers Foundation at: https://t2t.org.
Send condolences to www.varcoethomasfuneralhome.com
Putting his college degree and acting career on hold, he married his first love, Barbara Eberz in 1961, and the two welcomed their first child, a son, in 1962. The need to support his new family pushed Alan into the construction business, where he worked for his uncle, but managed to attend La Salle University in Philadelphia part-time and finished his bachelor’s degree in 1964.
With his college degree in hand, he entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force, graduating from Officer Candidate School at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1964. During the next six years of active duty, he volunteered twice for tours in Vietnam, serving as a Supply Officer for more than 26 months during his two assignments in Thailand, and he remained particularly proud of his Vietnam War service throughout his life. Alan would go on to serve in uniform for a total of 28 years, retiring from the USAF Reserves in 1992 as a Lieutenant Colonel, and his personal decorations included the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, and various service and campaign awards.
After his six-years on active duty, Alan left the full-time military behind and moved his family to Bucks County, Pennsylvania to pursue a career in pharmaceutical sales. Having added another son and a daughter to the fold, the family of five settled in Doylestown in 1972 where they purchased a home just outside town which included a mother-in-law cottage, where Barbara’s mother Florence would live for the rest of her life. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Alan raised his family and distinguished himself working for major pharmaceutical companies including American Cyanamid, Lederle, and Searle.
Never content with just one job, Alan continued his military service by working part-time for the Air National Guard at Willow Grove Naval Air Station and was finally able to rekindle his love of acting when together with his wife, they joined the State Street Players in 1978. Originally a church theater group at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Doylestown, sharing his writing and acting talents, Alan contributed to the State Street Players becoming a highly successful fund-raiser for the church, entertaining thousands of locals during the late 1970s and 1980s with their popular variety show that continues to this day.
Alan’s marriage to Barbara ended in 1990, and he later met and married his best friend Janet Newhart, and the couple remained married until his death. Moving to the Washington, DC area and later to the Eastern Shore area of Virginia, Alan left the sales industry behind to take a federal position working for the Environmental Protection Agency, where he again distinguished himself working in their Hazardous Site Clean-up Division, and won several awards until his final retirement in 2003.
Alan’s true passion was acting. He remembered wanting to be a professional actor as a child in a school play in elementary school. He never felt as alive and energized as he was when on stage. In the late 1980s Alan opened the phonebook and called every theater in his area until he found the Huntingdon Valley Dinner Theater was holding upcoming auditions. Alan joined the ensemble and served as Master of Ceremonies for many of the productions. It was during this time that Alan hired a New York acting agent and reignited his acting career. Alan worked as an “extra” in several films in Philadelphia and New York and recorded several television and radio commercials. Alan would go on to achieve his professional dream, starting with supporting roles in films including “Philadelphia,” “Beloved,” “Red Dragon,” “Lay the Favorite” and “The Replacements,” and as an extra in several television series including “Rescue Me,” “Men of a Certain Age,” and “Law & Order SVU.” His biggest television role was on the short-lived series “Commander in Chief” where he played Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pollack, opposite stars Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland.
But Alan’s breakout and best-known role was his five-season recurrence on the critically acclaimed Baltimore-based television series for HBO “The Wire,” where he played the morally shady, irascible and vindictive Major Stanislaus “Stan” Valchek of the Baltimore City Police. Interviewed for an article in the Baltimore Banner shortly after Alan’s death in January, co-creator and writer of “The Wire” David Simon, described him as a “competent professional, who knew his lines and hit his marks.” He called Alan “a gem,” who crew and cast alike enjoyed working with, and added that Alan’s portrayal of the power-hungry Valcheck was one of the most realistic parts of the show.
In addition to his wife Janet Newhart, Alan is survived by his sister, Dr. Constance Brown, and brother John Brown, his wife Jeanne and daughter Tracy; his son Christopher, and his wife AnnTrisha Ramrattan; his son Timothy, and his wife Teresa, and his daughter Jennifer, and her partner Bart Cerami; his grandchildren Anysia Valko, Christopher Brown, Marissa Salta, Hannah Thomas, Abigail Thomas, Owen Thomas, Timothy Brown, and Cody Brown, as well as seven great-grandchildren.
A committal service with military honors will be held at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, PA 18940 on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 11:00 am. The family has extended an invitation to the public to attend and asks anyone that does come to please be respectful of the occasion.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Alan’s name to the CharityWatch A+ graded charity, Tunnel to Towers Foundation at: https://t2t.org.
Send condolences to www.varcoethomasfuneralhome.com