Maurice Browning

Maurice Browning (11 May 1919 – 4 December 1983) was a British television actor.

Early life

He studied drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, obtaining his teaching diploma. Working in repertory from 1937, he produced for amateurs

While serving as a rifleman in the army during the Second World War in Egypt, Browning awoke one morning to discover that he was completely paralysed by polio. As a result, he spent two years in hospital, stricken with infantile paralysis (spending some time in an iron lung ). Despite making a recovery, it left him with a limp.

Career

On being invalidated out of the army, Browning worked as a commercial artist before returning to his stage career. He was "discovered" by Emlyn Williams, who cast him in a role in his production of Spring 1600, in turn becoming his protégé.

In 1946, Browning joined the Leicester Repertory Company, drawing cartoons of himself and his colleagues every week in articles for the Leicester Chronicle. before becoming producer of Huddersfield Repertory Company in 1952. and The Bright Arcade.

Personal life

While based at the Players' Theatre in the mid-1950s, Browning also worked as a waiter for caterer Bruce Copp and personal secretary to actress Hattie Jacques. During this time, he was unable to walk but was supported by the pair: the actress continuing to pay and find accommodation for him and the latter taking him on holiday to Corfu.

Filmography The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949) - Huw Interpol (1957) - Man with tick Beyond the Curtain (1960) - Contact Man (uncredited) The Party's Over (1965) - Tutzi Ambush at Devil's Gap (1966) - Severs Where the Bullets Fly (1966) - Cherub Casino Royale (1967) - Charly (Temple monk) (uncredited) The Assassination Bureau (1969) - Bureau Member (uncredited)