Vanessa Brown (born Smylla Brind, March 24, 1928 â€" May 21, 1999) was
an Austrian-born American actress who was successful in radio, film,
theater, and television.Born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents
(Nah Brind, a language teacher, and Anna Brind, a psychologist), Brown
and her family fled to Paris, France in 1937 to escape persecution by
the Nazi regime.Within a few years the family had settled in America
and Brown auditioned for Lillian Hellman for a role in Watch on the
Rhine. Fluent in several languages, the youngster impressed Hellman
with her presence and authentic Teutonic accent, and she was signed as
understudy to Ann Blyth, eventually doing the role of Babette on
Broadway and in the touring production. In high school she wrote and
directed school plays. She graduated from UCLA in 1949, having majored
in English. While there, she was movie critic and feature writer for
the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper.Brown's IQ of 165 led to two
years of work as one of the young panelists on the radio series Quiz
Kids. She specialized in literature and language. In her adult years,
she had an interview program on the Voice of America.
an Austrian-born American actress who was successful in radio, film,
theater, and television.Born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents
(Nah Brind, a language teacher, and Anna Brind, a psychologist), Brown
and her family fled to Paris, France in 1937 to escape persecution by
the Nazi regime.Within a few years the family had settled in America
and Brown auditioned for Lillian Hellman for a role in Watch on the
Rhine. Fluent in several languages, the youngster impressed Hellman
with her presence and authentic Teutonic accent, and she was signed as
understudy to Ann Blyth, eventually doing the role of Babette on
Broadway and in the touring production. In high school she wrote and
directed school plays. She graduated from UCLA in 1949, having majored
in English. While there, she was movie critic and feature writer for
the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper.Brown's IQ of 165 led to two
years of work as one of the young panelists on the radio series Quiz
Kids. She specialized in literature and language. In her adult years,
she had an interview program on the Voice of America.
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