Rae Brown

Rae Brown (March 13, 1913 – December 8, 2000) was a Canadian actress, best known for her longtime role as restaurateur Molly Carmody, the owner of Molly's Reach, in the television series The Beachcombers.[1]

Born in Nelson, British Columbia and raised in Vancouver,[1] she began her career as an actress in the 1940s with stage appearances in Vancouver,[2] later branching out into radio, film and television.[1] She married fellow actor Douglas Brown in 1944.[1]

Her other roles included the television series Pacific 13, Friday Island, Cariboo Country and The Manipulators, the theatrical feature films The Trap and That Cold Day in the Park,[2] and theatrical roles including The Killing of Sister George,[1] Anastasia,[1] the original 1967 stage production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and the 1963 production of The Hostage that inaugurated the new Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company.[1]

Molly in The Beachcombers had originally been conceived as a younger single mother, but the producers ultimately chose to cast Brown in the role, rewriting her as a grandmother, to avoid the possibility of sexual tension developing between Molly and Bruno Gerussi's Nick Adonidas.[3] Brown continued in the role through the 1970s, despite suffering from arthritis so painful that she could barely walk without canes.[2] She remained in the role until 1986,[4] concluding in a special two-part episode in which Molly achieved unexpected success as a romance novelist, selling Molly's Reach to a new owner and leaving town to embark on an international book tour,[5] although Brown returned for a guest appearance in the series finale in 1990.

She died in December 2000, and was later inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Don't Expect to Eat at Molly's Restaurant". Windsor Star, July 20, 1974.
  2. ^ a b c Sid Adilman, "Molly of The Beachcombers gives up her two-year secret". Toronto Star, September 29, 1978.
  3. ^ Tony Atherton, "How Beachcombers rewrote Canadian TV". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, December 31, 2002.
  4. ^ "Rae Brown leaving Beachcombers". Toronto Star, January 10, 1986.
  5. ^ Tina Clark, "Ninety years of laughter". The Province, January 17, 1986.
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