Julie Brown

For other people named Julie Brown, see Julie Brown (disambiguation).

Julie Brown
Born	Julie Ann Brown (1958-08-31) August 31, 1958 Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, comedian, writer, singer-songwriter, television director
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Terrence E. McNally (1983–1989; divorced) Ken Rethen (1993–2006; divorced; 1 son)

Julie Ann Brown (born August 31, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, and television director. Brown is perhaps best known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl character. Much of her comedy has revolved around the mocking of famous people (with a strong and frequently revisited focus on Madonna).

Career

Brown began her career in the clubs of Los Angeles where rather than portraying a valley girl herself she told jokes about them. She established herself in the gay community there and often played at gay venues. Brown began experimenting in short films and made several underground movies which often played on the video screens at clubs. One of them, "5 Minutes Miss Brown", was a fictionalized account of her rise to fame.

She began working on television with a guest spot on the sitcom Happy Days. She also appeared in the 1981 cult film Bloody Birthday. After a small role in the Clint Eastwood comedy film Any Which Way You Can, comedian Lily Tomlin saw Brown at a comedy club and gave her her first big break, a part in her 1981 film The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Tomlin and Brown eventually became close friends. A string of guest starring appearances in a variety of television shows followed, including: Laverne & Shirley, Buffalo Bill, The Jeffersons and Newhart.

In 1984, she released her first EP, a five-song album called Goddess in Progress. The album, parodies of popular '80s music combined with her valley girl personality, was quickly discovered by the Dr. Demento Show. The songs "'Cause I'm a Blonde" and "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" were given radio airplay across the world. The latter was a spoof on stereotypical 1950s teen tragedy songs, with cheerleaders' heads and pompoms being blown to pieces.

In 1987, Brown released her first full-length album, Trapped in the Body of a White Girl. The album highlighted her comedic talent and valley girl personality. The album's highlights were "I Like 'em Big and Stupid" and the reprised "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun". (The album was reissued on CD in 2010 by Collector's Choice Music on its Noble Rot label.) Music videos were recorded and received heavy airplay on MTV. In 1989, Brown starred in that cable network's comedy and music-video show Just Say Julie. She played the role of a demanding, controlling, and pessimistic glamour-puss from the valley, making fun of popular music acts while at the same time introducing their music videos. (She was also known as "Miss Julie Brown" at the time to differentiate her from Downtown Julie Brown, who was on the network at the same time.)

Brown's film career began in 1988 with the release of the film Earth Girls Are Easy, written, produced by, and starring Brown, it was based loosely on a song by the same name from her debut EP. The film also starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Brown cast then-unknown comedians Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans. In 1990 Brown had a brief part in the movie The Spirit of '76, as an intellectual stripper.

Brown performing in 2008 at The Public Theater in New York City.

NBC commissioned a half-hour pilot, ultimately unsold and airing Sunday, July 28, 1991, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, titled The Julie Show. Created by Brown, Charlie Coffey, and director and executive producer David Mirkin, it was a comedy about actress Julie Robbins (Brown), who in this initial story, goes to great lengths to land an interview with teen singer Kiki (played by Kim Walker) in the hopes of getting hired as a tabloid-TV celebrity journalist. Developed under the working title The Julie Brown Show, it also starred Marian Mercer as Julie's mother, June; DeLane Matthews as Debra Deacon, a reporter on the fictional series Inside Scoop; Susan Messing as Julie's roommate Cheryl; and Kevin O'Rourke as Inside Scoop producer Tony Barnow. Brown was also a producer, with John Ziffren, and performed and co-wrote the theme song. Walker, Don Sparks, Robin Angers, and Deborah Driggs were guest performers in this production from Mirkinvision and New World Television.

Another pilot was filmed for CBS, Julie Brown: The Show, and featured a similar theme, in which Brown was the hostess of a talk show and she would interview actual celebrity guests, interspersed with scripted scenarios. The pilot was aired but the show was not picked up; years later it leaked onto the Internet.

In 1992, Brown starred in her own Fox sketch comedy show, The Edge; two of its regulars, Jennifer Aniston and Wayne Knight, later became sitcom stars, while Tom Kenny went on to voice SpongeBob SquarePants. That same year, she released the Showtime television movie Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful, a satire about Madonna and her backstage documentary, Truth or Dare. (Brown's co-star was Kathy Griffin.)

Brown followed with another satire, Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women, which lampooned the violence of ice skater Tonya Harding toward rival Nancy Kerrigan, as well as that of widely publicized castrator Lorena Bobbitt.

She has continued to make television guest appearances and contributed voices to various cartoons, including Animaniacs (as the voice of Minerva Mink), Aladdin as bratty mermaid Saleen, and as the original voice of Zatanna in the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon. Prior to this she also guest starred on a Tiny Toon Adventures episode as Julie Bruin, a cartoon bear version of herself, in which she guest starred in her own segment Just Say Julie Bruin, a reference to her music video show. The Just Say Julie Bruin cartoon also was a music video show and in her segment Elmer Fudd guest starred as Fuddonna, parody of Madonna and a reference to Julie Brown herself regularly mocking her.

Brown appeared as Coach Millie Stoeger in the film Clueless, reprising that role on ABC's 1996-1999 spin-off TV series, for which she was also a writer, producer and director. In 1998, Julie appeared in the parody movie Plump Fiction. In 2000, Brown created the series Strip Mall for the Comedy Central network; it ran two seasons.

Since 2004, Brown has been a commentator on E! network specials, including 101 Reasons the '90s Ruled, 101 Most Starlicious Makeovers, 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment, and 50 Most Outrageous TV Moments.

In 2005, Brown purchased the rights to her Trapped album back from the record label and reissued it herself. She also self-released a single, "I Want to Be Gay". In late 2007, she also purchased the rights to her 1984 E.P. "Goddess in Progress" and re-released it as a full-length record with compiled unreleased tracks recorded during that era. Brown began touring in late 2007 with her one-woman show Smell the Glamour.

In 2008, she co-wrote and appeared as Dee La Duke in the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock, which starred Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers. Brown also joined the cast of her current television series, Paradise Falls, that same year.

In late 2008 Brown began releasing one-track digital singles, starting with "The Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun"; it was a rewrite of "Homecoming Queen" with lyrics about Sarah Palin. This was first aired in September, 2008 on The Stephanie Miller Show. In 2011 she released an album "Smell The Glamour", which features satires of Lady Gaga, Kesha and updated versions of her Medusa songs.

In the 2010-2011 television season, Brown began a recurring role as Paula Norwood, a neighbor and friend of the Heck family, on the ABC comedy The Middle. And in 2010 to the present she has been a writer and played the gym teacher on "Melissa and Joey." Also, in 2012 she appeared with Downtown Julie Brown as a guest judge on Rupaul's Drag Race.

Personal life

Brown was born in Van Nuys, California, the daughter of Celia Jane (née McCann) and Leonard Francis Brown. She attended a Catholic elementary school as a child, and later Van Nuys High School and Los Angeles Valley College and then attended American Conservatory Theater.

In 1983, Brown married writer and actor Terrence E. McNally, a frequent collaborator. They co-produced her first single, "I Like 'em Big and Stupid". They divorced after six years. In 1994, Brown married Ken Rathgen, and together they have one son. In an article which appeared in the San Francisco Bay Times on October 18, 2007, she was quoted as saying that she recently divorced for the second time.

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Role	Genre
Any Which Way You Can	1980	Candy	Action/comedy
The Incredible Shrinking Woman	1981	TV Commercial Actress	Comedy
Bloody Birthday		Beverly Brody	Horror
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment	1985	Chloe	Comedy
Earth Girls Are Easy	1988	Candy Pink	Romantic Comedy/musical
The Spirit of '76	1990	Ms. Liberty	Comedy
Timebomb	1991	Waitress at Al's Diner (uncredited)	Sci-fi/action
Shakes the Clown		Judy	Comedy
Nervous Ticks	1992	Nancy Rudman	Comedy
The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them		Zoe	Comedy/romance
A Goofy Movie	1995	Lisa (voice)	Animated comedy
Clueless		Ms. Stoeger	Comedy
Plump Fiction	1997	Mimi Hungry	Comedy/parody
Wakko's Wish (video)	1999	Minerva Mink (voice)	Animation
Daybreak	2000	Connie Spheres	Thriller
The Trip	2002	Receptionist	Drama
Like Mike		New Age Mother	Family comedy
Fat Rose and Squeaky	2006	Squeaky	Drama
Boxboarders!	2007	Anny Neptune	Comedy
Mothers of the Pride	2014	Peg	Comedy

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Happy Days	1980	Suzy Simmonds	Season 7, episode 15 "Ah! Wilderness"
Laverne & Shirley	1982	Secretary Patti	Season 7, episode 13 "Rocky Ragu" Season 8, episode 3 "The Note"
Buffalo Bill	1983		Season 1, episode 9 "Ratings"
Scarecrow and Mrs. King		Barbie	Season 1, episode 3 "If Thoughts Could Kill"
The Jeffersons		Cherry	Season 10, episode 9 "Who's the Fairist"
We Got It Made		Didi West	Season 1, episode 13 "Sexiest Bachelor"
Newhart	1986–88	Buffy Denver	Season 5, episode 1 "Co-Hostess Twinkle" Season 6, episode 14 "A Friendship That Will Last a Lunchtime"
Quantum Leap	1990	Bunny O'Hare/Thelma Lou Dickey	Season 2, episode 20 "Maybe Baby (March 11, 1963)"
Get a Life		Connie Bristol	Season 1, episode 1 "Terror on the Hell Loop 2000"
Monsters		Wendy	Season 3, episode 7 "Small Blessings"
Tiny Toon Adventures	1991	Julie Bruin (voice)	Season 1, episode 51 "Tiny Toon Music Television"
Batman: The Animated Series	1992–93	Lily Zatanna Zatara	Season 1, episode 29 "Eternal Youth" Season 1, episode 54 "Zatanna"
The Edge		Various	Main role; 19 episodes
The Addams Family	1993	Camp Counselor (voice)	Season 2, episode 7 - first segment: "Camp Addams"
Aladdin	1993–94	Saleen (voice)	Disney Channel episode 30 "Elemental, My Dear Jasmine" Disney channel episode 55 "Shark Treatment"
Band of Gold	1995	Liz	Season 1, episode 2 "Caught" Season 1, episode 3 "Damaged"
Tracey Takes On...	1996	Mrs. Heiner	Season 1, episode 5 "Family"
Quack Pack		(voice)	Season 1, episode 3 "Leader of the Quack"
Animaniacs	1993–97	Minerva Mink (voice)	6 episodes
Murphy Brown	1997	Secretary #88	Season 10, episode 11 "From the Terrace"
Pinky and the Brain	1998	Danette Spoonabello Minerva Mink (voice)	Season 3, episode 27 "Brain's Night Off/Beach Blanket Brain" Season 4, episode 7 "Star Warners"
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	1999	Lottie Bologna	Season 3, episode 1 "The Three Little Pigs"
Clueless	1996–99	Coach Millie Deimer	15 episodes
The New Woody Woodpecker Show	1999–00	Judge Customer (voice)	4 episodes
Strip Mall	2000–01	Tammi Tyler	Main role; 22 episodes
Elsie: Mere Mortal	2002	Mom (voice)	Animated short
Family Affair		Ms. Robbins	Season 1, episode 7 "No Small Parts"
Six Feet Under	2005	Sissy Pasquese	Season 5, episode 4 "Time Flies"
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	2008	Connie Dellaquilla	Season 8, episode 11"Bull"
Paradise Falls		Mimi Van Lux	5 episodes
Wizards of Waverly Place		Miss Marinovich	Season 1, episode 21 "Art Museum Piece"
Big Time Rush	2011	Bruna	Season 2, episode 25 "Big Time Contest"
Melissa & Joey	2012	Coach Dalman	Season 2, episode 12 "Mother of All Problems"
The Middle	2010–present	Paula Norwood	9 episodes
From Here on OUT	2014	Gina	Season 1, episode 5 "The OUT Cover-(Up)"
TMI Hollywood		Various	Season 4, episode 21 "Getting Down with Brown"

Television film

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Jane Doe	1983	Reporter
Carol Leifer: Gaudy, Bawdy & Blue	1992	Rhona
Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women	1994	Tonya Hardly/Lenora Babbitt
Out There	1995	Joleen
Alien Avengers II	1998	Rhonda
Camp Rock	2008	Dee La Duke	Disney Channel Original Movie
The Wish List	2010	Wedding Planner
Gusty Frog	2013	Frankie's Mom

Other work

Title	Year	Notes
Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights	1980	Writer; television special
Earth Girls are Easy	1988	Writer
Just Say Julie	1989	Writer; co-producer
Quantum Leap	1990	Writer - "Maybe Baby (March 11, 1963)"
The Julie Show	1991	Creator; writer; producer
Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful	1992	Director; writer; executive producer
The Edge	1992–93	Writer - 20 episodes; producer - 20 episodes
Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women	1994	Director; writer
Rude Awakening	1998	Writer - "An Embarrassment of Ritch's"
Clueless	1996–99	Director - 1 episode; writer - 8 episodes; producer - 24 episodes; co-producer - 36 episodes
Strip Mall	2000	Executive producer
The Big House	2004	Writer - season 1, episode 3 "A friend in Need"; consulting producer
Camp Rock	2008	Writer
Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam	2010	Based on characters
Melissa & Joey	2011	Writer - season 1, episode 29 "Do As I Say, Not As I Did"
Gusty Frog	2013	Writer; television film

Discography

• Goddess in Progress (1984)
• Trapped in the Body of a White Girl (1987)
• Smell the Glamour (2010)

Singles

• "I Like 'em Big and Stupid" (w. b-side "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun")
• "Trapped in the Body of a White Girl"
• "Girl Fight Tonight!"
• "I Want to Be Gay" (sometimes titled "I Wanna be Gay")
• "The Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun"
• "The Art of Being Fabulous"
• "Another Drunk Chick" (a parody of the Kesha song "Tik Tok")
• "Big Clown Pants" (a parody of the Lady Gaga song "Bad Romance")

Cultural references

Brown is mentioned in the 2004 song "Again and Again," which was written by Bruce McDaniel and recorded by the rock trio Nine Men's Morris.

External links

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• Official website
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• Julie Brown's channel on YouTube
• Julie Brown at the Internet Movie Database
• Julie Brown at AllMovie