Alan Browning

Alan Brown (23 March 1926 – 7 September 1979), known professionally as Alan Browning, was an English actor. During the 1950s, while working as a reporter for a local newspaper in Newcastle, he began acting as an amateur at the People's Theatre. He later moved to London to work for a news agency and was sent to Cairo, where he met his first wife, Anne, who was serving in the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wrens).

After returning to the UK and with encouragement from Anne, he began pursuing acting professionally. He was soon cast as King John in a pair of educational films for Encyclopedia Britannica and became a regular extra in TV series such as *Z-Cars*, *The Saint*, and *The Avengers*. He also starred as Chief Officer Steve Rettar in the ABC series *Jezebel* in 1963.

Browning became a household name in the UK when he was cast as Ellis Cooper in *The Newcomers* (1965–1968), but is best remembered for portraying Alan Howard in the television series *Coronation Street*, a role he played from 1969 to 1973. He married his *Coronation Street* co-star Pat Phoenix on 23 December 1972; he died in 1979 from liver failure caused by his heavy alcohol consumption. Phoenix also played his onscreen wife, Elsie Tanner, in *Coronation Street*.

The pair left the show in 1973 and toured the UK and New Zealand with theatrical productions of *Gaslight* and *Night Must Fall*, both directed by Browning, before Phoenix returned to the cast of *Coronation Street*. Browning also recorded an LP of jazz standards called *Whisky & Milk* (a reference to his preferred drink, being easier on the stomach than neat whisky) with the Tony Hayes Quartet in 1975.

Browning's other television appearances included *Interpol Calling* (1960), *Dr. Finlay's Casebook* (1962), *Maigret* (1963), *The Plane Makers* (1964), *The War of Darkie Pilbeam* (1968), *Big Breadwinner Hog* (1969), *The Onedin Line* (1971), *The Fear Is Spreading* (an episode of the TV series *Thriller*, 1975), *When the Boat Comes In* (1976), and a leading role in *The Cedar Tree* (1976–77). His final credit was in a 1978 episode of *Return of the Saint*.

His film credits included *Feet of Clay* (1960), *Fury at Smugglers' Bay* (1961), *Cleopatra* (1963), *Guns at Batasi* (1964), and *Julius Caesar* (1970).