David Brown

Born in New York City, Brown attended Stanford University and the Columbia School of Journalism before working as editor-in-chief of Liberty Magazine, and as managing editor of Cosmopolitan. He was also a short story writer of note before becoming story editor at 20th Century Fox in 1953. Brown was later promoted to the head of the scenario department, where he began his long-term friendship with Zanuck, the son of studio head Darryl Zanuck. Brown continued to work at Fox in various executive capacities until 1969, when Richard Zanuck became the studio president and Brown himself was appointed as the executive vice president of creative operations. Later, both were thrown out of Fox and went to work at Warner Bros., where Brown was executive vice president and a member of the board of directors. He and Zanuck formed their own company in 1972.

Over their long careers, Brown and Zanuck have been distinguished with numerous awards, notably the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1991 and the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 1995. Brown is married to author and former Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide