In Memoriam: Garry Brown 1928-2014

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In Memoriam

Garry Brown
1928-2014

By Peter Leavy for Cabaret Scenes

Garry Brown and Lorna Dallas-Brown Photo: Bruce Foster
Garry Brown and Lorna Dallas-Brown
Photo: Bruce Foster

Garry Brown was a key figure in the international entertainment world for many decades and, for over thirty years, husband to the musical theater headliner Lorna Dallas.

 From its base in the U.K., his Garry Brown Associates International had links across the continent and as far off as New Zealand. As sole booking agent for The Cunard Line and for Ladbrooke Holidays, each year he booked more than 600 of the world’s top solo artists and 150 ensembles and lecturers, including Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Neil Diamond, Vic Damone, Charles Aznavour, Count Basie and many other equally famous entertainers.

From his youthful springboard in the 1950s as a trombone player with the immensely popular John Dankworth Big Band in the U.K., Brown branched out to fronting his own 12-piece band and managing others, including the Dankworth group, The Dave Clark 5, and even managing Dudley Moore in his jazz piano days. That managerial role expanded in the 1960s when he joined the Rank Leisure organization, booking musical groups for the company’s chain of ballrooms. He spotted and booked the Beatles early on, booking them for engagements that continued as their fame burgeoned. The pivotal connection his firm established with Cunard would continue for more than a quarter century and later would include almost a score of years with the Hilton International hotel conglomerate.

The American side of Garry Brown’s life began in 1979, when an envelope was handed to him in his agency’s office containing a photograph of Lorna Dallas. (To this day, Dallas maintains that she has no idea who sent it.) Dallas was an American performer who, in the starring role of Magnolia in Show Boat, had made quite a splash on London’s West End, and was to become one of London’s iconic musical theater and BBC broadcasting figures as well as one called to command performances for the Queen. An oft-told tale describes him opening the envelope, looking at the photograph, and remarking to his secretary, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry.” And, two years later, on Valentine’s Day, marry her he did.

A less frequently told one is that, very shortly after the two were engaged, Lorna was offered the role of Anna, opposite Yul Brynner’s King, in an extended U.S. tour of The King and I that eventually ended on Broadway. She turned it down rather than leave the man she loved.

America, however, was not permanently to be denied the pleasure of her company. For those of us on this side of the Atlantic, it was a happy day when Lorna Dallas visited New York and could be found sitting among the audience at many New York cabaret shows. It was an even happier day when Lorna herself performed. Those of us who became her friends enjoyed many happy hours with Lorna in the U.S. and in London, and with her husband Garry, who was her partner in so many ways and so obviously the love of her life.

Lorna described how she and Garry “had a doubles act, not only in love, but also ‘onstage’. After I would do a show or performance, he would often say, ‘We worked hard tonight’…

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and yes, WE did. He would be pacing about singing all the words. Not necessarily the right ones, but nonetheless singing along with me.

She also likes to tell of Garry’s whimsical side, of the little love notes he would leave for her to find (and, vice versa!), and of Garry one memorial night: “When I did a show for Princess Alexandra, she came down the line and we talked about dresses and such. Then she asked if my other half was there. I pointed to Garry. She walked over to him…and they talked for what seemed like ages…I was almost getting jealous…then, when she had finished, he crossed over to me. I asked him, ‘What did she say?’ He replied: ‘She said:You’re a lucky lady.’”

The two partners always seemed to be enamored of each other, enjoying an idyllic marriage by all reports, not just by others who knew them, but including those of the two participants themselves.

Garry Brown died in Lorna’s arms at St. Helier Hospital in London in the early hours of October 28, at 86 years of age.

Peter Leavy

As a youthful columnist, Peter offered dating advice to Seventeen magazine’s teen readers. Simultaneously, his “think pieces” and articles on entertainment appeared in other national magazines. Editing four magazines for a small publisher when the Korean Conflict erupted, Peter entered military service, becoming Editor-in-chief of The Army Home Town News Center. After service, he joined the family business and in the ensuing decades created several companies in the fashion and home decoration industry. Peter signed on as one of the first contributors to the fledgling Cabaret Scenes magazine, later was named associate editor and, in 2007, took over as publisher.