Ralph Brown

Biography

Ralph Brown (born in Cambridge, 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer best known for cult British comedy and for supporting roles in large American productions. Alongside his screen work he has written for the stage and the screen, and his career spans film, television and theatre.

He spent his childhood in Hampshire and East Sussex and later took a law degree at the London School of Economics. His breakthrough came with Withnail and I (1987), in which he played Danny, a drug dealer. He followed it with Dave in The Crying Game (1992), a security guard in Alien 3 (1992) and a role in Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997). In the early 2000s he appeared in Wayne's World 2 as Del Preston and in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) as the pilot Ric Olié. Later he worked with Richard Curtis on The Boat That Rocked (2009), playing DJ Bob Silver, and with Park Chan-wook on Stoker (2013).

On television he played Prince John in the BBC's Ivanhoe (1997) and President Lyndon Johnson in Godfather of Harlem (2021). He is also a playwright: Sanctuary won the Samuel Beckett Award in 1987 and was later reworked as a rap musical in Washington, D.C. He wrote the screenplay for New Year's Day (1999), which won prizes at film festivals.

His legacy lies in a mix of British cult comedy and international productions. In 2019 he returned to the stage on Broadway in The Ferryman, a play that won the Tony for Best Play. He remains active in film and television.

Key films

• Withnail and I (1987): plays Danny, the drug dealer, in Bruce Robinson's cult comedy.
• The Crying Game (1992): plays Dave, Dil's on-off boyfriend, in Neil Jordan's drama.
• Alien 3 (1992): appears as Aaron, one of the survivors at the prison colony.
• Amistad (1997): a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's historical drama.
• The Boat That Rocked (2009): plays DJ Bob Silver in Richard Curtis's comedy about pirate radio.
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): appears as the pilot Ric Olié in the first film of the prequel trilogy.