Sgt Neville Brand

Hello. I am attempting to research the life of Neville Brand, WWll highly decorated soldier and movie actor. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet about his service. In an interview, he refers to the 1st Army, 89th Division and his hometown lists him as being in the 395th infantry. I was wondering if anyone could assist in telling me the likely route that he may have taken in combat (leaving the states 12/9/44, arriving in Europe on 12/16/44 until he was wounded at the Weser River on 4/7/45). I appreciate any feedback. Thanks. Jerry

 

Thanks, JW.

I have pieced together that his Illinois National Guard unit was the 129th, 2nd Battalion, Co. F and the record shows him enlisting as a Corporal in the Army in '41 and shipped to Camp Forrest. It seems strange to me (and I'm not a WWll historian) that he would not be shipped overseas until December 1944.

I guess there was a need to have some fresh outfits in reserve.

Where would he have landed in Europe on December 9 in order to be combat ready by the 16th?

I did find a Weser River story of Private Willy James of the 413th, who received a Medal of Honor for his actions there.

Thanks again. Jerry

 

I have seen him listed as being in the 331st which is part of the frustration because he's been erroneously associated with so many different units. Brand himself, in an interview, said he was with the 89th Division.

He won his Silver Star apparently for knocking out a machine gun nest situated in a hunting lodge somewhere on his way to the Weser River.

 

Jerry, I don't know how much time you might spend on the internet but-I know a guy (by name) who is or was on the waf militaria site as well as warrelics.com site-by the name of Jody Bertram-or Beltran? who lives in Arizona and I think is a School Teacher there and who knows a lot about Neville Brand. It's been years since I last was in touch with Jody but I remember he had quite a good amount of info on Neville Brand that I had never known before.

Give those sites a try and see if you can find his name and contact him. He is great about replying.

 

Thanks, C. I will post the same question on their forum and try to connect with him

 

Let us know what you come up with - a link to the thread would be nice -

this is interesting - there seems to be a lot of differiing stories about which outfit he served with.

-whatever

-Lou

 

Jody i svery good at replying to peoples request. I hope your needing info on Neville B/ is a success. Neville Brand has always been one of my all-time favorite actors. He was great as Sgt. "Duke" in Stalag 17. One of his lines which has been a favorite of mine was when "Blondie" was reading a letter from his mother and talked about the Germans setting up ennis Courts for PWs to play on. He says, "Heart Renderin', aint it?" and then after more letter was read: "Is there anything about us Grouse Hunting in the Vienna Woods?" That line cracks me up each time I hear it.

 

SPeaking of actors. Did you know that the man drinking Coffee in that poster you have as an avatar-is Actor John Agar-then was a Sergeant. John Agar starred opposite John Wayne in movies like Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and briefly in Big Jake. Agar was also married for a time to Shirley Temple. Shame it did not last.

 

I had no idea - I've heard the name 'John Agar', but never would have recognized him.... especially in the poster 'art'.

Thanks for pointing that out, Carl.

Since I change my avatar frequently, here is the picture under discussion




-whatever

-Lou

 

John Agar was also -with John Wayne- in the picture "Sands of Iwo Jima".

 

Quite welcome. Also, John Agar did other famous Recruiting posters as well. I don't know how many off-hand but if you see them you will automatically recognize them-and now Agar ;-))

Kuuk< thanks for the reminder of him also being in Sands. Also, Agar did many-a-1950s-B-movie. Sadly, his choice in doing them practically ruined his career. One in particular I remember actually had Clint Eastwood in it as a Fighter/Bomber pilot who was the Squadron Leader and who dropped an Atomic Bomb on a Giant Tarantula.

 

waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait...WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!!!

Clint Eastwood??? THE Clint Eastwood?????

as a FIGHTER BOMBER PILOT and SQUADRON LEADER?????


.....that drops an ATOMIC BOMB???????


..... on a GIANT FREAKING TARANTULA??????????


..awwwwwww, man..... THIS I GOTTA see!!!!

and what would the name of this little 'Gem' be????

-waiting with bated breath -

-whatever

-Lou

 

....still waiting.

-whatever

-Lou

 

Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992), was an American television and movie actor.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Partial Movie/TV List
3 External links
4 References
[edit]Biography

Gravel-voiced Neville Brand was born in Griswold, Iowa, of Belgian, Dutch and Welsh ancestry.[1] He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, an electrician and bridge building steel worker, and Helen were originally from Illinois, and Neville was raised in Kewanee, Illinois. After high school, he helped support the family while employed as a soda jerk, waiter, and shoe salesman in Kewanee. He entered the Illinois Army National Guard on October 23, 1939 as a private in Company F, 129th Infantry Regiment. Enlisted as Corporal Neville L. Brand infantryman on March 5, 1941, he was listed as being six feet tall and weighing 169 pounds.
He trained at Fort Carson, and served nine months and nineteen days in the U.S. Army in World War II seeing action with the 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Infantry Division (Thunderbolt Division) in the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central European campaigns. Brand, a sergeant and platoon leader, was wounded in action along the Weser River on April 7, 1945. His upper right arm was hit by a bullet, and he nearly bled to death. He was discharged from service in October 1945.
He worked on a 1946 U.S. Army Signal Corps film with Charlton Heston, and next settled in Greenwich Village and enrolled at the American Theater Wing, working off Broadway, including Jean-Paul Sartre’s "The Victors". He also attended the Geller Drama School in Los Angeles, California on the G.I. Bill.
He started his big screen career in D.O.A. (1950) as a henchman named Chester. He became well known as a villain when he killed the character played by Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender. He played the villain in so many movies, his self-image became affected, culminating in a television interview on Entertainment Tonight with the actor moving about in agitation repeating, "I'm a loser. I'm a loser."
However, he played a very romantic lead in the movie Return From the Sea with Jan Sterling and a heartwarming character who was brain damaged and misunderstood in an episode of the TV show Daniel Boone. He played Hoss Cartwright's (Dan Blocker) Swedish uncle "Gunnar Borgstrom" on Bonanza in the episode "The Last Viking". He also played U.S. Navy Lieutenant Kaminsky, ignored as he tried to warn his commander of the opening skirmish in Tora! Tora! Tora!, who later waves his arms at the Pearl Harbor carnage, exclaiming "THERE'S your confirmation!"
Of the hundreds of roles he has played, he is probably most well known as Al Capone in the TV show The Untouchables and the movie The George Raft Story. The characterization caused an outcry from the Italian American community over stereotypes.
Many will remember him as Bull Ransom, the prison guard of Birdman of Alcatraz, and as the antagonistic and untrusting, yet dedicated POW, "Duke", in Stalag 17.
Known also for his cowboy roles, he starred in his own television series, Laredo, with William Smith, Peter Brown, and Philip Carey.
One of the most heart-rending scenes on television showed Brand's character, Reese Bennet, waiting in torment when he realizes he has been stood up by the love of his life. In another episode, the gruff and dusty Reese has an immaculate and proper lookalike that confounds the other Texas Rangers. The producers suspended Brand from Laredo due to his heavy drinking and problems between directors and co-stars. Brand admitted "I missed a lot of days I should have been on the set and wasn’t."
Most of his roles were heavies. Brand knew this when he said "Guys like me will be around this town a lot longer than the pretty boys, because we are ... one of a kind. We may produce nightmares instead of pleasant dreams, but we aren’t forgotten." In his memoir, actor Bruce Dern said that "Neville Brand was the baddest guy I’ve ever met in the business. Second baddest was Audie Murphy". Actress Coleen Gray described him as “the steeley-eyed, evil person of all time ... he was mean." She also said "... he was a nice person, and an intelligent person."
Brand was a real life hero. As mentioned above, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. According to the IMDb, the claim that he was the fourth most decorated soldier (actor Audie Murphy being the first) is often repeated but is incorrect, though that same article does list many decorations that he did receive. These include a Silver Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Ribbon, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon (with three Service Stars), Overseas Service Bar, one Service stripe, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
In a November 1979 interview with author William R. Horner for his book "Bad at the Bijou", Brand related that he was a highly decorated soldier in World War II, winning a Silver Star, but that he wasn't the fourth most decorated. He attributed it to someone in Hollywood, and said that when he would deny it people thought he was just being modest.
Brand was also an insatiable reader, who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, many of which were destroyed in a 1978 fire at his Malibu home.
Brand co-starred with George Takei in "The Encounter", an episode of the original Twilight Zone series. Ironically, Brand (a genuine war hero in real life) portrays a phony war hero: a coward whose prize trophy (a Japanese soldier's sword) was obtained from murdering a Japanese officer after he had surrendered. After its initial airing, "Encounter" triggered complaints from Japanese-Americans due to the backstory of the character played by Takei: he portrays a Nisei (the U.S.-born son of Japanese immigrants) whose father spied for the Japanese navy during the Pearl Harbor attack. There is no evidence of any Japanese-American disloyalty to the U.S.A. during that war. Although "Encounter" is a taut drama with excellent performances by Brand and Takei, this historical inaccuracy (and the complaints it engendered) has caused this episode to be omitted from syndicated broadcasts of The Twilight Zone. (This episode, in three parts, is available for view on YouTube.)
Brand’s personal life was complicated. He was married three times — Jean Enfield (one daughter Mary Raymer, marriage ended in divorce in 1955), Laura Rae Araujo (married in Mexico April 6, 1957, two daughters Michelle Beuttel and Katrina, divorced in Los Angeles June 1969). His third wife was Ramona. It is possible the marriage with Laura and Ramona overlapped. Obituaries mention a wife named Mae Brand. He was survived by a brother, Bryce; and two sisters, Babara Byrne and Louise Turngren.
Neville Brand died from emphysema at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, California in 1992. He was cremated and his remains are interred in a niche of the Morning Glory Room at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.
[edit]Partial Movie/TV List

D.O.A. (1950)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Gun Fury (1953)
The Man From The Alamo (1953)
The Charge at Feather River (1953)
Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Return from the Sea (1954)
Love Me Tender (1956)
Three Outlaws (1956)
The Tin Star (1957)
Five Gates to Hell (1959)
Tightrope (1959)
The Untouchables (1959-1961)
The Last Sunset (1961)
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
The Twilight Zone: The Encounter (1964)
That Darn Cat! (1965)
Laredo (TV series) (1965-1967)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Bonanza (1970-1971)
Alias Smith & Jones (1971)
Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
The Quest (1976)
Captains Courageous (1977)
Eaten Alive (1977)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Evils of the Night (1985)
[edit]External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neville Brand
Neville Brand at the Internet Movie Database
Neville Brand at Allmovie
Neville Brand at Find a Grave
[2] Neville Brand: Setting the Record Straight by Robert E. Witter
[edit]References

California Divorce Index 1966-1984
Dern, Bruce. Thing’s I’ve Said but Probably Shouldn’t Have. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007.
Hannsberry, Karen Burroughs. Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003.
Horner, William R. Bad at the Bijou. Jefferson NC: McFarland, 1982.
Lambert, Bruce. “Neville Brand, 71, Craggy Actor Known for Many Roles as Villains” New York Times, April 19, 1992.
Wise, James E., Jr. and Paul W. Wilderson III. Stars in Khaki. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000.
Categories: 1920 births | 1992 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | American military personnel of World War II | People from Iowa | Deaths from emphysema | Recipients of the Purple Heart medal
article discussion edit this page history,hope this helps,ray..

 

laredo,was one of my 60s tv favs, great series too..
Peter Brown...Chad Cooper
Neville Brand...Reese Bennett
William Smith...Joe Riley
Philip Carey...Captain Edward Parmalee
Robert Wolders...Erik Hunter

 

Mr. Evans is right (I'm a fan of old "giant monster" films).

It was called Tarantula (1955). I posted a link that shows the cast members...

Tarantula (1955) - Full cast and crew

 

Thanks, Zip

- Tarantula -

clever name, that.

Now, just to keep this post relevant to the thread, Tarantula seems to be one of the few movies that Neville Brand wasn't in.

-whatever

-Lou

 

Thanks for the interest in Neville Brand. I have requested records from the government and I'll post whatever I find out. I'm still searching for details that Google doesn't retrieve like where he won his Silver Star, how did that action go down, where did he first see combat, etc... Even his time at Fort Carson.

(BTW, Clint was under contract at Universal when he made Tarantula and also Francis (the Talking Mule) In the Navy. You got to go through hell before you get to heaven.)

Jerry