Lawrence Neville Brand

 Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992)

His most memorable film roles were in Stalag 17 (1953), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Brand was also a highly decorated World War II combat soldier. Brand was awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration for valor in the U.S. military, for gallantry in combat. His other awards and decorations were the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Battle Stars, one Overseas Service Bar, one Service Stripe and the Combat Infantryman Badge. His film debut was in Port of New York (1949). Among his earliest films was the Oscar-winning Stalag 17 (1953). He played Al Capone in The George Raft Story (1961), The Scarface Mob (1959), and TV's The Untouchables (1959). Among his other memorable roles are the sympathetic guard in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and the representative of rioting convicts in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954). Perhaps his best-known role was that of the soft-hearted, loud-mouthed, none-too-bright but very effective Texas Ranger Reese Bennett of Backtrack! (1969), Three Guns for Texas (1968), and TV's Laredo (1965).His final roles included Fantasy Island, Without Warning (1980), Harper Valley P.T.A., and The Return (1982). He was married three times, and had three children from his first marriage. Brand died from emphysema at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, California, on April 16, 1992, at age 71. He was cremated, and his remains are interred at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento, California.