Alex Brown handing the diamonds to Burt Saxby
Alexander Andrew Brown was born on the 10th of July, 1941, in Jacksonville, Florida.
He is a retired stuntman and actor, best known for being one of the co-founders of the pioneering Black Stuntmen’s Association in Hollywood.
Prior to his work in the film industry he attended the Florida Agriculture & Mechanical University in Tallahassee, where he was also part of their marching band. After completing his education he decided to move to Los Angeles, initially finding work as a messenger runner for the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper. He was eventually promoted to layout manager at a time where much of the industry was still using the printing press. While living in California, Alex became friends with Eddie Smith, who’s primary work was assisting African-Americans getting cast in action roles in film and television productions. Eventually Brown decided to try his luck in the industry, after being given the security by his newspaper boss that his job would be waiting for him if the venture didn’t succeed. He immediately joined the Buffalo Soldiers, who were an all-black horse riding club led by Woody Strode, and who reenacted Civil War scenarios at parades and events across the city. This group laid the foundations for the Black Stuntmen’s Association (BSA), which was later founded in 1967 by Alex Brown, Eddie Smith and several other notable African-American performers.
In similar fashion to his BSA co-workers, much of his early work in the industry remains undocumented. This was due to the fact that almost all black stunt performers were treated as ‘extras’ and not given the deserved recognition, until well into the following decade. One of his first major breakthroughs came in the fall of 1972, when Eon Productions hired Eddie Smith as one of the stunt coordinators for the latest James Bond blockbuster “Live & Let Die”, starring a host of African-American talent including Yaphet Kotto, Gloria Hendry, Julius W. Harris, Tommy Lane and the BSA. Alex was heavily involved in the production units for New Orleans, Jamaica and New York, appearing in several key sequences in different supporting roles.
Previous to his roles in “Live & Let Die”, Alex worked alongside Eddie Smith in several major productions including Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” in 1971 and in the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever”, a fact which has previously never been published. He also performed a number of stunt sequences in several popular blaxploitation films such as “Across 110th Street” (1972), “Cleopatra Jones” (1973), “Black Belt Jones” (1974) and “Emma Mae” (1976). During the 1980’s and 1990’s, his career continued to progress, working alongside Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Yaphet Kotto in “Brubaker” (1980) and with Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky III” (1982). He also achieved supporting roles in the television shows “The White Shadow” (1981), “Falcon Crest” (1983) and “In Living Color” (1991), as well as performing further stunts in the remake of “Halloween” in 2007 and in it’s sequel “Halloween II” in 2009.
Throughout his exceptional career, Alex Brown has fought hard to uphold the legacy and status of African-American stuntmen in the industry ever since the inception of the BSA in 1967. Despite retiring over a decade ago, he is still very active in the media and is currently assisting to recognise the BSA in Hollywood by having their own star on the Walk of Fame.
In "Diamonds Are Forever", Alex Brown portrays the airport porter.
He can be seen taking the stuffed toy dog containing the diamonds from a locker to a minivan outside, where Burt Saxby is waiting.
The autograph displayed below was signed by Alex Brown for The Bond Archives on the 25th of March, 2024.
It shows him in one of his roles in "Live & Let Die".
Autographs of Alex Brown are considered extremely rare on any material.
Please view his other pages for further examples of his autograph!
The Bond Archives are proud to be the first and only source to showcase Alex's role in "Diamonds Are Forever".
Another co-founder of the BSA (Black Stuntmen's Association) appears in the movie, namely Eddie Smith.
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