Jim Brown Timeline

Brown married his first wife Sue Brown (née Jones) in September 1959. Together they had three children: twins born in 1960 and a son born in 1962.

In June 1965, Brown was arrested for assault and battery against 18-year-old Brenda Ayres in a Cleveland motel room; he was later acquitted of those charges.

In 1968, Brown was charged with assault with intent to commit murder after model Eva Bohn-Chin was found beneath the balcony of Brown's second-floor apartment. Sue Brown had sued for divorce that same year, charging him with gross neglect.

In 1970, Brown was found not guilty of assault and battery stemming from a road-rage incident that occurred in 1969.

After Sue Brown sued for divorce in 1968 charging gross neglect, their divorce was finalized in 1972. In December 1973, Brown proposed to 18-year-old Diane Stanley, but they broke off their engagement in 1974.

Brown posed in the nude for the September 1974 issue of Playgirl magazine, becoming one of the rare celebrities to allow full-frontal nude pictures to be used.

In 1975, Brown was convicted of misdemeanor battery for beating and choking his golfing partner, Frank Snow.

Brown's autobiography, published in 1989 by Zebra Books, was titled Out of Bounds and was co-written with Steve Delsohn. He had previously been the subject of James Toback's 1971 book Jim.

Image source: Out of Bounds (autobiography)

Brown married his second wife, Monique, in 1997; they had two children together.

In 1999, Brown was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats toward his wife Monique. He ignored the terms of his sentence and in 2000 was sentenced to six months in jail, which he began serving in 2002.

In 2008, Brown initiated a lawsuit against Sony and EA Sports for using his likeness in the Madden NFL video game series. Darrin Dewitt Henson played Brown that same year in The Express: The Ernie Davis Story. From 2008 until his death, Brown served as an executive advisor to the Browns.

Brown became a part-owner of the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, joining a group of investors in the purchase of the team in 2012. In May 2013, he was named a special advisor to the Browns.

Image source: New York Lizards

Brown died of natural causes at the age of 87 on May 18, 2023, at his home in Los Angeles, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy across sports, entertainment, and activism.

In 1965, Brown became the first black televised boxing announcer when he announced the Terrell–Chuvalo fight in the United States, and is credited with first suggesting a career in boxing promotion to Bob Arum.

In early 1966, Brown was shooting his second film in London. Production delays due to bad weather meant he missed part of training camp at Hiram College, angering owner Art Modell, who threatened to fine him $1,500 per week missed. Brown instead announced his retirement.

Image source: The Dirty Dozen

MGM cast Brown in his first lead role in The Split (1968), and biographer Mike Freeman credits him with becoming Hollywood's first black action star due to roles such as the Marine captain he portrayed in the hit 1968 film Ice Station Zebra.

Image source: Ice Station Zebra

Brown went to 20th Century Fox for 100 Rifles (1969), a role that made cinematic history for featuring interracial love scenes. He followed it with the MGM prison film Riot (1969) and The Grasshopper (1970).

Image source: 100 Rifles

Brown worked as a color analyst on NFL telecasts for CBS in 1978, teaming with Vin Scully and George Allen.

Brown appeared opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987's The Running Man, an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, as Fireball, and had a cameo in the spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988). He later starred with Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly in Three the Hard Way (1974) and One Down, Two to Go (1982).

Image source: The Running Man (1987 film)

In 1993, Brown was hired as a color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a role he occupied for the first six pay-per-view events.

Image source: Ultimate Fighting Championship

Brown appeared in Original Gangstas (1996) and Mars Attacks! (1996), later appearing in Sucker Free City (2004) and playing defensive coach Montezuma Monroe in Any Given Sunday (1999).

Image source: Mars Attacks!

In 1966, Brown founded the Negro Industrial Economic Union, later known as the Black Economic Union (BEU), to promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

In 1967, Brown joined Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Carl Stokes in the Cleveland Summit, a meeting with Muhammad Ali intended to rally support for Ali's cause of civil rights. It was later called one of the most important civil rights acts in sports history.

Image source: Cleveland Summit

Because of Brown's economic advocacy for the African American community, Richard Nixon expressed support for black capitalism in his 1968 presidential campaign and received an endorsement from Brown.

In 1988, Brown founded the Amer-I-Can Foundation, an organization that sought to divert gang members and prisoners from violence by teaching them life skills.

Image source: Jim Brown

On October 11, 2018, Brown along with Kanye West met with President Donald Trump to discuss the state of America, among other topics.

Brown's memorable professional career led to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, his first year of eligibility.

Image source: Pro Football Hall of Fame

Brown was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1983, recognizing his outstanding collegiate lacrosse career at Syracuse University.

Image source: National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum

Brown's football accomplishments at Syracuse garnered him a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

Image source: College Football Hall of Fame

In 1999, Brown was named the greatest professional football player ever by The Sporting News and the Associated Press. ESPN's SportsCentury that same year ranked him fourth among their 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century.

In November 2019, Brown was one of two running backs, along with Walter Payton, to be unanimously selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

On January 13, 2020, Brown was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN, during a ceremony at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game celebrating the 150th anniversary of college football.

Image source: 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship