johnbrown

As identified by B-59 and Art Siegel in other photos (below), John Brown [1881 -1967] was born in Scotland and came to America at the age of 2. He attended public schools in Brooklyn and had a series of jobs that led him to the staff of the Metropolitan Opera Company, where he was the business controller from 1910-1916.

In addition to his position with the opera company, he was Assistant Secretary of the New Theatre, Assistant Secretary of the Metropolitan Opera Company, President and business manager of the Metropolitan Ballet Company and Secretary-Treasurer of the Century Amusement Company.

He resigned simultaneously from all of those offices in 1916, and went into partnership with Alphonse G. Kaufmann of the Peugeot Auto Import Company in New York.

Later he was the eastern representative for the Chicago Opera Company and managed concert artists, and was business manager of the American Operatic and Allied Arts Foundation. In 1925, he was appointed business manager of Carnegie Hall, where he served until 1929. – Compiled from The New York Times and Carnegie Hall [1] [2] [3] [4]

John Brown and SergeJohn Brown c.1910R. Edmunds, Serge Diaghileff and John BrownEnrico Caruso and John BrownJohn Brown c.1910

Thanks Pixel Wrangler for the information on John Brown. We will add more details to the descriptions for these images.

John Brown was the servant who became close to Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert. Their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie "Mrs. Brown," starring Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly. "Much gossip attached to the unlikely relationship and much animosity generated by those who resented the trust placed in the 'low-born' Brown by the Queen. The Queen refused to desert Brown because of the scandalous talk - which she dismissed as 'ill-natured gossip' " From the Royal Deeside website: John Brown, Faithful Servant to Queen Victoria --

Hi, this photo has been mentioned in a discussion thread in the Flickr Commonsgroup, and we'd love to have this added to the group pool! -- Seen in a discussion of Flickr Commons. (?)

Wow, i'd never seen a photo of John Brown before, only heard the story.

He looks as though his glare could melt the film, as if the photographer is intruding. Which I guess would fit the story as we know it.

To see these two! It is totally a smashing photograph!

Brown was the Business Comptroller/Controller of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Caruso, of course, was the Met's star performer. books.google.com/books?id=K1wwAQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA4-PA18&a...

For more information about John Brown, see:

He was the Business Comptroller/Controller of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. books.google.com/books?id=K1wwAQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA4-PA18&a...

artolog: Thanks for uncovering more information about this John Brown. We will include it next time we update.

For more information about John Brown, see: