Actor Neville Brand, a real-life war hero who made a career out of playing tough guys in movies such as "Stalag 17" and "Birdman of Alcatraz," died of emphysema. He was 71.
Brand died Thursday at Sutter General Hospital, said Angela Barnhill of the Sacramento County coroner's office.He appeared in more than 40 films but is probably remembered best for a role on the small screen. In the late 1960s NBC television series "Laredo," Brand played the rowdy, gravel-voiced Texas Ranger Reese Bennett.
"He certainly enjoyed the role," said his daughter, Mary Raymer, who lives in Dixon, Ill. "It was a chance to add a little humor to the tough guy he always played."
Raised in Kewanee, Ill., Brand joined the Army after graduating from high school and was discharged in 1946 as the fourth most decorated GI of World War II.
After the war, he went to Los Angeles and attended the Geller Drama School on the GI Bill. His first big break came as a gun-happy hoodlum in the 1950 thriller "D.O.A." with Edmund O'Brien.