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Brown grew up in the south-western Sydney suburb of Bankstown.

He began working in insurance as an actuarial student and started to act in amateur theatre performances. There he discovered his passion for acting. In 1964 Brown went to England, eventually winning minor roles at the Old Vic, and later returned to Australia where he became a member of the Genesian Theatre (Sydney), appearing in Colleen Clifford`s production of `A Man for All Seasons`, and later joined the Queensland Theatre Company.

He made his first appearance in cinema in 1977, with a small role in The Love Letters From Teralba Road. During the next two years he played in several more Australian films.

In 1980, Brown became known to the international audiences for his performance in Breaker Morant. Although he went on playing roles in Australian productions for several years more, he appeared also in American TV mini-series, after winning popularity in the United States in A Town Like Alice (1981). For The Thorn Birds (1983), starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward, he was nominated for an Emmy. Several years later he starred in several films which had international success, like Tai-Pan, with Joan Chen, Gorillas in the Mist, with Sigourney Weaver, and Cocktail, with Tom Cruise.

In the 1990s and more recently, Brown went on appearing in American and Australian TV productions and occasionally also in movies. He has also appeared in British TV commercials.