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Julie Brown
Brown in 2012
Born	Julie Ann Brown (1958-08-31)August 31, 1958 (age 66) Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actress comedian writer singer-songwriter television director
Years active	1980–present
Spouses	Terrence E. McNally ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 1989)​ Ken Rethen ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2007)​
Children	1

Julie Ann Brown (born August 31, 1958^[1]) is an American actress, comedian, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, and television director.^[2] Brown is known for her work in the 1980s, when she often played a quintessentialvalley girl character. Much of her comedy has revolved around the mocking of famous people (with a strong and frequently revisited focus onMadonna).

Julie Brown was born inVan Nuys,California, the daughter of Irish-Catholic parents Celia Jane (née McCann) and Leonard Francis Brown.^[3][4] Her father worked atNBC TV studios in the traffic department (advertising scheduling), and her mother was a secretary at the same studio complex.^[5] Both of Brown's grandfathers had worked in the Hollywood film business.^[4] Her great-grandfather was character actorFrank O'Connor.^[3] She attended a Catholic elementary school as a child, and laterVan Nuys High School, where she was chosen princess of thehomecoming court. Brown's parents said, "whatever you do, don't become an actress", but after attendingLos Angeles Valley College, she enrolled in the well-known San Francisco acting school,American Conservatory Theater, where she met future collaborator Charlie Coffey.^[6]

Julie Brown began her career performing in nightclubs.^[7] She was a contestant on the game showWhew! (as Annie Brown).^[8] She started working on television with a guest spot on the sitcomHappy Days. She also appeared in the 1981 cult filmBloody Birthday. After a small role in theClint Eastwood comedy filmAny Which Way You Can, comedianLily Tomlin saw Brown at acomedy club and gave her her first big break, a part in her1981 filmThe Incredible Shrinking Woman.^[7] Tomlin and Brown eventually became close friends. A string of guest-starring appearances in a variety of television shows followed, including:Laverne & Shirley,Buffalo Bill,The Jeffersons, andNewhart. Brown also appeared in short films such as "Five Minutes, Miss Brown".^[9]

In 1984, she released her firstEP, a five-song album calledGoddess in Progress.^[10] The album, parodies of popular '80s music combined with her valley-girl personality, was quickly discovered by theDr. Demento Show. The songs "'Cause I'm a Blonde" and "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" were given radio airplay around the world.^[11] The latter was a spoof on stereotypical 1950s'teen tragedy songs, withcheerleaders' heads andpompoms being blown to pieces.

In 1987, Brown released her first full-length album,Trapped in the Body of a White Girl.^[12] The album highlighted her comedic talent andvalley girl personality. The album's highlights were "I Like 'em Big and Stupid" and she reprised "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" (the album was reissued on CD in 2010 by Collector's Choice Music on its Noble Rot label).^[13]Music videos were recorded and received heavy airplay onMTV. In 1989, Brown starred in that cable network's comedy and music-video showJust Say Julie.^[10] She played the role of a demanding, controlling, and pessimistic glamour-puss from the valley, making fun of popular music acts, while at the same time introducing their music videos (she was also known as "Miss Julie Brown" at the time to differentiate her fromDowntown Julie Brown, who was on the network at the same time).

Brown's film career began in 1988 with the release of the filmEarth Girls Are Easy, written,produced by, and featuring Brown,^[14] it was based loosely on a song by the same name from her debut EP. The film also starredJeff Goldblum andGeena Davis. Brown cast then-unknown comediansJim Carrey andDamon Wayans. In 1990, Brown had a brief part in the filmThe Spirit of '76, as an intellectual stripper.

NBC commissioned a half-hourpilot, ultimately unsold and airing Sunday, July 28, 1991, at 7 p.m.Eastern Time, titledThe Julie Show. Created by Brown,Charlie Coffey, anddirector andexecutive producerDavid Mirkin, it was a comedy about actress Julie Robbins (Brown), who in this initial story, goes to great lengths to land an interview with teen singer Kiki (played by Kim Walker) in the hopes of getting hired as a tabloid-TV celebrity journalist. Developed under the working titleThe Julie Brown Show, it also starredMarian Mercer as Julie's mother, June;DeLane Matthews as Debra Deacon, a reporter on the fictional seriesInside Scoop;Susan Messing as Julie's roommate Cheryl; andKevin O'Rourke asInside Scoop producer Tony Barnow. Brown was also a producer, with John Ziffren, and performed and co-wrote thetheme song. Walker, Don Sparks, Robin Angers, and Deborah Driggs were guest performers in this production from Mirkinvision andNew World Television.^[15]

Another pilot was filmed for CBS in 1989 called,Julie Brown: The Show, and featured a similar theme, in which Brown was the hostess of a talk show and she would interview actual celebrity guests, interspersed with scripted scenarios. The pilot was aired, but the show was not picked up; years later, it leaked onto the Internet.

In 1992, Brown starred in her ownFoxsketch comedy show,The Edge; two of its regulars,Jennifer Aniston andWayne Knight, later became sitcom stars, whileTom Kenny went on to voiceSpongeBob SquarePants. That same year, she released theShowtime television filmMedusa: Dare to Be Truthful, a satire aboutMadonna and her backstagedocumentary,Truth or Dare.

Brown followed with another satire,Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women, which lampooned the violence ofice skaterTonya Harding toward rivalNancy Kerrigan, as well as that of widely publicized mutilatorLorena Bobbitt.^[16]

She has continued to make television guest appearances and contributed voices to variouscartoons, includingAnimaniacs (as the voice of Minerva Mink),Aladdin as brattymermaid Saleen, and as the original voice ofZatanna in theBatman: The Animated Series cartoon. Prior to this, she also guest-starred on aTiny Toon Adventures episode as Julie Bruin, a cartoon bear version of herself, in which she guest-starred in her own segment "Just Say Julie Bruin", a reference to her music video show. This cartoon also was a music video show, and in her segment,Elmer Fudd guest-starred as Fuddonna, a parody of Madonna and a reference to Julie Brown herself regularly mocking her.

Brown appeared as Coach Millie Stoeger in the filmClueless, reprising that role onABC's 1996–1999spin-off TV series, for which she was also a writer, producer, and director. Two regulars from the series,Donald Faison andElisa Donovan, later found similarly successful roles, as would featured playerChristina Milian, who had a recurring role on the series during itsUPN years. In 1998, Brown appeared in the parody filmPlump Fiction. In 2000, she created the seriesStrip Mall for theComedy Central network; it ran two seasons.

Since 2004, Brown has been a commentator onE! network specials, including101 Reasons the '90s Ruled,101 Most Starlicious Makeovers,101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment, and50 Most Outrageous TV Moments.

In 2005, Brown purchased the rights to herTrapped album back from the record label and reissued it herself.^{[citation needed]} She also self-released a single, "I Want to Be Gay". In late 2007, she also purchased the rights to her 1984 E.P.Goddess in Progress and re-released it as a full-length record with compiled unreleased tracks recorded during that era.^{[citation needed]} Brown began touring in late 2007 with her one-woman show,Smell the Glamour.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, she co-wrote and appeared as Dee La Duke in the Disney Channel filmCamp Rock, which starredDemi Lovato and theJonas Brothers. Brown also joined the cast of the Canadian television seriesParadise Falls that same year.

In late 2008, Brown began releasing one-track digital singles, starting with "The Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun"; it was a rewrite of "Homecoming Queen" with lyrics aboutSarah Palin. This was first aired in September, 2008, onThe Stephanie Miller Show. In 2011, she released an album calledSmell the Glamour, which features satires ofLady Gaga andKesha, and updated versions of herMedusa songs.

In the 2010–2011 television season, Brown began a recurring role as Paula Norwood, a neighbor and friend of the Heck family, on the ABC comedyThe Middle. From 2010 to 2015, she was a writer forMelissa & Joey, and played a gym teacher in one episode of the show. In 2012, she appeared with Downtown Julie Brown as a guest judge onRuPaul's Drag Race.

In 2023, amid the announcement ofThe Celebration Tour, in which Madonna recreated a video inspired by her filmMadonna: Truth or Dare, Brown reprised her Medusa character parodying the announcement video in her social media.^[17]

In 1983, Brown married writer and actorTerrence E. McNally, another frequent collaborator. They co-produced her first single, "I Like 'Em Big and Stupid". They divorced after six years. In 1994, Brown married Ken Rathjen, and together they have one son. She said in 2007 that she had recently divorced for the second time.^[18]

• Goddess in Progress (1984)
• Trapped in the Body of a White Girl (1987)
• Smell the Glamour (2010)

• "I Like 'Em Big and Stupid" (w. B-side "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun")
• "Trapped in the Body of a White Girl"
• "Girl Fight Tonight!"
• "I Want to Be Gay" (sometimes titled "I Wanna be Gay")
• "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun"
• "The Art of Being Fabulous"
• "Another Drunk Chick" (a parody of theKesha song "Tik Tok")
• "Big Clown Pants" (a parody of theLady Gaga song "Bad Romance")

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