Chelsea Brown

Chelsea Brown was an American comedic actress and soap opera star who was best known for her appearing as a regular performer on the groundbreaking counter-culture comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (NBC, 1968-1973). Born and raised in Chicago, Brown was a multi-talented child who loved to dance. Her dancing eventually got her noticed in the entertainment industry, and by the late 1960s she was auditioning regularly for film and TV projects. She nabbed an uncredited role as a belly dancer in the Monkees' 1968 psychedelic comedy "Head," before landing a part as a regular performer on the first season of "Laugh-In." The wide-ranging comedy show was a huge hit when it debuted on NBC in 1968, thus making Brown, the show's only African-American female regular at the time, a recognizable face to the show's millions of dedicated viewers. Brown left "Laugh-In" in 1969, and spent the new few years appearing in American TV movies before immigrating to Australia in 1973. Brown continued her acting career while living abroad, and was quite a big success as an actor on various Australian soap operas. Throughout the '70s and '80s she appeared on Australian soaps like "Number 96" (Network 10, 1972-77) and "E Street" (Network 10, 1989-1993). Brown's acting work trailed off by the late '90s, although she did nab a small supporting role in the 1997 Australian-produced adventure-comedy "Welcome to Woop Woop." With her acting career on the decline, Brown moved back to the states in 2002, settling in her hometown of Chicago, where she would stay for the remainder of her life. On March 27, 2017 Brown died of pneumonia at the age of 74.