Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful

Background:

“Julie Brown is one of the true Comic Queens!” USA Today

An Award-winning American actress, stand-up comic, comedic singer-songwriter, writer and producer recognized for her horrific comedy performances and songs, Julie Brown is probably best recalled for her work in the 1980s, in which she frequently portrayed a quintessential valley girl character. Starting out as a stand-up comedian, she successfully parleyed her endowment into a pop career with the release of the hilarious album of original music “Goddess in Progress” (1984) and “Trapped in the Body of a White Girl” (1987) as well as with a hosting gig on the popular MTV comedy and music video show “Just Say Julie” (1989-1992). She closed out the 1980s with an outstanding work on the cult film “Earth Girls are Easy” (1989), which she wrote and starred in as a second banana named Candy Pink. Dubbed by Boston Globe as “The funniest Woman in America,” Brown, however, did not land her star-making role until 1992, when she starred as Medusa in the Showtime film “Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful,” a parody of Madonna's film “Truth or Dare.” She won a

Writers Guild of America Award for her writing contribution on the film. On summarizing Madonna, she said, “All she did was take a little bit of talent and a bottle of bleach and suddenly, she's Queen of the world.”

Brown's recent big screen credits include Disney's “A Goofy Movie” (1995), the hit “Clueless” (1995), “Plump Fiction” (1998), “The Trip” (2002), “Boxboarders!” (2006) and “Fat Rose and Squeaky” (2006). She reprised her film role as Coach Millie Deemer for the TV spin-off series “Clueless” (1996-1999), in which she also served as writer, and created and starred in the Comedy Central series “Strip Mall” (2000-2001). Other TV projects include the Fox sketch show “The Edge” (1992), the made-for-TV film “National Lampoon's Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women” (1994) and the sitcom “The Big House” (2004, consulting producer). Outside the spotlight, Brown, whose measurements are 36C-23 1/2-35 1/2 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine), is a vegetarian. She has been married twice. The 5' 3” tall performer married first husband writer/actor Terrence E. McNally for six years from 1983 to 1989. She has a son, Kilean, with second husband Ken Rathjen, whom she married in 1994. However, the marriage currently is reportedly to have ended in separation. Brown romantic life was also involved with producer/director/writer David Mirkin (born on September 18, 1955), whom she met in 1981 while doing stand-up comedy and they began dating ten years later in 1991. In the late 1980s, Brown dated actor Penn Jillette (born on March 5, 1955) for 14 months.

Goddess

Childhood and Family:

Julie Ann Brown was born on August 31, 1954, in Van Nuys, California, to Leonard Brown and Celia Brown. She was educated at a local Catholic school as a child and Van Nuys High School as a teenager. As for college, she attended Los Angeles Valley College, and was professionally trained at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Fransisco, California, where she met future collaborators Charlie Coffey and Terrence McNally, whom she soon married.

On June 11, 1983, Julie tied the knot with writer and actor Terrence E. McNally. Together they co-produced Julie's first single, “I Like 'em Big and Stupid.” The couple divorced after six years in 1989. Julie remarried on August 17, 1994, to Ken Rathjen. The couple have a son named Kilean. On October 18, 2007, in an article for the San Francisco Bay Times, she is cited as saying that she recently divorced for the second time.

Julie is the sister of screenwriter Paul Brown. She is known by the nicknames Goddess and “West Coast” Julie Brown, which was used to differentiate her from “Downtown” Julie Brown when both were working for MTV.

Earth Girls are Easy

Career:

Julie Brown started performing as a stand-up comedian in 1980. Shortly afterwards, she kicked off her film career with a bit part in 1980's “Any Which Way You Can,” an action/comedy starring Clint Eastwood. It was during a performance at a comedy club that she was spotted by comedian Lily Tomlin, who provided Brown with her first screen break in the form of a small role as a TV comedian actress in Tomlin's 1981 film, “ The Incredible Shrinking Woman,” which was directed by Joel Schumacher. The two finally became close friends.

After having a bigger part in the horror film “Bloody Birthday” (1981) and a series of TV guest spots, Brown tried her hand as a pop artist by launching her first EP in 1984 called “Goddess in Progress,” a five-song album that spoofed the popular 1980s music. Thanks in part to her valley girl image, the album soon attracted the attention of the Dr. Demento Show and its two songs, “'Cause I'm a Blonde” and “The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun,” received radio airplay worldwide. Two years after her appearance in the comedy film “Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment” (1985), she released her first full-length album, “Trapped in the Body of a White Girl,” which further highlighted her comedic skill and valley girl persona. The draft rock parodies “ I Like 'em Big and Stupid,” which she co-produced with husband McNally, and the reprised “The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun” became made Brown an underground star and their music video earned heavy airplay on MTV.

Led by the success, in 1989, Brown was hired to star in the cable network's comedy and music video show, “Just Say Julie.” Also serving as co-writer and co-producer with Charlie Coffey, she portrayed the role of a hard-to-please, dominant, and disheartened glamor-snatch from the valley, making sly fun of well-liked music acts while during that same period introducing their music videos. She often mocked and attacked performers whose quality she considered was in question. A great show, “Just Say Julie” stayed on the air for three years until 1992. Meanwhile, on the big screen, Brown's career reached its peak in the late 1989 with the release of “Earth Girls are Easy,” a musical/sci-fi/comedy she co-penned with McNally and Coffey and costarred with Geena Davis. There she memorably played the role of Candy Pink, owner of the Curl Up & Dye beauty salon.

In early 1990s, NBC ordered a half-hour pilot, ultimately unsold and broadcasting on July 28, 1991 called “The Julie Show.” Co-created by Brown, Coffey and director/executive producer David Mirkin, the comedy centered around actress Julie Robbins (played by Brown), who in this initial story, has a high-profile chance to interview teen singer Kiki (portrayed by Kim Walker) and hopes it will be her jumping start of becoming a tabloid-TV celebrity journalist. The show also starred Marian Mercer, DeLane Matthews, Susan Messing and Kevin O'Rourke. Apart from being the show's star and co-creator, Brown also took on the duty of a producer as well as performed and co-wrote the theme song. After the failed pilot, Brown found herself headlining her own sketch comedy show, “The Edge” (1992). Aired on Fox, it featured regular performances from actors like Jennifer Aniston, Wayne Knight and Tom Kenny and received positive reviews, although was quickly departed the airwaves.

It was also in 1992 that Brown scored her most significant victory to date when she produced, co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the Showtime television film “Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful,” a blistering satire of pop star Madonna and her backstage documentary “Truth or Dare.” The project won Brown a 1993 Writers Guild of America for Variety - Musical, Award, Tribute, Special Event, an honor he shared with frequent collaborator Charlie Coffey. Her follow-up, “National Lampoon's Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women” (1994), which spoofed the hostility of ice skater Tonya Harding toward rival Nancy Kerrigan, and that of broadly advertised castrator Lorena Bobbitt, however, was considered mismatched and had the bad luck to be aired the same night as Barbra Streisand's HBO concert and went unseen by almost everyone.

By this time, Brown had collected several film credits, tough they did nothing in increasing her big screen status. Among them were “The Spirit of '76 “ (1990), “Shakes the Clown” (1991), “Nervous Ticks” (1993) and “The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them” (1993). She went on to provide her voice for the Disney animated film “A Goofy Movie” in 1995 and later that same year, she had a featured part as Couch Stoeger in the Alicia Silverstone successful vehicle “Clueless,” written and directed by Amy Heckerling. She recreated the latter role for the ABC spin-off series of the same name during 1996 to 1999, in which she also served as a writer, director and producer. In 1998, Brown portrayed Mimi Hungry in the spoof of “Plump Fiction,” a character based on Uma Thurman's role in Pulp Fiction.”

Entering the new millennium, Brown executive produced and starred as Tammi Tyler on the comedy Central series “Strip Mall,” which ran from 2000 to 2001. She appeared as OutLoud Receptionist in the comedy film “The Trip” (2002) and a new age mother in the Bow Wow vehicle “Like Mike” (also 2002) before returning to series TV as a consulting producer for the 2004 comedy series “The Big House.” On June 2005, Brown made a guest appearance in the hit “Six Feet Under” episode of “Time Flies,” playing Sissy Pasquese. 2005 also found Brown buy the rights to her “Trapped” album back from the record label and re-issued it herself. She also released a single by herself called “I Want to Be Gay.”

Brown costarred with Michelle Alexis and Austin Basis in the comedy film “Boxboarders!” (2006), directed and penned by Rob Hedden. Her last film, “Fat Rose and Squeaky,” in which she was cast along side Louise Fletcher and Cicely Tyso, was shown at the Rhode Island International Film Festival on August 11, 2006. She is the co-writer of the upcoming TV film “Camp Rock” (2008).

Awards:

• Writers Guild of America: Variety - Musical, Award, Tribute, Special Event, “Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful,” 1993