I found an article today about Eric Brown (Buzz) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

jterry · 03-20-2004, 01:12 PM

The Son's Energy Through with Hollywood, former Mama's Family actor Eric Brown campaigns to cut consumer waste; Tom Gliatto Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park
People 02-25-2002

Byline: Tom Gliatto Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park
Publication: People
Issue: February 25, 2002 Vol. 57 No. 7
Publication Date: 02-25-2002
Page: 97+
Section: Where Are They Now?

Hollywood is about having it all," says Eric Brown. "I don't
need all of that in my life." These days the former actor, who
played Vicki Lawrence's dim-bulb grandson Buzz on NBC's Mama's
Family from 1983 to '85, is a poster boy for inconspicuous
consumption. Living since 1996 in a snug 844-sq.-ft. house in
Takoma Park, Md., he proudly shows off a tiny garden with three
new vines whose grapes may someday be pressed into white wine.
He already bottles his own merlot fermented from juice and
yeast. "I can make it for $1.25 a bottle," says Brown, who likes
to present friends with his vintage. "When they try it, they're
very surprised. They bring me back the bottle and I refill it."

Of course, television recycles too. Brown still gets calls from
friends saying they've caught Mama's Family on TBS, but today
he's communications director for the Center for a New American
Dream. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating the
public about reducing the country's high level of consumerism.
Brown, 37, touts such projects as Turn the Tide, which offers
sensible tips on water and electricity conservation. "It's not
like you have to go knit sweaters out of mop heads," he says. He
walks 10 minutes to work, and his wife, Janine, 36, commutes by
subway into Washington, D.C., where she's a manager for Kaplan,
the test-prep company. He conserves personal energy with a
four-day workweek. Says Janine: "He'd like nothing better than to
tend the garden, make wine and take care of Maggie," their
6-year-old daughter.

This wasn't always Brown's pace. "I was in such a hurry as a
child," says the New York City native. He was a pro by age 4,
when his grandmother introduced him to a talent agent. Cast in TV
commercials, he was even more driven after his father, Jerrold
Brown, a data-processing manager for the New York Hilton, died of
lung cancer at 37. Eric, the older of two siblings, was 11. His
mother, Lois, now 67 and a graphic designer, "needed me to be
mature," says Brown, who attended the Professional Children's
School in Manhattan. "I grew up quickly."

He'd already tasted movie stardom by 16 with 1981's Private
Lessons, a modest hit in which he played a teenager seduced by a
French maid. Then two years later, he was cast in Mama's Family,
a Carol Burnett Show spinoff with Vicki Lawrence as a
foul-tempered frump and Burnett as her put-upon daughter.
Brown's maturity impressed his TV kin. "I figured he was like a
20-year-old kid playing 17," says Ken Berry, who played his dad.
"When I was 17, I was as green and naive as I could be. Eric was
none of those things. He fit right in."

He wasn't destined to remain. Mama's Family lived on another five
years in syndication after NBC dropped it in 1985, but Buzz was
written off. When roles didn't materialize, Brown shifted to
production work on cheapo movies like the slasher thriller
Stepfather 2. That's where he met Janine, an apprentice editor
who warmed to his lack of star attitude. "I can never imagine
Eric," she says, "in a situation where he'd be like, 'Yeah,
babe.'" In fact, he was beginning to realize that his brief fling
with fame had shortchanged him: "I hadn't seen the world, hadn't
gone to college, hadn't read books. I wanted perspective."

By 1992, two years after they wed, both were studying at the
University of California's Berkeley campus. Janine majored in
women's studies while Eric studied political science, something
that had intrigued him even as a kid. He knew he'd made the right
choice that year when he became a local frontman for Democratic
candidates, including Bill Clinton. Working with camera crews
"was like making a movie."

Brown took the logical step of going to Capitol Hill in 1997,
after the couple settled in Takoma Park so his wife could pursue
graduate studies. But long hours as press secretary for
Democratic New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez kept him away
from his family. The next year he decided to try the more
leisurely environment at the Center for a New American Dream,
which at the time seemed to him "either the best thing in the
world or a bunch of wackos." As he learned about ecology, he
concluded, "it's the best thing. The work I do is necessary, and
I'm happy to do it."

That means happier birthdays. Last January, when Maggie turned
6, he made the cake from scratch, down to the strawberry
frosting. "I couldn't bear," says Brown, "to buy the
store-bought kind."

--Tom Gliatto
--Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park

Illustration/Photos:

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANUTA OTFINOWSKI
"One person can't save the world, but everybody can make it a
little better," says Brown (with Maltman at home in Takoma Park,
Md.).

COLOR PHOTO: MPTV
Mama's Berry (standing) and Lawrence "were always funny," says
Brown (right).

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANUTA OTFINOWSKI
Her spouse realized that showbiz was "very hollow," says Janine
(with Eric and Maggie).

Keywords: Profile; Television; Eric Brown;

© 2002 Time Inc.

FamilyTiesGOP · 03-20-2004, 01:31 PM

Oh, bummer. He and I are basically political polar opposites. Well, atleast he is happy now.

PZelda · 03-20-2004, 05:57 PM

Yeah, I saw that article. It had two pics...One of Eric Brown currently (well, two years ago...it WAS 2002), and one of him as a teen on MF. It was pages 96-97, I think.

Penny Lane · 03-21-2004, 07:54 PM

Why did the author of the article call his character a "dim bulb"? Actually Buzz was a smart , nice kid!

FamilyTiesGOP · 03-21-2004, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
Why did the author of the article call his character a "dim bulb"? Actually Buzz was a smart , nice kid!

Sonja was the dim bulb!

Buzz was just boring and unentertaining.

Cashodeen · 03-23-2004, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
Why did the author of the article call his character a "dim bulb"? Actually Buzz was a smart , nice kid!

YEAH! I was surprised to read that line.

fitzlaw · 02-08-2005, 07:50 PM

I know Eric from UC Berkeley days. He was very down-to-earth back then, too. Great guy. We had a teaching assistant in one class whose favorite move was Wax Works! Don't know if it helped Eric's grade, but it certainly raised his stature in the TA's eyes.

The article doesn't mention that, after graduation, he and his wife (also a very nice person) spent a year in Japan while Eric taught English. He would circulate e-mail reports of his experiences which were very witty, insightful and (of course) self-depracating.

Nice to read he and Janine are doing well. Didn't know about the baby. Sounds like they've created a nice life for themselves.

Penny Lane · 02-08-2005, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzlaw

I know Eric from UC Berkeley days. He was very down-to-earth back then, too. Great guy. We had a teaching assistant in one class whose favorite move was Wax Works! Don't know if it helped Eric's grade, but it certainly raised his stature in the TA's eyes.

The article doesn't mention that, after graduation, he and his wife (also a very nice person) spent a year in Japan while Eric taught English. He would circulate e-mail reports of his experiences which were very witty, insightful and (of course) self-depracating.

Nice to read he and Janine are doing well. Didn't know about the baby. Sounds like they've created a nice life for themselves.

Thanks! I am glad to know that he is doing well. I know that MF kind of made Buzz's character as bland and unimportant but I liked his character! He was a sweet kid! Every mother's dream!

john_77019 · 03-09-2006, 06:59 AM

i've always liked his character, too, and thought they could have done more with him.
but i have an update to this article. apparently, eric has returned to california, and is working with a similar organization.

his current picture and bio (no mention of acting) page from his new workplace is here.

gotta go, MF is coming on!

jonnycarnahan · 12-01-2006, 12:43 PM

Thank you so much for posting that link for Eric Brown. I loved him as Buzz ... so much more so than I did the character of Bubba.

Scoobiedoo30 · 12-02-2006, 11:30 AM

Thanks for posting The Article about Eric Brown

88survivor · 12-02-2006, 11:58 AM

I was not too keen on Sonja and Buzz....I believe their characters were underdeveloped and not very interesting. Mama Harper, Eunice, Aunt Fran, Noami, Ellen, Iola, Vinton, and Bubba on the other hand were funny and entertaining. It is just with those two original grandchildren character.....they were very dull and not very interesting for the viewer to relate to them at all. Buzz was nice and smart, Sonja's a bitch, but that's about it.

jonnycarnahan · 12-02-2006, 12:11 PM

Hi. I never liked Sonja either. I'm glad her parts were few and far between. But I was Buzz's characters' age when the show was on originally and I found I could relate to him more even though I'm female. I guess I was a strange kid. LOL.

88survivor · 12-04-2006, 02:40 PM

I guess I am more of a Bubba fan. I practically liked Allan Kayser in my favorite horror spoof movie, Night of The Creeps.

Scoobiedoo30 · 12-22-2006, 07:00 PM

I am also Bubba Fan but as a Kid rowing up I was also a an of Eric Brown

03-20-2004, 01:12 PM	#1
jterry Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 16, 2003 Location: Raytown, The Jewel of the Tri-State Area Posts: 453	I found an article today about Eric Brown (Buzz) The Son's Energy Through with Hollywood, former Mama's Family actor Eric Brown campaigns to cut consumer waste; Tom Gliatto Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park People 02-25-2002 Byline: Tom Gliatto Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park Publication: People Issue: February 25, 2002 Vol. 57 No. 7 Publication Date: 02-25-2002 Page: 97+ Section: Where Are They Now? Hollywood is about having it all," says Eric Brown. "I don't need all of that in my life." These days the former actor, who played Vicki Lawrence's dim-bulb grandson Buzz on NBC's Mama's Family from 1983 to '85, is a poster boy for inconspicuous consumption. Living since 1996 in a snug 844-sq.-ft. house in Takoma Park, Md., he proudly shows off a tiny garden with three new vines whose grapes may someday be pressed into white wine. He already bottles his own merlot fermented from juice and yeast. "I can make it for $1.25 a bottle," says Brown, who likes to present friends with his vintage. "When they try it, they're very surprised. They bring me back the bottle and I refill it." Of course, television recycles too. Brown still gets calls from friends saying they've caught Mama's Family on TBS, but today he's communications director for the Center for a New American Dream. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating the public about reducing the country's high level of consumerism. Brown, 37, touts such projects as Turn the Tide, which offers sensible tips on water and electricity conservation. "It's not like you have to go knit sweaters out of mop heads," he says. He walks 10 minutes to work, and his wife, Janine, 36, commutes by subway into Washington, D.C., where she's a manager for Kaplan, the test-prep company. He conserves personal energy with a four-day workweek. Says Janine: "He'd like nothing better than to tend the garden, make wine and take care of Maggie," their 6-year-old daughter. This wasn't always Brown's pace. "I was in such a hurry as a child," says the New York City native. He was a pro by age 4, when his grandmother introduced him to a talent agent. Cast in TV commercials, he was even more driven after his father, Jerrold Brown, a data-processing manager for the New York Hilton, died of lung cancer at 37. Eric, the older of two siblings, was 11. His mother, Lois, now 67 and a graphic designer, "needed me to be mature," says Brown, who attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan. "I grew up quickly." He'd already tasted movie stardom by 16 with 1981's Private Lessons, a modest hit in which he played a teenager seduced by a French maid. Then two years later, he was cast in Mama's Family, a Carol Burnett Show spinoff with Vicki Lawrence as a foul-tempered frump and Burnett as her put-upon daughter. Brown's maturity impressed his TV kin. "I figured he was like a 20-year-old kid playing 17," says Ken Berry, who played his dad. "When I was 17, I was as green and naive as I could be. Eric was none of those things. He fit right in." He wasn't destined to remain. Mama's Family lived on another five years in syndication after NBC dropped it in 1985, but Buzz was written off. When roles didn't materialize, Brown shifted to production work on cheapo movies like the slasher thriller Stepfather 2. That's where he met Janine, an apprentice editor who warmed to his lack of star attitude. "I can never imagine Eric," she says, "in a situation where he'd be like, 'Yeah, babe.'" In fact, he was beginning to realize that his brief fling with fame had shortchanged him: "I hadn't seen the world, hadn't gone to college, hadn't read books. I wanted perspective." By 1992, two years after they wed, both were studying at the University of California's Berkeley campus. Janine majored in women's studies while Eric studied political science, something that had intrigued him even as a kid. He knew he'd made the right choice that year when he became a local frontman for Democratic candidates, including Bill Clinton. Working with camera crews "was like making a movie." Brown took the logical step of going to Capitol Hill in 1997, after the couple settled in Takoma Park so his wife could pursue graduate studies. But long hours as press secretary for Democratic New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez kept him away from his family. The next year he decided to try the more leisurely environment at the Center for a New American Dream, which at the time seemed to him "either the best thing in the world or a bunch of wackos." As he learned about ecology, he concluded, "it's the best thing. The work I do is necessary, and I'm happy to do it." That means happier birthdays. Last January, when Maggie turned 6, he made the cake from scratch, down to the strawberry frosting. "I couldn't bear," says Brown, "to buy the store-bought kind." --Tom Gliatto --Cathy Areu Jones in Takoma Park Illustration/Photos: COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANUTA OTFINOWSKI "One person can't save the world, but everybody can make it a little better," says Brown (with Maltman at home in Takoma Park, Md.). COLOR PHOTO: MPTV Mama's Berry (standing) and Lawrence "were always funny," says Brown (right). COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANUTA OTFINOWSKI Her spouse realized that showbiz was "very hollow," says Janine (with Eric and Maggie). Keywords: Profile; Television; Eric Brown; © 2002 Time Inc.
	__________________ "Life is much too serious to be taken seriously" -Vicki Lawrence "What's Up? My name is Thelma and I'm here to say, that if ya like big booty it's your lucky day. You men stop wonderin', no need to speculate, I measure 44-36-48." -Mama's Rap Song

03-20-2004, 05:57 PM	#3
PZelda Two Valeries! <3 Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 15, 2002 Location: I'm STILL missing NYC. :( Posts: 78,223	Yeah, I saw that article. It had two pics...One of Eric Brown currently (well, two years ago...it WAS 2002), and one of him as a teen on MF. It was pages 96-97, I think.
	__________________ Cheers behind the couch!

03-21-2004, 07:54 PM	#4
Penny Lane Butter Pie Forum Icon Join Date: Jul 03, 2001 Location: Beneath the blue suburban skies Posts: 51,248	Why did the author of the article call his character a "dim bulb"? Actually Buzz was a smart , nice kid!
	__________________ Vulgarity is no substitute for wit- Lady Violet Crawley

12-01-2006, 12:43 PM	#10
jonnycarnahan F-Troop Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 23, 2005 Location: New Orleans Posts: 118	Thank you so much for posting that link for Eric Brown. I loved him as Buzz ... so much more so than I did the character of Bubba.
	__________________ "Housework won't kill you, but why take a chance?" ... Phyllis Diller

12-02-2006, 11:30 AM	#11
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	*Thanks for posting The Article about Eric Brown*
	__________________ Who Dat

03-20-2004, 01:31 PM	#2
FamilyTiesGOP _ Senior Member Join Date: Oct 28, 2003 Posts: 1,631	Oh, bummer. He and I are basically political polar opposites. Well, atleast he is happy now.

02-08-2005, 07:50 PM	#7
fitzlaw Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 08, 2005 Posts: 12	I know Eric from UC Berkeley days. He was very down-to-earth back then, too. Great guy. We had a teaching assistant in one class whose favorite move was Wax Works! Don't know if it helped Eric's grade, but it certainly raised his stature in the TA's eyes. The article doesn't mention that, after graduation, he and his wife (also a very nice person) spent a year in Japan while Eric taught English. He would circulate e-mail reports of his experiences which were very witty, insightful and (of course) self-depracating. Nice to read he and Janine are doing well. Didn't know about the baby. Sounds like they've created a nice life for themselves.

03-09-2006, 06:59 AM	#9
john_77019 Member Forum Cub Join Date: Mar 09, 2006 Posts: 2	i've always liked his character, too, and thought they could have done more with him. but i have an update to this article. apparently, eric has returned to california, and is working with a similar organization. his current picture and bio (no mention of acting) page from his new workplace is here. gotta go, MF is coming on!

12-02-2006, 11:58 AM	#12
88survivor Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2006 Location: NY Posts: 1,849	I was not too keen on Sonja and Buzz....I believe their characters were underdeveloped and not very interesting. Mama Harper, Eunice, Aunt Fran, Noami, Ellen, Iola, Vinton, and Bubba on the other hand were funny and entertaining. It is just with those two original grandchildren character.....they were very dull and not very interesting for the viewer to relate to them at all. Buzz was nice and smart, Sonja's a bitch, but that's about it.

12-02-2006, 12:11 PM	#13
jonnycarnahan F-Troop Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 23, 2005 Location: New Orleans Posts: 118	Hi. I never liked Sonja either. I'm glad her parts were few and far between. But I was Buzz's characters' age when the show was on originally and I found I could relate to him more even though I'm female. I guess I was a strange kid. LOL.

12-04-2006, 02:40 PM	#14
88survivor Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 03, 2006 Location: NY Posts: 1,849	I guess I am more of a Bubba fan. I practically liked Allan Kayser in my favorite horror spoof movie, Night of The Creeps.

12-22-2006, 07:00 PM	#15
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	I am also Bubba Fan but as a Kid rowing up I was also a an of Eric Brown