WREN T. BROWN

A versatile actor with a deep melodious voice, Wren T. Brown is a fourth generation Angeleno, and also a fourth generation theatrical. He is very proud to be in his fourth decade as an Actor, Producer and Director. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Wren is descended from a long line of talented performers.
Among Wren’s film appearances are: “Beyond the Lights,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “Heart and Souls,” “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory,” “The Dinner,” “Hollywood Shuffle,” “Biker Boyz,” “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “Midnight Clear” and David Mamet’s “Edmond.” On television, Wren co-starred as Whoopi Goldberg’s brother and comic foil in NBC’s “Whoopi” and was a regular in “Flipper: The New Adventures,” as well as CBS’s “Bless This House.” He has also guest starred or recurred on: “The West Wing,” “The Practice,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Frasier,” “Seinfeld,” “Charmed,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Eli Stone,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Women’s Murder Club,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “The Game,” and as Professor Wilkins on “Half & Half.” Wren also starred in Hallmark’s “McBride: Tune in for Murder.” Most recently, Wren has also been seen in the award-winning Amazon series, “Transparent,” “Dear White People,” “Being Mary Jane,” “Grey’s Anatomy” (recurring), and as the voice of Virgil Simpson, on “The Simpsons.” Wren appeared as Moclan Captain Rechik in Season 2 of the hit sci-fi series “The Orville” and will recur in episodes of the upcoming 3rd Season. Some of his theatre credits include: Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” (Drama-Logue Award winner), “On Borrowed Time,” “Burning Hope,” his NAACP Image Award-nominated performance in “Jeffrey’s Plan” and most recently, The Public Theatre’s “The Gospel at Colonus” at the Delacorte (Sept 2018).
Wren has appeared in over 100 commercials and a broad range of voice-over and spoken word projects including being tapped by acclaimed pianist Billy Childs to recite the classic Langston Hughes poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” on Childs’ GRAMMY Award nominated album “I’ve known Rivers.” He narrated The History Channel’s “U.S.S. Constellation: Battling For Freedom,” The Learning Channel series “Scene of the Crime,” and “E! True Hollywood Story” on the life of Diana Ross. He also voiced Disney’s Br’er Rabbit for various projects and is the narrator for “Bronzeville,” a podcast about numbers runners in 1940s-era Chicago.
In his directorial debut, he directed over thirty-five actors and actresses in their performances in “Inspired By… The Bible Experience,” winner of the 2007 Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year in which Wren also narrated the book of Matthew. In April 2018, Wren made his theatrical directing debut on the Lone Tree Arts Center (Colorado) stage with August Wilson’s classic “Fences.” Brown followed this up with the critically acclaimed production of “Lady Day at the Emerson Bar & Grill.” In 1999, Wren made his debut as a producer with the critically acclaimed feature film, “Boesman & Lena” starring Danny Glover and Angela Bassett, followed by Dianne Reeves’ concert film of her GRAMMY Award winning CD, “In the Moment: Live in Concert.” He has produced an array of short films for new directors.
In 2007, Wren founded Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT), the first African American professional Equity theatre company in Los Angeles history where he serves as its producing artistic director from inception to the institution’s now 10 year anniversary. ERT, under Wren’s leadership, has produced Ovation Award and NAACP Theatre Award winning productions of August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running,” Regina Taylor’s “Crowns,” Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin In the Sun,” Jeff Stetson’s “Fraternity,” Phillip Hayes Dean’s “Robeson,” “The Gospel at Colonus,” of which the Los Angeles Times wrote “Theater at its most healing, electrifying and transcendent, ‘Colonus’ demands attendance.” (June 2015) and the 2017 musical hit Clarke Peters’ “Five Guys Named Moe” (May 18-June 11, 2017) which the Los Angeles Times reviewed as “…one of the more entertaining experiences available to humanity…” Wren periodically gives a six-week entertainment industry seminar through the ERT Performance Lab entitled, “Purpose, Passion & Possibility” as well as being an active cultural/motivational lecturer, recently interviewing film/tv notables Mellody Hobson, Reginald Hudlin and BeBe Winans.
Wren has formerly served on the board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild, Antioch University, Los Angeles, the Friends of Washington Preparatory High School, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and the Charles R. Drew University.