Tyne Daly and Georg Stanford Brown, two Hollywood actresses, defied social norms and faced persecution before falling in love. When their story began in the 1960s, interracial unions were still illegal in many US states and looked down upon. But their love prevailed.
They got married on June 1, 1966, a year before interracial marriage became legal nationwide. It was a daring and courageous endeavor, given that as late as 1960, such weddings were prohibited in 31 states.
Before gaining fame in Hollywood, Georg Stanford Brown had his own path. He moved to Harlem at the age of seven from Havana. He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he pursued a degree in theater arts. Brown first thought that choosing a career in theater would be a lighthearted and “easy” choice.
However, he quickly warmed up to it and enrolled at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Working as a school janitor, he made a pitiful $80 a week, which went toward covering his tuition.
Brown first made the acquaintance of Tyne Daly, the future wife of his, when she was a student at the academy. Both of them learned from Philip Burton, the well-known actor Richard Burton’s mentor. Subsequently, Brown rose to fame for his role as Officer Terry Webster in the popular 1972–1976 ABC series “The Rookies.” His performance as Tom Harvey in the groundbreaking miniseries “Roots” left a profound effect.
On the other hand, Tyne Daly was already well-known when she and Brown were married. Mary Beth Lacey, the armed working mother police officer from the hit sitcom “Cagney and Lacey,” was her most well-known role.
The couple experienced racial prejudice during their marriage, but they chose to reject it and not let society’s narrow-minded views to define them. They had to prove their strength and perseverance when they shared their first interracial kiss on screen in a “The Rookies” episode. Network censors threatened to remove the sequence, but Daly and Brown refused to back down. The immaculate recording and presentation of the show demonstrated their unwavering commitment to one another and their ideals.
In an interview with the Washington Post in 1985, Daly shared her feelings over her union with Brown. She refused to be classified, seeing marriage as nothing more than the union of “another member of the human race.” Rather than being motivated by race, their relationship was built on love and shared values.
Together, Brown and Daly had three amazing daughters: Alisabeth Brown (born December 12, 1967), Kathryne Dora Brown (born February 10, 1971), and Alyxandra Beatris Brown (born October 1, 1985). They choose to raise their child with an open mind and to accept their child’s uniqueness instead of labeling them. On their daughter Alyxandra’s birth certificate, they wrote “human” under race, “yes” under sex, and “citizen of the world” under ethnic origin.
Even though Brown and Daly’s marriage ultimately ended in divorce after twenty-four years, their story of love remains motivational. They defied prejudice and social standards to demonstrate that love knows no bounds. Let’s pay tribute to their amazing journey and share their story of love overcoming all challenges.