Biography

Longtime head of publicity for 20th Century-Fox.

In one of the more famous anecdotes about Brand, he sent one of his assistants to Grauman's Chinese Theater where a picture starring Lawrence Tibbett, a famous Metropolitan Opera star who had just been signed by Fox, was playing. The assistant was given a counter and instructed to stand by the ladies' lavatory and count how many women went to the bathroom during Tibbett's picture. When the assistant came back after the picture was over with a total count of 34, Brand announced that Tibbett would never be a star. He said that Rudolph Valentino "used to make 200 women pee an hour." It turned out that Brand was right; Tibbett only made a few more pictures, all unsuccessful, and went back to the opera.

His wife, the former Sybil Morris, was known for her charity and civic work. She helped to start the Motion Picture Relief Fund to help take care of elderly and retired film-industry people and those who were down on their luck. In addition, she helped to raise the money to build a new state-of-the-art (at the time) women's central jail, to replace the old, decrepit and somewhat dangerous one that was being used. In her honor, the facility was named after her--The Sybil Brand Institute.

Co-founder of Al St. John Comedies, a production company formed to make films for comedian Al St. John.

Prior to her marriage to Brand, Sybil Morris had been married to Gabriel Leavy, producing a son, George - later adopted by Harry Brand.