LOS ANGELES — Jim Brown, regarded by many as the greatest football player of all time who quit the game at the height of his career and became a successful Hollywood actor and influential activist at the peak of the civil rights era, has died at his home in Los Angeles.
Brown died late Thursday at 87. His wife Monique was by his side, a family spokeswoman said.
A multitalented athlete cast in the mold of the legendary Jim Thorpe — he’s in three halls of fame — Brown was known best as a football player. Perhaps the football player. A fullback for the Cleveland Browns, he stepped away from the game after only nine seasons while on the set of “The Dirty Dozen,” saying he needed greater mental stimulation in his life.
