John "Johnny" Brown (born June 11, 1937) is an
American actor and
singer. Brown is a nightclub and stage performer as well as a comic actor, and a regular cast member of the television series
Laugh-in. Brown is mostly remembered for his chubby physique, wide ingratiating smile, mobile facial expressions, and easy pleasant joking style. Brown is most famous, however, for his role as building superintendent "
Nathan Bookman" on the 1970s
CBS sitcom,
Good Times. Bookman was often the brunt of fat jokes via the show's main character "
J. J. Evans" (
Jimmie Walker). Brown portrayed Bookman until the series was cancelled in 1979. Other television shows Brown has appeared on include
Flip Wilson Show,
The Jeffersons,
Family Matters,
The Jamie Foxx Show and
Martin. Brown also used to go to school with
Walter Dean Myers when he lived in Harlem as a boy.