James Brown; Actor Played Lt. Masters on ‘Rin Tin Tin’

James Brown, one of the classically handsome, all-American faces to come out of Hollywood in the 1940s--but probably better known as Lt. Rip Masters on the TV series “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin”--died Saturday at his home in Woodland Hills.

A daughter, Carol Thies, said her father was 72 when he died of the complications of lung cancer.

An athlete in his youth, Brown was playing tennis for Baylor University in his native Texas when he was seen in a tournament by a Paramount talent scout, who signed him for a screen test.

He made the first of about 30 films in 1942--”The Forest Rangers”--and the next year began appearing in the three to four features annually that were to mark the rest of his career--”Air Force,” “Corvette K-225,” “The Food Fellows” and “Young and Willing.”

He was the young romantic lead and a bobby-soxers’ delight in “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” in 1944 and its sequel, “Our Hearts Were Growing Up” in 1946.

His other credits include “Going My Way,” “Objective Burma!,” “The Big Fix,” “Anna Lucasta,” “Sands of Iwo Jima,” “The Pride of St. Louis,” “A Star Is Born,” (the 1954 version) and “Irma La Douce.”

He became Lt. Masters for the six-year run of “Rin Tin Tin,” the TV spinoff of the old dog adventure pictures of the 1920s that began in 1954 on ABC.

In the series, a young boy and his dog were adopted by cavalry soldiers at Ft. Apache and helped the men carry law and order to the frontier.

Two of the three dogs used on the series were descendants of the original “Rinty,” who died in 1932.

Brown left the entertainment industry in the mid-1960s to begin manufacturing weight belts and became popular with the burgeoning physical fitness set. He sold his highly successful company to Faberge in 1969 but continued as a customer relations representative until returning to television in the mid-1970s.

Among his last feature pictures were “Mean Johnny Barrows” and “Adios Amigos” in the late 1970s. He appeared often on television in such series as “Gunsmoke,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Dallas.”

He is survived by two other daughters, Wendy and Barbara, his wife, Betty, four grandchildren and a niece. At his request there will be no services.