Lillian Brown

Lillian Brown

Mary Lillian Josephine Brown was an American radio and television producer, university administrator and instructor. She provided makeup and image services to nine Presidents of the United States from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton, and to Martin Luther King Jr. Brown died in 2020 at her home in McLean, Virginia, after suffering a stroke at age 106.

About Lillian Brown in brief

Summary Lillian BrownMary Lillian Josephine Brown was an American radio and television producer, university administrator and instructor, author, makeup artist and image consultant. She provided makeup and image services to nine Presidents of the United States from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton, and to Martin Luther King Jr. Brown was not trained as a cosmetologist, but learned from her early work on television. She famously persuaded a reluctant Sam Rayburn to allow her to apply makeup by promising, ‘Mr. Sam, if you let me powder your nose, I will not relieve you of your manhood’ Brown died in 2020 at her home in McLean, Virginia, after suffering a stroke at age 106.

She continued teaching English as a First or Second Language until age 95. She was an author whose works included Your Public Best, The Polished Politician, and Speaking to Be Understood. She also hosted radio talk shows on National Public Radio and Armed Forces Radio. In the 1950s, Brown’s show, Do You Wonder?, was made at the same studio as Face the Nation.