Reliance-Majestic Studios Archives

Happy 137th Birthday, Tod Browning!

Actor, director and screenwriter Tod Browning was born Charles Albert Browning, Jr. on July 12, 1880, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Happy birthday, Mr. Browning, wherever you may be.

Here are 10 things you should know about Tod Browning…

You think that money is everything
And yet it's anybody's spring.
Go make a fortune, become a king
And still it's anybody's spring.

And if you flash a bank roll
Do you suppose the brook would care?
Or that a rose would say
'There goes a millionaire!'?
It's more than diamonds around a ring
Because it's anybody's spring.

You may be born with the silver spoon
And yet it's anybody's moon.
You couldn't buy a ticket
To hear the first robin sing.
It's free because
It's anybody's spring.

—It's Anybody's Spring; music by James Van Heusen; words by Johnny Burke 1945