Editing Julie Brown (section)

==Career==
Brown began her career performing in nightclubs.<ref name=TI>{{cite web|title=Julie Brown|publisher=[[The Improv]]|url=http://improv.com/comedian.cfm?id=7551|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018203119/http://improv.com/comedian.cfm?id=7551|archive-date=2016-10-18}}</ref> She was a contestant on the game show ''[[Whew!]]'' (as Annie Brown).<ref>{{YouTube | id=OPzhwQSsl7M | title=Whew - Game Show - Annie & John}}</ref> She started working on television with a guest spot on the sitcom ''[[Happy Days]]''. She also appeared in the 1981 cult film ''[[Bloody Birthday]]''. Following a small role in the [[Clint Eastwood]] comedy film ''[[Any Which Way You Can]]'', comedian [[Lily Tomlin]] gave her a part in her [[1981 in film|1981 film]] ''[[The Incredible Shrinking Woman]]''.<ref name=TI/> She made subsequent appearances on ''[[Laverne & Shirley]]'', ''[[Buffalo Bill (TV series)|Buffalo Bill]]'', ''[[The Jeffersons]]'', and ''[[Newhart]]''.

In 1984, Brown released her first [[Extended play|EP]], a five-song album called ''[[Goddess in Progress]]''.<ref name=LT>{{cite web|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|title=Valley Girl Is Only One Shade of Julie Brown|date=February 8, 1990|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-08-ca-387-story.html}}</ref> The album, parodies of popular '80s music combined with her valley-girl personality. The songs "[[Earth Girls Are Easy (Soundtrack)|'Cause I'm a Blonde]]" and "[[The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun]]" received international radio airplay.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bronson|first=Harold|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=brRSDwAAQBAJ|title=The Rhino Records Story: Revenge of the Music Nerds|date=October 2013|publisher=SelectBooks, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59079-135-6|language=en}}</ref>

In 1987, Brown released her first full-length album, ''[[Trapped in the Body of a White Girl]]''.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=November 2, 1987 |title=Picks and Pans Review: Trapped in the Body of a White Girl Vol. 28 No. 18 |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20097470,00.html}}</ref> The album's [[music video]]s received airplay on [[MTV]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In 1989, she created and starred in the MTV comedy and music-video show ''[[Just Say Julie]]''.<ref name=LT/> She played the role of a demanding, controlling, and pessimistic glamour-puss from the valley, making fun of popular music acts, while at the same time introducing their music videos.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In 1989, [[CBS]] commissioned a pilot titled ''Julie Brown: The Show'', featuring Brown as the hostess of a talk show. She would interview actual celebrity guests, interspersed with scripted scenarios. The pilot was aired, but the show was not picked up.

Brown's film career began in 1988 with the release of the film ''[[Earth Girls Are Easy]]'', written, [[Film producer|produced]] by, and featuring Brown,<ref>{{cite web|title=Earth Girls Are Easy (1989) Review/Film; On Shaving, Furry Aliens Turn Into Valley Guys|first=Caryn|last=James|date=May 12, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DEFD6163DF931A25756C0A96F948260}}</ref> it was based loosely on a song by the same name from her debut EP. The film also starred [[Jeff Goldblum]], [[Geena Davis]], and then-unknown comedians [[Jim Carrey]] and [[Damon Wayans]]. In 1990, she appeared in the film ''[[The Spirit of '76 (1990 film)|The Spirit of '76]].''

[[Image:Julie Brown 2 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|Brown performing in 2008 at [[The Public Theater]] in New York City]]
In 1991, [[NBC]] commissioned a half-hour comedy [[Television pilot|pilot]] titled ''The Julie Show''. Created by Brown, [[Charlie Coffey (writer)|Charlie Coffey]], and [[Television director|director]] and [[executive producer]] [[David Mirkin]], it followed actress Julie Robbins (Brown), who goes to great lengths to land an interview with teen singer Kiki (Kim Walker) in the hopes of getting hired as a tabloid-TV celebrity journalist. Developed under the working title ''The Julie Brown Show'', it starred [[Marian Mercer]] as Julie's mother, June; [[DeLane Matthews]] as Debra Deacon, a reporter on the fictional series ''Inside Scoop''; [[Susan Messing]] as Julie's roommate Cheryl; and [[Kevin O'Rourke (actor)|Kevin O'Rourke]] as ''Inside Scoop'' producer Tony Barnow. Brown also served as producer and performed the [[theme song]].<ref>[[Frank Lovece|Lovece, Frank]]. ''The Television Yearbook 1990-91'' (Perigee Books / Putnam Publishing, 1991), p. 267</ref>

In 1992, Brown starred on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] [[sketch comedy]] show ''[[The Edge (TV series)|The Edge]].'' The same year, she released the [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] television film ''[[Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful]]'', a satire about [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] and her backstage [[documentary film|documentary]], ''[[Madonna: Truth or Dare|Truth or Dare]]''. She followed with another satire, ''[[Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women]]'', which lampooned the violence of [[ice skater]] [[Tonya Harding]] toward rival [[Nancy Kerrigan]], as well as that of widely publicized mutilator<!-- NOT castration --> [[John and Lorena Bobbitt|Lorena Bobbitt]].<ref>{{Citation|last1=Brown|first1=Julie|title=Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women|date=1994-08-21|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109167/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_45|last2=Wenk|first2=Richard|access-date=2016-10-11}}</ref>

Brown has contributed voices to various [[cartoon]]s, including ''[[Animaniacs]]'' as the voice of Minerva Mink, ''[[Aladdin (animated TV series)|Aladdin]]'' as Saleen, and as the original voice of [[Zatanna]] in the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' cartoon. She guest-starred on ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' as Julie Bruin, a cartoon bear version of herself, in which she guest-starred in her own segment "Just Say Julie Bruin", a reference to her music video show.

Brown appeared as Coach Millie Stoeger in the 1995 film ''[[Clueless (film)|Clueless]]'', reprising the role on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC's]] 1996–1999 [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] television series, for which she also served as a writer, producer, and director. In 1998, Brown appeared in the parody film ''[[Plump Fiction]]''. In 2000, she created the series ''[[Strip Mall]]'' for [[Comedy Central]] network.

Since 2004, Brown has been a commentator for [[E!]] network specials, including ''101 Reasons the '90s Ruled'', ''101 Most Starlicious Makeovers'', ''101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment'', and ''50 Most Outrageous TV Moments''. In 2005, Brown purchased the rights to her ''Trapped'' album from the record label and reissued it herself.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} She also self-released a single, "I Want to Be Gay". The single was originally released on Compact Disc only in a cardboard sleeve and made available exclusively through her website, or through eBay (via her own sales representative). It later became available for digital download. In 2007, she also purchased the rights to her 1984 E.P. ''Goddess in Progress'' and re-released it as a full-length record with compiled unreleased tracks.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} Later that year, she began touring with her one-woman show, ''Smell the Glamour''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

In 2008, Brown co-wrote and appeared as Dee La Duke in the Disney Channel film ''[[Camp Rock]]''. The same year, she joined the cast of the Canadian television series ''[[Paradise Falls]]'' and began releasing one-track digital singles. In 2011, she released an album called ''Smell the Glamour'', which features satires of [[Lady Gaga]] and [[Kesha]], and updated versions of her ''Medusa'' songs.

Beginning in 2010, Brown began a recurring role as Paula Norwood, a neighbor and friend of the Heck family, on the ABC sitcom ''[[The Middle (TV series)|The Middle]]''. From 2010 to 2015, she was a writer for ''[[Melissa & Joey]]'', and played a gym teacher in one episode of the show. In 2012, she appeared with Downtown Julie Brown as a guest judge on ''[[RuPaul's Drag Race]]''.