Editing Tod Browning (section)

== Final years and death ==
Browning's wife Alice died in 1944 from complications from pneumonia, leaving him a recluse at his Malibu Beach retreat.<ref>Harvey, 2009: "Sadly, soon after, his wife Alice died—also of complications from pneumonia—leaving him something of a Malibu recluse for the two remaining decades of his life.</ref><ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: Browning's "wife Alice died" in 1944.</ref> By that time Browning had become so isolated from the Hollywood establishment that ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' mistakenly published an obituary that year for Browning, confusing his spouse's death for that of the former director.<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: "Variety mixed up his wife's death with Browning and published his obituary in 1944."</ref>

In 1949, the [[Directors Guild of America]] bestowed a life membership on Browning; at the time of his death, the honor had been enjoyed by only four of Browning's colleagues.<ref>Sobchack, 2006 p. 36: "In 1949 Browning was awarded a life membership in the Directors Guild of America dash- an honor afforded to only four other individuals by the time of his death from cancer in 1962."</ref>

Browning, now a widower, lived in isolation for almost 20 years, "an alcoholic recluse."<ref>Eaker, 2016: "Browning's remaining twenty five years were spent as a widower recluse in alcoholic seclusion."</ref> In 1962 he was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. The surgical procedure performed to correct the condition rendered him mute.<ref>Alford, 1995: "Browning was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx in 1962, and underwent an operation. Mute and mutilated, he had arrived at, or regressed to, the silent-move state of speechless disfigurement that had been his obsession and his avatar."<br />Eaker, 2016: "Like his main star Lon Chaney, Browning developed throat cancer, which rendered him mute."</ref>

Tod Browning died alone at his Malibu home on October 6, 1962.<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11: "On 6 October 1962, Browning died alone in the bathroom of his house at Malibu Beach."<br />Eaker, 2016: "Browning died an obscure, alcoholic recluse in 1962...the perennial outsider, he could [not] have cared less."</ref> He is interred at [[Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery]].