During his years with the Queensland Theatre Company, he played many Shakespearean roles, including: John Falstaff in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; the title role of King Henry V in "Henry V"; and Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing".
He began his professional acting career with the Queensland Theatre Company, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. One of his fellow actors, in the QTC, was Geoffrey Rush.
He has been a visiting Professor at the State University of New York College at New Paltz, which commissioned Bille Brown's play "Almost a Joke". He appeared on Broadway, in New York, as Dr. Triletsky in "Wild Honey".
He was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Australian arts.
His first play, as a writer for the Royal Shakespeare Company, was "The Swan Down Gloves", which was chosen for a Royal Command performance at the Barbican in March 1982.
While performing in a Shakespearean play in London, Brown was spotted by John Cleese, who was so impressed by his performance, that he personally asked him to take part in Cleese's new film Fierce Creatures (1997)