* DeMarcus Brown; Led University Theater Program

DeMarcus Brown, 99, head of the theater program at University of the Pacific for 44 years. A graduate of what was then College of the Pacific in 1924, Brown joined its faculty and moved with the college from San Jose to its new campus in Stockton. Brown produced about 370 plays over his 4 1/2 decades at the helm, ranging from “Hamlet” and “King Lear” to “Death of a Salesman” and “Merton of the Movies.” When he retired in 1968, he said he regretted never having staged a production of “The Mikado.” Over the years, Brown trained scores of actors, including his best-known student, Academy Award-winner Jo Van Fleet, and faculty for junior colleges and high schools. In addition to his campus productions, he staged summer plays at the historic Fallon House Theater, restored by the state of California in the Gold Rush country’s Columbia State Park. Brown helped build the Stockton campus’ outdoor Greek Amphitheater during the Depression and, 30 years later, the Playbox Theater. When the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theater (now Sacramento Theater Company) was established in 1942, Brown taught classes in acting and makeup. On March 24 in Stockton, after a fall and hip surgery.