A native of Philadelphia, Garrett Brown is best known for inventing the Steadicam, a camera that eliminates the risk of shakiness in pictures taken by hand-held cameras. Brown first used the Steadicam in the shooting of Rocky, and he won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his technical contributions to the film industry.  His creation is now standard fare on almost all major motion picture sets and "Steadicam" has become something of a household word.  But it all began with Rocky . . . 

In 1976, Garrett Brown had a fabulous demo reel for his new invention. Rocky director John Avildsen was watching the reel when he spotted his camera assistant, Ralph Hotchkiss, who was then assisting Brown. Avildsen, impressed by the possibilities Steadicam introduced, called Brown at home from stage 15 at Burbank Studios. Brown wasn’t home, but his wife knew where to find him: on stage 16 at Burbank Studios. She told Avildsen, who went outside to meet Brown. Brown came out with his camera ready, and began shooting footage of the director.

The most famous scene in the original Rocky that was shot by Garrett Brown is also Sylvester Stallone's most famous moment on film - Rocky's run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Brown describes his labors on this scene in great detail in the special edition DVD commentary for Rocky.  The Steadicam was also used extensively in the fight scenes, which helped to make Rocky such an exceptional sports film.  Never before were audiences taken into the fray by a camera, never before had action scenes appeared so realistically as they did in this movie.  During the Creed vs. Balboa fight, on certain long shots from above, Garrett Brown and the Steadicam are visiblily moving about the ring.  If you'd like to catch a glimpse of him in the movie, Garrett is wearing a striped shirt.

Brown and his Steadicam went on to work in a total of three Rocky pictures (I, II, V) and in 1978 he won a special technical Oscar for his remarkable invention.  Some of his other notable films include Marathon Man, The Shining, Tootsie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Philadelphia and Casino.