Tyne Daly Overcame Racial Intolerance To Raise Her 3 Children & Would Never Put Career Over ‘Beautiful’ Job Of Being A Grandma

Aug 14, 2023

Marriages always come with their own trials and tribulations, and even if they don’t last, the experiences and memories – as well as children – will always stay with you. This is something formerly married actors Georg Stanford Brown and Tyne Daly learned ever since they traded “I do’s” in 1966.

Georg originally hails from Havana, Cuba, but moved with his family to Harlem, New York, when he was 7 years old. Not a particularly studious child, he dropped out of school at 16. He moved to Los Angeles a year later. He then enrolled in the Los Angeles City College and decided to major in theater, and later said in an interview, “acting was something I fell into.”

He later returned to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. It was here that he would meet the woman who would eventually become his wife, Tyne. 

In the 1960s, Georg netted roles in films such as “The Comedians,” “Dayton’s Devils” and “Bullitt.” In 1972, he was cast as Terry Webster in “The Rookies,” a show about the journey of three men from their police cadet days onwards. The show aimed to convey a more realistic and accurate portrayal of police work and would run for four seasons until 1976.

In 1977, Georg would star in the eight-part historical miniseries “Roots” and in 1979, its sequel “Roots: The Next Generations” as the great-grandson of Kunta Kinte, blacksmith Tom Harvey. Both shows won rave reviews from critics and fans alike, bagging nine Emmy wins and a Golden Globe for best television series in 1978.

Georg would later move behind the camera, which paid off after he won an Emmy award for directing the season five finale of “Cagney & Lacey.”

Georg then slowed down career-wise, but family life was just picking up.

Georg married Tyne in 1966. At the time, Tyne was just getting her start in the business, playing small roles in television shows and movies, as well as theater productions. Born on Feb. 21, 1946, Tyne’s family was all in showbusiness, with both her father, James Daly, and mother, Mary Hope, being actors. Her brother, Tim Daly would also go on to be an actor, starring in the popular 1990s sitcom “Wings.”

It was Tyne's role as a married working mom and one half of the “Cagney & Lacey” police duo Mary Beth Lacey that shot her to fame. The show ran from 1981 to 1988 and was incredibly popular. The series followed the exploits of two female police detectives, Tyne’s Lacey and Sharon Gless’s Christine Cagney, as they solved cases and fought crime. It was lauded for focusing on the lives of working women as well as emphasizing female friendship and camaraderie. Over the course of its run, it won 14 Emmys, including four acting wins for Tyne.

After the show ended, Tyne would return to the theater, making Broadway appearances in a number of shows such as “Gypsy,” for which she won a Tony award, and “The Seagull.” She would also take on parts in film and TV, such as in “Judging Amy,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Spiderman: Homecoming.”

But for Tyne, her biggest role in life is that of mother to the three children she had with Georg. All daughters, her eldest child, Alisabeth Brown, was born in 1967, followed by Kathryne Brown in 1971 and Alyxandra Brown in 1985. 

But after 24 years of marriage, Georg and Tyne shocked the industry, which had considered them one of the most stable relationships in Tinsel Town, by announcing their divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the cause of the breakup.

But all was not lost, as both Georg and Tyne have remained close to their three daughters. Alisabeth became a production crew member for films such as “Sister Act” and the TV series “Vietnam War Story.” Meanwhile, Kathryne became an actress, with roles in “Judging Amy” and “Private Practice.” 

In an interview with her father, Kathryne recounted the pushback she received at the beginning of her career, and said:

“It was hard for me to say I wanted to be an actor; I thought I would be judged because of my family. When I decided one day that I was going to go to New York and get into an acting school, I remember you were like, ‘No. Stay in college.’ Later you changed. But you did give me a bit of a lecture: ‘You’re a woman, you’re black. Black women don’t have a lot of possibilities in this industry. It's going to be hard. Why not stay in college?”

Alisabeth, however, dropped out of the industry and is now happy making ceramics and glass tableware and is the mother of two children.

Kathryne welcomed her first child, daughter Poppy Hope, on May 12, 2010, and her second, Posy Pie, on Aug. 2, 2012. It’s clear she is very much a family woman, often gushing about her precious children on social media. 

The same is true of Tyne, who also posted a picture of her beautiful family and loves her grandchildren dearly. Not much is known about her youngest daughter, Alyxandra, but judging by Tyne’s caption, “All my women are mothers now! Wow,” we can safely assume she has a family of her own. 

Georg was also seen in a post of the entire huge family during Thanksgiving in 2019, showing just how far the two actors have come since 1966.

Tyne has a happy family life now, but the road to get there wasn’t easy. When she and Georg first got together, they endured harsh criticism about their union. This was because, at the time, interracial couples were not yet a usual occurrence. In fact, when Tyne and Georg married, interracial marriages were still illegal in 17 states. It would only become legal in all 50 states in 1967, the year after Tyne married Georg.

Even with the courage to pave their own path, they again faced reproval over their mixed-race children. Tyne recounted how many even expressed fears that their children were “fated for tragic lives.” However, Tyne remained true and steadfast in her commitment to her family and raised her children to become beautiful and independent women, despite the odds stacked against them.

Tyne is immensely proud of being a mother and now, grandmother, and put it:

“I am the mother of three grownup children — daughters — and the grandmother of four grandchildren, one of whom is a boy, my one grandson, and that job is a beautiful and noble job. And, I wouldn't trade that for any of the jobs I've done,” she explained. 

She added nothing in her career compared to her role as a matriarch.

“My favorite ‘productions’ are Alisabeth, Kathryne, Alyxandra, Hannah, Finn, Poppy and Posey. Those are my favorite productions of all time!”

Tyne is no doubt a tremendous influence on her children's and grandchildren’s lives, including Posey, who turned 11 on Aug. 3, 2023. Her mother marked the occasion with a sweet social media post celebrating the young girl as “strong, hilarious, cuddly, loyal, intelligent, intuitive, kind” as well as “a dynamic, beautiful light who spreads joy to all.”

There’s no doubt that light has spread to Tyne as well!

What an incredible family! What do you think of Georg Stanford Brown and Tyne Daly’s romance? Don’t you think their daughters and grandchildren are just adorable? Let us know, and pass this on to family and friends.