Brian, a tenor, was employed in a Boston machine shop and, at the age of 16, began performing with a vocal quartet.

When he joined a theatrical troupe in New York City, he was soon in demand as a leading man.

His first sound film was an excerpt of his role in Peggy O'Hooligan (1925), made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

[citation needed] Brian was president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America.

[1] He was married twice—to Florence Meagher Gleason Pope in 1910,[2] and second to stage actress Virginia O'Brien(1896-?