[1] He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and films noir, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954).

In a 1966 interview Brand explained the Silver Star, stating that withering fire from German machine guns in a hunting lodge kept him and his unit pinned down.

His hulking physique, rough-hewn, craggy-faced looks and gravelly voice led to his largely playing gangsters, Western outlaws and various screen "heavies", cops and other tough-guy roles throughout his career.

The latter role, as the leader of a prison uprising, earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actor at the 8th British Academy Film Awards, but he lost to Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront.

[5] Brand had a supporting role in The Prodigal (1955) and The Return of Jack Slade and guest roles in Appointment with Adventure, Screen Directors Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, Chevron Hall of Stars, Schlitz Playhouse, General Electric Theater, The United States Steel Hour, and Stage 7.

He had lead film roles in Bobby Ware Is Missing (1955) and Fury at Gunsight Pass (1956) and supported in Raw Edge (1956), and Mohawk (1956).

[6][7] He often had better roles on television, including such shows as Climax!, Playhouse 90, Target and notably an adaptation of All the King's Men for Kraft Theatre, directed by Sidney Lumet, playing Willie Stark, for which he earned a Sylvania Award in 1958.

Brand was a guest star on The Texan, Pursuit, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, and The Dupont Show of the Month (doing Body and Soul with Ben Gazzara[8]).

Brand was in Five Gates to Hell (1959), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960), The Last Sunset (1961), and The George Raft Story (1961), reprising his role as Al Capone in the latter.

[9] He guest-starred on Straightaway, Cain's Hundred, Death Valley Days, The Joey Bishop Show, Naked City, The DuPont Show of the Week, Ben Casey, Rawhide, The Lieutenant, Theatre of Stars, Arrest and Trial, Destry, Wagon Train, Suspense, Combat!, Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Virginian.

Brand co-starred with George Takei in "The Encounter," a 1964 episode of the Twilight Zone, as a World War II veteran.

He appeared in Longstreet, Alias Smith and Jones, Marcus Welby, M.D., Two for the Money (1972), No Place to Run (1972), The Police Connection (1972), Cahill U.S.

In 1980, Brand appeared as Major Marvin Groper in The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty.

[15] Brand was an insatiable reader who amassed a collection of 30,000 books over the years, one of the largest private libraries in Los Angeles.

[18] After a private funeral service[19] he was cremated, and his remains were interred in a niche of the Morning Glory Room at East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.