Brown was a socialite, philanthropist, and an activist for women's suffrage.
Brown was famous for surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Specifically, she prevailed upon the crew of Lifeboat Number 6 to return to the site to look for survivors.
In 1909 and 1914, she ran for the US Senate. Neither run was successful, with Brown actually pulling out of the race the second time due to her sister marrying a German Baron. (Brown believed her sister's marriage would have sunk her chances.
Brown died on October 26, 1932, in New York City, where she had been acting in her final years.
A Broadway musical based upon her life opened in 1960, and that was later adapted in 1964 for film. The musical, and the movie had the same title, The Unsinkable Molly Brown.