Brophy was born on November 1, 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended high school in Del Mar, California, and later graduated from the California Institute of the Arts.
Immediately after finishing his education, he received the title role in the series “Lucan”, which was broadcast in 1977-1978. It was about a boy who was raised by wolves. After years of research and therapy, teenage Lucan goes on a journey to find his family. At the same time, he helps people he accidentally meets thanks to his acute senses and superhuman strength. The production consisted of 12 episodes.
He then starred in “The Dead”, a western directed by Walter Hill, and the slasher “Hell Night”. Unfortunately, his career began to slow down quickly. Brophy appeared on screen in small roles, but had to work as a parking attendant at the Bel-Air Hotel, where he worked from 1983 to 2009.
In the following years, he guest starred in the series “MASH”, “Love Ship” and “JAG – Military Investigation Bureau”.
In July 2012, Brophy and Peter Barton, with whom he starred in “Hell Night”, received an inheritance from 71-year-old Ray Fulk. A man they had never met left each of them $500,000. It turned out that Fulk had no family or anyone close to him, so he left everything to the actors he was a fan of.
“He was a loner, and most of the neighbors didn't know who he was,” recalled Donald Behle, Fulk's executor, in 2012. The man wrote his will in 1998. “He told me they were his friends,” the lawyer added.
Barton met with him to check whether the letter he received was not a fraud attempt. “He didn't believe it. On the other hand, who could believe in something like that?” – Behle recalled.