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Arthur O'Connell
Arthur O'Connell | |
|---|---|
 From Bus Stop (1956) | |
| Born | (1908-03-29)March 29, 1908 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | May 18, 1981(1981-05-18) (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York |
| Occupation | Stage, film, and television actor |
| Years active | 1938–1981 |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Hall Dunlop (m. 1962, div. 1972) |
Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage and film actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both Picnic (1955) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).[1] He made his final film appearance in The Hiding Place (1975), portraying a watch-maker who hides Jews during World War II.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 Family
4 References
5 External links
Biography
Bus Stop (1956)
O'Connell was born on March 29, 1908 in Manhattan, New York. He made his legitimate stage debut in the middle 1930s, at which time he fell within the orbit of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Welles cast O'Connell in the tiny role of a reporter in the closing scenes of Citizen Kane (1941), a film often referred to as O'Connell's film debut, though in fact he had already appeared in Freshman Year (1938) and had costarred in two Leon Errol short subjects as Leon's conniving brother-in-law.
After numerous small movie parts, O'Connell returned to Broadway, where he appeared as the erstwhile middle-aged swain of a spinsterish schoolteacher in Picnic - a role he would recreate in the 1956 film version, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. Later the jaded looking O'Connell was frequently cast as fortyish losers and alcoholics; in the latter capacity he appeared as James Stewart's boozy attorney mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and the result was another Oscar nomination.
In 1959, O'Connell also played the part of Chief Petty Officer Sam Tostin, engine room chief of the fictional World War II submarine USS Sea Tiger, opposite Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in Operation Petticoat. In 1961, O'Connell played the role of Grandpa Clarence Beebe in the children's film classic Misty, the screen adaptation of Marguerite Henry's story of Misty of Chincoteague.[2] In 1962, he portrayed the father of Elvis Presley's character in the motion picture Follow That Dream, and in 1964 in the Presley-picture Kissin' Cousins. In that same year O'Connell also portrayed the idealist-turned-antagonist Clint Stark, in The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, which has become a cult classic, and in which O'Connell's is the only character other than star Tony Randall to appear as one of the "7 faces."
O'Connell continued appearing in choice character parts on both television and films during the 1960s, but avoided a regular television series, holding out until he could be assured top billing. He appeared as Matt Dexter, an aging Irish drifter in the episode "Songs My Mother Told Me" (February 21, 1961) on ABC's Stagecoach West series. In the story line, Dexter witnesses a shooting and is sought as a material witness to a crime. Two criminals, one of whom is played by Richard Devon, also seek Dexter's whereabouts to make sure that he never testifies in court. Young Davey Kane, played by Richard Eyer, sneaks food and clothing to Dexter, who kills a rattlesnake that had threatened Davey and his dog. Dexter also teaches Davy new songs on his harmonica; hence the title of the episode.
On Christmas Day, 1962, O'Connell was cast as Clayton Dodd in the episode "Green, Green Hills" of NBC's modern western series, Empire, starring Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo. This episode also features Dayton Lummis as Jason Simms and Joanna Moore as Althea Dodd.
In 1964, O'Connell played Joseph Baylor in the episode "A Little Anger Is a Good Thing" on the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point, starring Paul Richards. In 1966, he guest-starred as a scientist who regretfully realized that he has created an all-powerful android in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode titled "The Mechanical Man." In the February 1967 episode "Never Look Back" of the TV series Lassie, he played Luther Jennings, an elderly ranger manning the survey tower at Strawberry Peak, who takes it hard when he finds he'll lose his job when the tower is slated for destruction.
O'Connell accepted the part of a man who discovers that his 99-year-old father has been frozen in an iceberg on the 1967 sitcom The Second Hundred Years, having assumed that he would be billed first per the producers' agreement. Instead, top billing went to newcomer Monte Markham in the dual role of O'Connell's father and his son. O'Connell accepted the demotion to second billing as well as could be expected, but he never again trusted the word of any Hollywood executive.[citation needed]
Ill health forced O'Connell to reduce his acting appearances in the middle 1970s, but the actor stayed busy as a commercial spokesman, a friendly pharmacist who was a spokesperson for Crest.[1]
At the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease in California in May 1981, O'Connell was appearing by his own choice solely in these commercials. O'Connell is interred at Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Freshman Year | Student | Uncredited |
| 1939 | Murder in Soho | Lefty | |
| 1940 | And One Was Beautiful | Moroni's Parking Attendant | Uncredited |
| Two Girls on Broadway | Reporter at Wedding | Uncredited | |
| I Take This Oath | Court Clerk | Uncredited | |
| The Golden Fleecing | Cameraman | Uncredited | |
| Dr. Kildare Goes Home | New Interne | Uncredited | |
| The Leather Pushers | Reporter | Uncredited | |
| Hullabaloo | Fourth Page | Uncredited | |
| 1941 | Lucky Devils | Pilot | Uncredited |
| Citizen Kane | Reporter | Uncredited | |
| 1942 | Man From Headquarters | Goldie Shores | |
| Law of the Jungle | Simmons | ||
| Yokel Boy | Second Assistant Director | Uncredited | |
| Canal Zone | New Recruit | Uncredited | |
| Shepherd of the Ozarks | Bruce | Uncredited | |
| Blondie's Blessed Event | Interne | Uncredited | |
| Fingers at the Window | Photographer | Uncredited | |
| Hello, Annapolis | Pharmacist Mate | Uncredited | |
| 1948 | Open Secret | Carter | |
| The Naked City | Sgt. Shaeffer | Uncredited | |
| State of the Union | First Reporter | Uncredited | |
| Homecoming | Ambulance Attendant | Uncredited | |
| One Touch of Venus | Reporter | Uncredited | |
| The Countess of Monte Cristo | Assistant Director Jensen | ||
| Force of Evil | Link Hall | Uncredited | |
| 1950 | Love That Brute | Newspaperman at Funeral | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Whistle at Eaton Falls | Jim Brewster | |
| 1955 | Picnic | Howard Bevans | |
| 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Gordon Walker | |
| The Proud Ones | Jim Dexter | ||
| The Solid Gold Cadillac | Mark Jenkins | ||
| Bus Stop | Virgil Blessing | ||
| The Monte Carlo Story | M. Homer Hinkley | ||
| 1957 | Operation Mad Ball | Col. Rousch | |
| The Violators | Solomon Baumgarden | ||
| April Love | Uncle Jed Bruce | ||
| 1958 | Voice in the Mirror | William R. 'Bill' Tobin | |
| Man of the West | Sam Beasley | ||
| 1959 | Gidget | Russell Lawrence | |
| Anatomy of a Murder | Parnell Emmett McCarthy | ||
| Hound-Dog Man | Aaron McKinney | ||
| Operation Petticoat | Chief Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin | ||
| 1960 | Cimarron | Tom Wyatt | |
| 1961 | The Great Impostor | Warden J.B. Chandler | |
| Misty | Clarence Beebe | ||
| A Thunder of Drums | Sgt. Karl Rodermill | ||
| Pocketful of Miracles | Count Alfonso Romero | ||
| 1962 | Follow That Dream | Pop Kwimper | |
| 1964 | Kissin' Cousins | Pappy Tatum | |
| 7 Faces of Dr. Lao | Clint Stark | ||
| Your Cheatin' Heart | Fred Rose | ||
| 1965 | Nightmare in the Sun | Sam Wilson | |
| The Monkey's Uncle | Darius Green III | ||
| The Great Race | Henry Goodbody | ||
| The Third Day | Dr. Wheeler | ||
| 1966 | Ride Beyond Vengeance | The Narrator | |
| The Silencers | Joe Wigman | ||
| Fantastic Voyage | Colonel Donald Reid | ||
| Birds Do It | Prof. Wald | ||
| 1967 | A Covenant with Death | Judge Hockstadter | |
| The Reluctant Astronaut | Arbuckle Fleming | ||
| 1967-1968 | The Second Hundred Years | Edwin Carpenter | TV Series |
| 1968 | The Power | Professor Henry Hallson | |
| If He Hollers, Let Him Go! | Prosecutor | ||
| 1970 | Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came | Mr. Kruft | |
| There Was a Crooked Man... | Mr. Lomax | ||
| Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring | Business Agent | ||
| 1971 | The Last Valley | Hoffman | |
| 1972 | Ben | Billy Hatfield | |
| They Only Kill Their Masters | Ernie | ||
| The Poseidon Adventure | Chaplain John | ||
| 1973 | Wicked, Wicked | Mr. Fenley | |
| 1974 | Huckleberry Finn | Col. Grangerford | |
| 1975 | The Hiding Place | Caspar ten Boom |
Family
In 1962, O'Connell married Ann Hall Dunlop (née Ann Byrd Hall; 1917–2000) of Washington, D.C., widow of William Laird Dunlop III (1909–1960). Arthur O'Connell and Ann Hall Dunlop divorced in December 1972 in Los Angeles.
References
^ ab "Arthur O'Connell, 73, Nominated For Oscars For Supporting Roles". The New York Times. May 19, 1981. Retrieved September 17, 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "History of Misty of Chincoteague". Misty's Heaven. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arthur O'Connell. |
Arthur O'Connell on IMDb
Arthur O'Connell at the Internet Broadway Database
Arthur O'Connell at Find a Grave
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