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Arthur O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films (starting with a small role in Citizen Kane) in 1941 and television programs (mostly guest appearances). Among his screen appearances were Picnic, Anatomy of a Murder, and as the watch-maker who hides Jews during WWII in The Hiding Place. A veteran vaudevillian, O'Connell, from New York City, made his legitimate stage debut in the mid 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 (1939) 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'd 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 1962 O'Connell portrayed the father of Elvis Presley's character in the motion picture Follow That Dream, and in 1964 in the Presley-picture Kissin' Cousins. O'Connell continued appearing in choice character parts on both TV and films during the 1960s, but avoided a regular television series, holding out until he could be assured top billing. He appeared as Joseph Baylor in the 1964 episode "A Little Anger Is a Good Thing" on the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point. The actor 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, assuming he'd 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. Ill health forced O'Connell to significantly reduce his acting appearances in the mid '70s, but the actor stayed busy as a commercial spokesman, a friendly pharmacist who was a spokesperson for Crest toothpaste. At the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease in California in May 1981, O'Connell was appearing solely in these commercials, by his own choice. O'Connell was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York. Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur O'Connell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Info
- wc Gender: Male
- calendar_month Birth Date: 1908-03-29
- event Death Date 1981-05-18
- school Known for: Acting
- star Popularity: 4.4
- info Birth Place New York City, New York, U.S.
- visibility Views: 3 views
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star User Ratings:
image Images
smart_display Movies and TV shows by Arthur O'Connell
7.9
Anatomy of a Murder
1959-07-01
7.3
Pocketful of Miracles
1961-12-18
6.7
Fantastic Voyage
1966-08-24
7.3
Blondie's Blessed Event
1942-04-09
7.1
The Great Race
1965-07-01
6.1
The Silencers
1966-02-18
6.1
Bus Stop
1956-08-31
5.9
Misty
1961-06-04
6.8
There Was a Crooked Man...
1970-09-18
6.9
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956-04-12
6.9
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
1964-03-18
5.8
Ben
1972-06-23
6.6
The Last Valley
1971-01-28
6.6
Man of the West
1958-06-20
6
The Reluctant Astronaut
1967-09-05
4.7
Kissin' Cousins
1964-03-06
6
Gidget
1959-04-09
6.7
The Hiding Place
1975-05-04
5.1
They Only Kill Their Masters
1972-11-22
6.9
The Great Impostor
1960-12-23
6.4
The Power
1968-02-21
6.1
Cimarron
1960-12-01
6.3
Picnic
1955-11-18
6.1
Follow That Dream
1962-04-11
6.5
Open Secret
1948-02-14
5.9
Huckleberry Finn
1974-05-24
6.8
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940-09-06
6.3
Your Cheatin' Heart
1964-11-04
6.3
The Solid Gold Cadillac
1956-08-22
5.1
Wicked, Wicked
1973-06-13
5.4
A Thunder of Drums
1961-09-26
5.8
Ride Beyond Vengeance
1966-01-01
5
The Countess of Monte Cristo
1948-10-31
6.4
The Proud Ones
1956-05-15
3
Nightmare in the Sun
1965-03-06
5.8
The Third Day
1965-08-04
5.6
The Monte Carlo Story
1956-12-19
5
Murder in Soho
1939-02-01
6.2
A Taste of Evil
1971-10-11
7.5
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
1986-04-19
5
A Covenant with Death
1967-02-15
0
Pericles on 31st Street
1962-04-12
6
Man From Headquarters
1942-01-23
5
If He Hollers, Let Him Go!
1968-10-08
6
The Monkey's Uncle
1965-08-18
5
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
1970-09-11
5.8
Voice in the Mirror
1958-08-13
6.8
Seven in Darkness
1969-09-23
7.2
The Naked City
1948-03-04
6.4
April Love
1957-11-27
7.1
The Poseidon Adventure
1972-12-01
5.1
Law of the Jungle
1942-02-06
7.2
Operation Petticoat
1959-12-05
7
Homecoming
1948-04-29
6.6
Force of Evil
1950-08-24
6.8
Two Girls on Broadway
1940-04-19
4.3
I Take This Oath
1940-05-20
4.7
Hound-Dog Man
1959-11-11
6.5
One Touch of Venus
1948-08-01
5.5
Canal Zone
1942-03-19
4
Hullabaloo
1940-10-25
5.3
The Golden Fleecing
1940-08-16
6.2
And One Was Beautiful
1940-04-05
6.6
State of the Union
1948-04-30
8.1
Citizen Kane
1941-04-17
10
Hello, Annapolis
1942-04-23
8
The Violators
1957-11-30
5
Birds Do It
1966-08-13
0
'Taint Legal
1940-05-25
0
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
1974-01-09
6.2
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
1951-08-02
6
Marilyn
1963-04-18
0
Bested by a Beard
1940-07-16
5.4
Fingers at the Window
1942-04-22
7.7
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991-10-28
6.4
Operation Mad Ball
1957-08-17
6
Burke's Law
1963-09-20
6.5
My Three Sons
1960-09-29
5.5
The F.B.I.
1965-09-19
6.4
Route 66
1960-10-07
6.9
Alias Smith and Jones
1971-01-05
6
Omnibus
1952-11-09
5.8
Petticoat Junction
1963-09-24
5.7
Room 222
1969-09-11
5
Arrest and Trial
1963-09-15
4.4
Studio One
1948-11-07
7.8
Night Gallery
1970-12-16
7.8
Emergency!
1972-01-22
6.5
Cannon
1971-09-14
7.2
The Fugitive
1963-09-17
6.9
Ironside
1967-03-28
5
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963-09-17
6
Sam Benedict
1962-09-15
7.5
The Wild Wild West
1965-09-17
5.6
Nanny and the Professor
1970-01-21
7.2
The Fugitive
1963-09-17
7.1
McCloud
1970-02-17
5.8
Alcoa Theatre
1957-09-30
6
The Big Valley
1965-09-15
3.3
Matinee Theater
1955-10-31
5
The Paul Lynde Show
1972-09-13
6
The Second Hundred Years
1967-09-06
5.6
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948-10-03
7
The New Breed
1961-10-03
5.5
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956-10-05
7
The Oscars
1953-03-19
0
Summer Playhouse
1954-07-06
7.1
Ghost Story
1972-09-15
5
Adam's Rib
1973-09-14
6.8
The Name of the Game
1968-09-20
4.4
Studio One
1948-11-07
6.5
DuPont Show of the Month
1957-09-29
5.6
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948-10-03
5.6
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948-10-03
7.5
Bonanza
1959-09-12