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Arthur O'Connell
Actor
Born March 29, 1908Died May 18, 1981 (73 years)
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.
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.
Movies & Shows on Plex
Known For
Filmography
| 1997 | Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years · as Actor 'bus Stop' |
| 1991 | Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker · as Actor 'anatomy Of A Murder' (archive Footage) (uncredited) |
| 1975 | Medical Story (TV Series) · as Dr. Avery Loomis |
| 1975 | The Hiding Place · as Casper Ten Boom, 'papa' |
| 1974 | Huckleberry Finn · as Col. Grangerford |
| 1974 | Shootout in a One Dog Town · as Henry Gills |
| 1973 | Shaft (TV Series) · as Frank Lucas |
| 1973 | The New Perry Mason (TV Series) · as Oliver Harwood |
| 1973 | Adam's Rib (TV Series) · as Judge |
| 1973 | Wicked, Wicked · as Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer |
| 1972 | The Poseidon Adventure · as John, The Chaplain |
| 1972 | They Only Kill Their Masters · as Ernie |
| 1972 | The Paul Lynde Show (TV Series) |
| 1972 | |
| 1972 | Ghost Story (TV Series) · as Chief Owen Huston |
| 1972 | Emergency! (TV Series) |
| 1971 | A Taste of Evil · as John |
| 1971 | The Jimmy Stewart Show (TV Series) · as Claude Peebles |
| 1971 | Cannon (TV Series) |
| 1971 | The Last Valley · as Hoffman |
| 1971 | The Smith Family (TV Series) · as Dan Mills |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones (TV Series) |
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... · as Mr. Lomax |
| 1970 | Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came · as Mr. Kruft |
| 1970 | McCloud (TV Series) |
| 1970 | Nanny and the Professor (TV Series) |
| 1970 | Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring · as Business Agent |
| 1969 | Night Gallery (TV Series) |
| 1969 | Seven in Darkness · as Larry Wise |
| 1969 | Room 222 (TV Series) |
| 1968 | If He Hollers, Let Him Go! · as Prosecutor |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game (TV Series) · as Charlie Sherwin |
| 1968 | The Power · as Prof. Henry Hallson |
| 1967 | Ironside (TV Series) |
| 1967 | The Second Hundred Years (TV Series) |
| 1967 | The Reluctant Astronaut · as Arbuckle "buck" Fleming |
| 1967 | A Covenant with Death · as Judge Hockstadter |
| 1966 | Fantastic Voyage · as Col. Donald Reid |
| 1966 | Birds Do It · as Professor Wald |
| 1966 | The Silencers · as Joe Wigman |
| 1966 | Ride Beyond Vengeance · as The Narrator |
| 1965 | The Great Race · as Henry Goodbody |
| 1965 | The Wild Wild West (TV Series) |
| 1965 | The F.B.I. (TV Series) · as Smitty |
| 1965 | The Big Valley (TV Series) · as Jubal |
| 1965 | The Third Day · as Dr. Wheeler |
| 1965 | A Man Called Shenandoah (TV Series) · as Professor Fontaine |
| 1965 | The Monkey's Uncle · as Darius Green Iii |
| 1965 | Nightmare in the Sun · as Sam Wilson |
| 1964 | 7 Faces of Dr. Lao · as Clint Stark |
| 1964 | Your Cheatin' Heart · as Fred Rose |
| 1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV Series) · as Paul |
| 1964 | Kissin' Cousins · as Pappy Tatum |
| 1963 | Petticoat Junction (TV Series) · as William Lawrence |
| 1963 | Burke's Law (TV Series) · as Dr. Stuart Alexander |
| 1963 | The Greatest Show on Earth (TV Series) |
| 1963 | The Fugitive (TV Series) · as Samuel Cole |
| 1963 | Breaking Point (TV Series) · as Joseph Baylor |
| 1963 | Arrest and Trial (TV Series) |
| 1962 | Empire (TV Series) · as Clayton Dodd |
| 1962 | The Virginian (TV Series) · as Emmitt |
| 1962 | Sam Benedict (TV Series) |
| 1962 | Follow That Dream · as Pop Kwimper |
| 1961 | Pocketful of Miracles · as Count Alfonso Romero |
| 1961 | A Thunder of Drums · as Sgt. Karl Rodermill |
| 1961 | The New Breed (TV Series) · as Peter Capples |
| 1961 | The Dick Powell Show (TV Series) · as Dan Ryan |
| 1961 | |
| 1960 | The Great Impostor · as Warden J.b. Chandler |
| 1960 | Cimarron · as Tom Wyatt |
| 1960 | |
| 1960 | Stagecoach West (TV Series) · as Matt Dexter |
| 1960 | Insight (TV Series) · as Chips |
| 1960 | My Three Sons (TV Series) |
| 1959 | Operation Petticoat · as Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin |
| 1959 | Hound-Dog Man · as Aaron Mckinney |
| 1959 | |
| 1959 | Anatomy of a Murder · as Parnell Emmett Mccarthy |
| 1959 | Gidget · as Russell Lawrence |
| 1958 | Voice in the Mirror · as Bill Tobin |
| 1958 | Man of the West · as Sam Beasley |
| 1957 | April Love · as Jed Bruce |
| 1957 | Alcoa Theatre (TV Series) |
| 1957 | Goodyear Theatre (TV Series) · as John Monroe |
| 1957 | The DuPont Show of the Month (TV Series) |
| 1957 | Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Charlie Loughlin |
| 1957 | Operation Mad Ball · as Col. Rousch |
| 1956 | The Montecarlo Story · as Mr. Homer Hinkley |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) · as Lyman |
| 1956 | Bus Stop · as Virgil Blessing |
| 1956 | The Solid Gold Cadillac · as Mark Jenkins |
| 1956 | The Proud Ones · as Jim Dexter |
| 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit · as Gordon Walker |
| 1955 | Picnic · as Howard Bevans |
| 1955 | Matinee Theater (TV Series) |
| 1954 | Father Knows Best (TV Series) · as Leonard |
| 1954 | Lassie (TV Series) · as Luther Jennings |
| 1953 | Ponds Theater (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1953 | You Are There (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1952 | Omnibus (TV Series) |
| 1952 | Mister Peepers (TV Series) · as Mr. Hansen |
| 1951 | The Whistle at Eaton Falls · as Jim Brewster |
| 1950 | The Web (1950) (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1950 | Love That Brute · as Newspaperman At Funeral |
| 1950 | Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theatre (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1949 | Suspense (TV Series) · as Grady |
| 1948 | Force of Evil · as Link Hall (uncredited) |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as Manachi Conners |
| 1948 | The Countess of Monte Cristo · as Assistant Director Jensen |
| 1948 | The Philco Television Playhouse (TV Series) · as Grant |
| 1948 | One Touch of Venus · as Reporter |
| 1948 | State of the Union · as First Reporter |
| 1948 | Homecoming · as Ambulance Attendant (uncredited) |
| 1948 | The Naked City · as Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited) |
| 1948 | Open Secret · as Carter |
| 1947 | Kraft Television Theatre (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1942 | Fingers at the Window · as Photographer (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Hello, Annapolis · as Pharmacist Mate |
| 1942 | Blondie's Blessed Event · as Interne (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Canal Zone · as New Recruit (uncredited) |
| 1942 | Yokel Boy · as Second Assistant Director |
| 1942 | Law of the Jungle · as Simmons |
| 1942 | Man from Headquarters · as Goldie Shores |
| 1941 | Citizen Kane · as Reporter (uncredited) |
| 1940 | Hullabaloo · as Fourth Page |
| 1940 | Dr. Kildare Goes Home · as Intern (uncredited) |
| 1940 | The Golden Fleecing · as Cameraman (uncredited) |
| 1940 | I Take This Oath · as Court Clerk |
| 1940 | Two Girls on Broadway · as Reporter At Wedding (uncredited) |
| 1940 | And One Was Beautiful · as Moroni's Parking Attendant |
| 1939 | Murder in the Night · as Lefty |