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Arthur O'Connell‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1908-03-29

Popularity

star6.0

Arthur O'Connell

New York City, New York, USA

Arthur O'Connell

New York City, New York, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1908-03-29

Popularity

star6.0

Biography

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.    

Movie Credits

Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder‌
star7.8
calendar 1959

Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles‌
star7.3
calendar 1961

Fantastic Voyage

Fantastic Voyage‌
star6.7
calendar 1966

Blondie's Blessed Event

Blondie's Blessed Event‌
star7.3
calendar 1942

The Great Race

The Great Race‌
star7.1
calendar 1965

The Silencers

The Silencers‌
star6.1
calendar 1966

Bus Stop

Bus Stop‌
star6.1
calendar 1956

Misty

Misty‌
star5.9
calendar 1961

There Was a Crooked Man...

There Was a Crooked Man...‌
star6.8
calendar 1970

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit‌
star6.8
calendar 1956

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

7 Faces of Dr. Lao‌
star6.9
calendar 1964

Ben

Ben‌
star5.8
calendar 1972

The Last Valley

The Last Valley‌
star6.6
calendar 1971

Man of the West

Man of the West‌
star6.5
calendar 1958

The Reluctant Astronaut

The Reluctant Astronaut‌
star6.0
calendar 1967

Kissin' Cousins

Kissin' Cousins‌
star4.7
calendar 1964

Gidget

Gidget‌
star6.0
calendar 1959

The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place‌
star6.7
calendar 1975

They Only Kill Their Masters

They Only Kill Their Masters‌
star5.3
calendar 1972

The Great Impostor

The Great Impostor‌
star6.9
calendar 1960

The Power

The Power‌
star6.2
calendar 1968

Cimarron

Cimarron‌
star6.1
calendar 1960

Picnic

Picnic‌
star6.3
calendar 1955

Follow That Dream

Follow That Dream‌
star6.1
calendar 1962

Open Secret

Open Secret‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn‌
star5.9
calendar 1974

Dr. Kildare Goes Home

Dr. Kildare Goes Home‌
star6.8
calendar 1940

Your Cheatin' Heart

Your Cheatin' Heart‌
star6.3
calendar 1964

The Solid Gold Cadillac

The Solid Gold Cadillac‌
star6.3
calendar 1956

Wicked, Wicked

Wicked, Wicked‌
star5.1
calendar 1973

A Thunder of Drums

A Thunder of Drums‌
star5.4
calendar 1961

Ride Beyond Vengeance

Ride Beyond Vengeance‌
star5.8
calendar 1966

The Countess of Monte Cristo

The Countess of Monte Cristo‌
star5.0
calendar 1948

The Proud Ones

The Proud Ones‌
star6.4
calendar 1956

Nightmare in the Sun

Nightmare in the Sun‌
star3.0
calendar 1965

The Third Day

The Third Day‌
star5.8
calendar 1965

The Monte Carlo Story

The Monte Carlo Story‌
star5.6
calendar 1956

Murder in Soho

Murder in Soho‌
star5.0
calendar 1939

A Taste of Evil

A Taste of Evil‌
star6.2
calendar 1971

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend‌
star7.5
calendar 1986

A Covenant with Death

A Covenant with Death‌
star5.0
calendar 1967

Pericles on 31st Street

Pericles on 31st Street‌
star0.0
calendar 1962

Man From Headquarters

Man From Headquarters‌
star6.0
calendar 1942

If He Hollers, Let Him Go!

If He Hollers, Let Him Go!‌
star5.0
calendar 1968

The Monkey's Uncle

The Monkey's Uncle‌
star6.0
calendar 1965

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?‌
star5.0
calendar 1970

Voice in the Mirror

Voice in the Mirror‌
star5.8
calendar 1958

Seven in Darkness

Seven in Darkness‌
star6.8
calendar 1969

The Naked City

The Naked City‌
star7.2
calendar 1948

April Love

April Love‌
star6.4
calendar 1957

The Poseidon Adventure

The Poseidon Adventure‌
star7.1
calendar 1972

Law of the Jungle

Law of the Jungle‌
star5.1
calendar 1942

Operation Petticoat

Operation Petticoat‌
star7.2
calendar 1959

Homecoming

Homecoming‌
star7.0
calendar 1948

Force of Evil

Force of Evil‌
star6.6
calendar 1950

Two Girls on Broadway

Two Girls on Broadway‌
star6.8
calendar 1940

I Take This Oath

I Take This Oath‌
star4.3
calendar 1940

Hound-Dog Man

Hound-Dog Man‌
star4.7
calendar 1959

One Touch of Venus

One Touch of Venus‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

Canal Zone

Canal Zone‌
star5.5
calendar 1942

Hullabaloo

Hullabaloo‌
star4.0
calendar 1940

The Golden Fleecing

The Golden Fleecing‌
star5.3
calendar 1940

And One Was Beautiful

And One Was Beautiful‌
star6.2
calendar 1940

State of the Union

State of the Union‌
star6.6
calendar 1948

Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane‌
star8.0
calendar 1941

Hello, Annapolis

Hello, Annapolis‌
star10.0
calendar 1942

The Violators

The Violators‌
star8.0
calendar 1957

Birds Do It

Birds Do It‌
star5.0
calendar 1966

'Taint Legal

'Taint Legal‌
star0.0
calendar 1940

Shootout in a One-Dog Town

Shootout in a One-Dog Town‌
star0.0
calendar 1974

The Whistle at Eaton Falls

The Whistle at Eaton Falls‌
star6.2
calendar 1951

Marilyn

Marilyn‌
star6.0
calendar 1963

Bested by a Beard

Bested by a Beard‌
star0.0
calendar 1940

Fingers at the Window

Fingers at the Window‌
star5.4
calendar 1942

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker‌
star7.7
calendar 1991

Operation Mad Ball

Operation Mad Ball‌
star6.4
calendar 1957

Tv Credits

Burke's Law

Burke's Law‌
star6.0
calendar 1963

My Three Sons

My Three Sons‌
star6.5
calendar 1960

The F.B.I.

The F.B.I.‌
star5.4
calendar 1965

Route 66

Route 66‌
star6.4
calendar 1960

Alias Smith and Jones

Alias Smith and Jones‌
star6.9
calendar 1971

Omnibus

Omnibus‌
star6.0
calendar 1952

Petticoat Junction

Petticoat Junction‌
star5.9
calendar 1963

Room 222

Room 222‌
star5.7
calendar 1969

Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial‌
star7.0
calendar 1963

Studio One

Studio One‌
star4.7
calendar 1948

Night Gallery

Night Gallery‌
star7.8
calendar 1970

Emergency!

Emergency!‌
star7.8
calendar 1972

Cannon

Cannon‌
star6.5
calendar 1971

The Fugitive

The Fugitive‌
star7.2
calendar 1963

Ironside

Ironside‌
star6.9
calendar 1967

The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on Earth‌
star5.0
calendar 1963

Sam Benedict

Sam Benedict‌
star6.0
calendar 1962

The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West‌
star7.5
calendar 1965

Nanny and the Professor

Nanny and the Professor‌
star5.6
calendar 1970

The Fugitive

The Fugitive‌
star7.2
calendar 1963

McCloud

McCloud‌
star7.1
calendar 1970

Alcoa Theatre

Alcoa Theatre‌
star6.2
calendar 1957

The Big Valley

The Big Valley‌
star6.0
calendar 1965

Matinee Theater

Matinee Theater‌
star4.6
calendar 1955

The Paul Lynde Show

The Paul Lynde Show‌
star5.0
calendar 1972

The Second Hundred Years

The Second Hundred Years‌
star6.0
calendar 1967

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse‌
star6.0
calendar 1948

The New Breed

The New Breed‌
star7.0
calendar 1961

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre‌
star5.5
calendar 1956

The Oscars

The Oscars‌
star7.0
calendar 1953

Summer Playhouse

Summer Playhouse‌
star0.0
calendar 1954

Ghost Story

Ghost Story‌
star7.1
calendar 1972

Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib‌
star5.0
calendar 1973

The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game‌
star6.8
calendar 1968

Studio One

Studio One‌
star4.7
calendar 1948

DuPont Show of the Month

DuPont Show of the Month‌
star6.7
calendar 1957

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse‌
star6.0
calendar 1948

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse‌
star6.0
calendar 1948

Bonanza

Bonanza‌
star7.5
calendar 1959