Arthur O'Connell
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| Arthur O'Connell | |
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| Born | March 29, 1908 United States New York City, |
| Died | May 18, 1981 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California |
Arthur O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Academy Award nominated 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, American actor Arthur O'Connell from New York City made his legitimate stage debut in the mid '30s, 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 Jimmy Stewart's boozy attorney mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and the result was another Oscar nomination.
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. 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.
[edit] Partial Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
| 1955 | Picnic | Howard Bevans |
| 1956 | The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Gordon Walker |
| 1956 | Bus Stop | Virgil Blessing |
| 1956 | Man of the West | Sam Beasley |
| 1959 | Gidget | Russell Lawrence |
| 1959 | Anatomy of a Murder | Parnell Emmett McCarthy |
| 1959 | Operation Petticoat | Chief Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin |
| 1961 | Misty | Paul Beebe
[ 1962 || Follow That Dream || Pop Kwimper |
| 1964 | 7 Faces of Dr. Lao | Clint Stark |
| 1965 | The Great Race | Henry Goodbody |
| 1966 | Fantastic Voyage | Colonel Donald Reid |
| 1967 | The Reluctant Astronaut | Arbuckle Fleming |
| 1967 | The Second Hundred Years (TV series) | Edwin Carpenter |
| 1968 | The Power | Professor Henry Hallson |
| 1972 | The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film) | Chaplain John |
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | O'Connell, Arthur |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American actor; acting on stage, film and television; Oscar nominee |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 29, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City, New York, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 18, 1981 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | California, United States |
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