Arthur O'Connell
Acting
Born: March 29, 1908 · New York City, New York, USA
Died: May 18, 1981 (aged 73)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
Citizen Kane
1941
Anatomy of a Murder
1959
The Poseidon Adventure
1972
Fantastic Voyage
1966
Bonanza
1959
Operation Petticoat
1959
The Great Race
1965
The Naked City
1948
Bus Stop
1956
Man of the West
1958
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
Ben
1972
Photos (4)
Movies (75)
Citizen Kane
Reporter (uncredited)
The Poseidon Adventure
John, the Chaplain
The Great Race
Henry Goodbody
Anatomy of a Murder
Parnell Emmett "Parn" McCarthy
Fantastic Voyage
Col. Donald Reid
Hound-Dog Man
Aaron McKinney
One Touch of Venus
Reporter
Bus Stop
Virgil Blessing
The Naked City
Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
Follow That Dream
Pop Kwimper
Operation Petticoat
Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
There Was a Crooked Man...
Mr. Lomax
Cimarron
Tom Wyatt
Man of the West
Sam Beasley
Pocketful of Miracles
Count Alfonso Romero
Picnic
Howard Bevans
Force of Evil
Link Hall (uncredited)
Homecoming
Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
The Silencers
Joe Wigman
Ben
Bill Hatfield
The Power
Henry Hallson
The Last Valley
Hoffman
The Solid Gold Cadillac
Mark Jenkins
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Gordon Walker
Kissin' Cousins
Pappy Tatum
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Clint Stark
State of the Union
First Reporter
Hello, Annapolis
Pharmacist Mate
Gidget
Russell Lawrence
The Monte Carlo Story
Mr. Homer Hinkley
The Proud Ones
Jim Dexter
A Thunder of Drums
Sgt. Karl Rodermill
They Only Kill Their Masters
Ernie
Ride Beyond Vengeance
The Narrator
Canal Zone
New Recruit (uncredited)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Great Impostor
Warden J.B. Chandler
Operation Mad Ball
Col. Rousch
Huckleberry Finn
Col. Grangerford
Wicked, Wicked
Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
The Hiding Place
Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
Nightmare in the Sun
Sam Wilson
A Covenant with Death
Judge Hockstadter
If He Hollers, Let Him Go!
Prosecutor
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Mr. Kruft
Your Cheatin' Heart
Fred Rose
The Reluctant Astronaut
Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
Law of the Jungle
Simmons
Misty
Grandpa Clarence Beebe
Marilyn
archive footage
Fingers at the Window
Photographer (uncredited)
Murder in Soho
Lefty
The Third Day
Dr. Wheeler
Voice in the Mirror
Bill Tobin
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Intern (uncredited)
A Taste of Evil
John
Hullabaloo
Fourth Page
The Golden Fleecing
Cameraman (uncredited)
The Monkey's Uncle
Darius Green III
April Love
Jed Bruce
I Take This Oath
Court Clerk
Open Secret
Carter
Two Girls on Broadway
Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
Henry Gills
And One Was Beautiful
Moroni's Parking Attendant
Blondie's Blessed Event
Interne (uncredited)
Seven in Darkness
Larry Wise
The Countess of Monte Cristo
Assistant Director Jensen
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Jim Brewster
The Taming of the Shrew
Curtis
Birds Do It
Professor Wald
Man From Headquarters
Goldie Shores
The Violators
Solomon Baumgarten
Bested by a Beard
Phil
'Taint Legal
Book Salesman
TV Shows (39)
Ironside
1 eps
Bonanza
Dr. Samuel Hubert · 1 eps
The Fugitive
Dr. Josephus Harrison Adams · 1 eps
The Fugitive
Samuel Cole · 1 eps
Wagon Train
1 eps
The Wild Wild West
1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
Jim Elkins · 1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
Grant · 1 eps
My Three Sons
1 eps
Emergency!
1 eps
The Name of the Game
Charlie Sherwin · 1 eps
Matinee Theater
1 eps
Studio One
Curtis · 1 eps
Studio One
Manachi Conners · 1 eps
The Big Valley
Jubal · 1 eps
Night Gallery
1 eps
Petticoat Junction
William Lawrence · 1 eps
Route 66
1 eps
Cannon
1 eps
The F.B.I.
Smitty · 1 eps
Room 222
1 eps
Burke's Law
Dr. Stuart Alexander · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Lyman · 1 eps
McCloud
1 eps
Omnibus
1 eps
Alias Smith and Jones
1 eps
Nanny and the Professor
1 eps
Arrest and Trial
1 eps
Sam Benedict
1 eps
Alcoa Theatre
1 eps
Ghost Story
Chief Owen Huston · 1 eps
The New Breed
Peter Capples · 1 eps
DuPont Show of the Month
1 eps
The Paul Lynde Show
1 eps
Medical Story
Dr. Avery Loomis · 1 eps
The Second Hundred Years
Edwin Carpenter · 26 eps
Adam's Rib
Judge · 1 eps
Special for Women
Joe Lawson · 1 eps
