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