Celebrity Grave: Edmond O'Brien, Actor

 

Edmond O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. (1950). He also co-starred with Richard Rust in the NBC legal drama Sam Benedict, which aired during the 1962-1963 television season.

 

Career

Born in New York, New York, O'Brien made his film debut in 1938, and gradually built a career as a highly regarded supporting actor. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and appeared in the Air Forces' Broadway play and film Winged Victory.

He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and was also nominated for his role in Seven Days in May (1964).

His other notable films include White Heat (1949), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Longest Day (1962), Fantastic Voyage (1966), and The Wild Bunch (1969). From 1950 to 1952 O'Brien starred in the radio drama "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar." He also appeared extensively in television, including the 1957 live 90-minute broadcast on Playhouse 90 of The Comedian, a drama written by Rod Serling and directed by John Frankenheimer in which Mickey Rooney portrays a television comedian while O'Brien plays a writer driven to the brink of insanity by the mayhem.

In the 1957-1958 television season, O'Brien guest starred three times in Harbor Command, Wendell Corey's syndicated drama about the United States Coast Guard. In the 1959-1960 television season, O'Brien portrayed the title role in the syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight, the story of a New York City actor-turned-private detective. Two years after Johnny Midnight, he was cast as lawyer Sam Benedict.

O'Brien also guest starred on many television series, including an appearance on October 20, 1961, in the episode "The Invisible Government," along with Felicia Farr, in ABC's Target: The Corruptors!. He guest starred as Buck Denholt in the 1964 episode entitled "The Color of Sunset" on NBC's medical drama about psychiatry The Eleventh Hour starring Ralph Bellamy and Jack Ging. He also appeared as Roger Conning in the 1964 episode "Tide of Darkness" on the ABC drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point, starring Paul Richards.

In the mid-1960s, O'Brien co-starred with Roger Mobley and Harvey Korman in the Gallegher episodes of NBC's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Personal life

He was divorced from actresses Nancy Kelly and Olga San Juan. San Juan was the mother of his three children, including television producer Bridget O'Brien and actors Maria O'Brien and Brendan O'Brien.

He died in Inglewood, California, of Alzheimer's disease and was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Edmond O'Brien has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1725 Vine Street, and a second star at 6523 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to the television industry.

 

Filmography

Prison Break (1938) (extra role)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941)
Parachute Battalion (1941)
Obliging Young Lady (1942)
Powder Town (1942)
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)
Winged Victory (1944)
The Killers (1946)
The Web (1947)
A Double Life (1947)
Another Part of the Forest (1948)
For the Love of Mary (1948)
Fighter Squadron (1948)
An Act of Murder (1948)
Task Force (1949) (voice)
White Heat (1949)
Backfire (1950)
D.O.A. (1950)
711 Ocean Drive (1950)
Between Midnight and Dawn (1950)
The Admiral Was a Lady (1950)
The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951)
Two of a Kind (1951)
Warpath (1951)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952; unbilled cameo appearance)
Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
The Turning Point (1952)
Man in the Dark (1953)
Cow Country (1953)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Julius Caesar (1953)
China Venture (1953)
The Bigamist (1953)
Shield for Murder (1954)
The Shanghai Story (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)
A Cry in the Night (1956)
1984 (1956)
The Rack (1956)
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
The Big Land (1957)
Stopover Tokyo (1957)
The World Was His Jury (1958)
Sing, Boy, Sing (1958)
L’ Ambitieuse (1959)
Up Periscope (1959)
The Last Voyage (1960)
The 3rd Voice (1960)
The Great Impostor (1961)
Man-Trap (1961)
Moon Pilot (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
The Longest Day (1962)
Seven Days in May (1964)
Rio Conchos (1964)
Sylvia (1965)
Synanon (1965)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Peau d'espion (1967)
Le Vicomte règle ses comptes (1967)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Love God? (1969)
Dream No Evil (1970)
The Other Side of the Wind (1972)
They Only Kill Their Masters (1972)
Lucky Luciano (1974)
99 and 44/100% Dead (1974)