Arthur O'Connell
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 29, 1908
- Died
- May 18, 1981
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
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.
Filmography
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies 2022
as Self - (archive footage)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker 1991
as actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Hiding Place 1975
as Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
Huckleberry Finn 1974
as Col. Grangerford
Shootout in a One-Dog Town 1974
as Henry Gills
Wicked, Wicked 1973
as Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
The Poseidon Adventure 1972
as John, the Chaplain
They Only Kill Their Masters 1972
as Ernie
Ben 1972
as Bill Hatfield
A Taste of Evil 1971
as John
The Last Valley 1971
as Hoffman
There Was a Crooked Man... 1970
as Mr. Lomax
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? 1970
as Mr. Kruft
Seven in Darkness 1969
as Larry Wise
If He Hollers, Let Him Go! 1968
as Prosecutor
The Power 1968
as Henry Hallson
The Reluctant Astronaut 1967
as Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
A Covenant with Death 1967
as Judge Hockstadter
Fantastic Voyage 1966
as Col. Donald Reid
Birds Do It 1966
as Professor Wald
The Silencers 1966
as Wigman
Ride Beyond Vengeance 1966
as The Narrator
The Monkey's Uncle 1965
as Darius Green III
The Third Day 1965
as Dr. Wheeler
The Great Race 1965
as Henry Goodbody
Nightmare in the Sun 1965
as Sam Wilson
Your Cheatin' Heart 1964
as Fred Rose
7 Faces of Dr. Lao 1964
as Clint Stark
Kissin' Cousins 1964
as Pappy Tatum
Marilyn 1963
as archive footage
Follow That Dream 1962
as Pop Kwimper
Pocketful of Miracles 1961
as Count Alfonso Romero
A Thunder of Drums 1961
as Sgt. Karl Rodermill
Misty 1961
as Grandpa Clarence Beebe
The Great Impostor 1960
as Warden J.B. Chandler
Cimarron 1960
as Tom Wyatt
Operation Petticoat 1959
as Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
Hound-Dog Man 1959
as Aaron McKinney
Anatomy of a Murder 1959
as Parnell Emmett McCarthy
Gidget 1959
as Russell Lawrence
Man of the West 1958
as Sam Beasley
Voice in the Mirror 1958
as Bill Tobin
The Violators 1957
as Solomon Baumgarten
April Love 1957
as Jed Bruce
Operation Mad Ball 1957
as Col. Rousch
The Monte Carlo Story 1956
as Mr. Homer Hinkley
Bus Stop 1956
as Virgil Blessing
The Solid Gold Cadillac 1956
as Mark Jenkins
The Proud Ones 1956
as Jim Dexter
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 1956
as Gordon Walker
Picnic 1955
as Howard Bevans
The Whistle at Eaton Falls 1951
as Jim Brewster
Force of Evil 1950
as Link Hall (uncredited)
The Taming of the Shrew 1950
as Curtis
The Countess of Monte Cristo 1948
as Assistant Director Jensen
One Touch of Venus 1948
as Reporter
State of the Union 1948
as First Reporter
Homecoming 1948
as Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
The Naked City 1948
as Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
Open Secret 1948
as Carter
Hello, Annapolis 1942
as Pharmacist Mate
Fingers at the Window 1942
as Photographer (uncredited)
Blondie's Blessed Event 1942
as Interne (uncredited)
Canal Zone 1942
as New Recruit (uncredited)
Law of the Jungle 1942
as Simmons
Man From Headquarters 1942
as Goldie Shores
Citizen Kane 1941
as Reporter (uncredited)
Hullabaloo 1940
as Fourth Page
- He Asked for It
He Asked for It 1940
Actor
Dr. Kildare Goes Home 1940
as Intern (uncredited)
The Golden Fleecing 1940
as Cameraman (uncredited)
Bested by a Beard 1940
as Phil
'Taint Legal 1940
as Book Salesman
I Take This Oath 1940
as Court Clerk
Two Girls on Broadway 1940
as Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
And One Was Beautiful 1940
as Moroni's Parking Attendant
Murder in Soho 1939
as Lefty
Credits from TMDB.