1908-03-29 New York City, New York, U.S.
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.
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker | actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1991-10-28 | |
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend | Self (from Bus Stop [1956]) (archive footage) | 1986-04-19 | |
The Hiding Place | Casper ten Boom, 'Papa' | 1975-05-04 | |
Shootout in a One-Dog Town | Henry Gills | 1974-01-09 | |
Huckleberry Finn | Col. Grangerford | 1974-05-24 | |
Wicked, Wicked | Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer | 1973-06-13 | |
They Only Kill Their Masters | Ernie | 1972-11-22 | |
Ben | Bill Hatfield | 1972-06-23 | |
The Poseidon Adventure | John, the Chaplain | 1972-12-13 | |
A Taste of Evil | John | 1971-10-11 | |
The Last Valley | Hoffman | 1971-01-28 | |
There Was a Crooked Man... | Mr. Lomax | 1970-09-18 | |
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? | Mr. Kruft | 1970-09-11 | |
Seven in Darkness | Larry Wise | 1969-09-23 | |
The Power | Prof. Henry Hallson | 1968-02-21 | |
If He Hollers, Let Him Go! | Prosecutor | 1968-10-08 | |
The Reluctant Astronaut | Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming | 1967-09-05 | |
A Covenant with Death | Judge Hockstadter | 1967-02-15 | |
Ride Beyond Vengeance | The Narrator | 1966-01-01 | |
Birds Do It | Professor Wald | 1966-08-13 | |
Fantastic Voyage | Col. Donald Reid | 1966-08-24 | |
The Silencers | Joe Wigman | 1966-02-18 | |
The Great Race | Henry Goodbody | 1965-07-01 | |
The Third Day | Dr. Wheeler | 1965-08-04 | |
Nightmare in the Sun | Sam Wilson | 1965-03-06 | |
The Monkey's Uncle | Darius Green III | 1965-08-18 | |
Kissin' Cousins | Pappy Tatum | 1964-03-06 | |
7 Faces of Dr. Lao | Clint Stark | 1964-03-18 | |
Your Cheatin' Heart | Fred Rose | 1964-11-04 | |
Marilyn | Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1963-04-18 | |
Pericles on 31st Street | Dan Ryan | 1962-04-12 | |
Follow That Dream | Pop Kwimper | 1962-04-11 | |
Pocketful of Miracles | Count Alfonso Romero | 1961-12-18 | |
A Thunder of Drums | Sgt. Karl Rodermill | 1961-09-26 | |
Misty | Grandpa Clarence Beebe | 1961-06-04 | |
The Great Impostor | Warden J.B. Chandler | 1960-12-23 | |
Cimarron | Tom Wyatt | 1960-12-01 | |
Operation Petticoat | Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin | 1959-12-05 | |
Gidget | Russell Lawrence | 1959-04-09 | |
Anatomy of a Murder | Parnell Emmett McCarthy | 1959-07-01 | |
Hound-Dog Man | Aaron McKinney | 1959-11-11 | |
Man of the West | Sam Beasley | 1958-06-20 | |
Voice in the Mirror | Bill Tobin | 1958-08-13 | |
The Violators | Solomon Baumgarten | 1957-11-30 | |
Operation Mad Ball | Col. Rousch | 1957-08-17 | |
April Love | Jed Bruce | 1957-11-27 | |
Montecarlo | Mr. Homer Hinkley | 1956-12-19 | |
Bus Stop | Virgil Blessing | 1956-08-31 | |
The Proud Ones | Jim Dexter | 1956-05-15 | |
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Gordon Walker | 1956-04-12 | |
The Solid Gold Cadillac | Mark Jenkins | 1956-08-22 | |
Picnic | Howard Bevans | 1955-11-18 | |
The Whistle at Eaton Falls | Jim Brewster | 1951-08-02 | |
The Naked City | Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited) | 1948-03-04 | |
Homecoming | Ambulance Attendant (uncredited) | 1948-04-29 | |
One Touch of Venus | Reporter | 1948-08-01 | |
State of the Union | First Reporter | 1948-04-30 | |
The Countess of Monte Cristo | Assistant Director Jensen | 1948-10-31 | |
Open Secret | Carter | 1948-02-14 | |
Force of Evil | Link Hall (uncredited) | 1948-12-25 | |
Hello, Annapolis | Pharmacist Mate | 1942-04-23 | |
Blondie's Blessed Event | Interne (uncredited) | 1942-04-09 | |
Law of the Jungle | Simmons | 1942-02-06 | |
Man From Headquarters | Goldie Shores | 1942-01-23 | |
Fingers at the Window | Photographer (uncredited) | 1942-04-22 | |
Citizen Kane | Reporter (uncredited) | 1941-04-17 | |
The Golden Fleecing | Cameraman (uncredited) | 1940-08-16 | |
'Taint Legal | Book Salesman | 1940-05-25 | |
Two Girls on Broadway | Reporter at Wedding (uncredited) | 1940-04-19 | |
Hullabaloo | Fourth Page | 1940-10-25 | |
I Take This Oath | Court Clerk | 1940-05-20 | |
Bested by a Beard | Phil | 1940-07-16 | |
Dr. Kildare Goes Home | Intern (uncredited) | 1940-09-06 | |
And One Was Beautiful | Moroni's Parking Attendant | 1940-04-05 | |
Murder in Soho | Lefty | 1939-02-01 |