1908-03-29 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.
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Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker | actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1991-10-28 |
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Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend | Self (from Bus Stop [1956]) (archive footage) | 1986-04-19 |
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The Hiding Place | Casper ten Boom, 'Papa' | 1975-05-04 |
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Huckleberry Finn | Col. Grangerford | 1974-05-24 |
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Shootout in a One-Dog Town | Henry Gills | 1974-01-09 |
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Wicked, Wicked | Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer | 1973-06-13 |
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They Only Kill Their Masters | Ernie | 1972-11-22 |
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The Poseidon Adventure | John, the Chaplain | 1972-12-01 |
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Ben | Bill Hatfield | 1972-06-23 |
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The Last Valley | Hoffman | 1971-01-28 |
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A Taste of Evil | John | 1971-10-11 |
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Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? | Mr. Kruft | 1970-09-11 |
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There Was a Crooked Man... | Mr. Lomax | 1970-09-18 |
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Seven in Darkness | Larry Wise | 1969-09-23 |
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If He Hollers, Let Him Go! | Prosecutor | 1968-10-08 |
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The Power | Prof. Henry Hallson | 1968-02-21 |
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A Covenant with Death | Judge Hockstadter | 1967-02-15 |
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The Reluctant Astronaut | Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming | 1967-09-05 |
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Ride Beyond Vengeance | The Narrator | 1966-01-01 |
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Birds Do It | Professor Wald | 1966-08-13 |
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Fantastic Voyage | Col. Donald Reid | 1966-08-24 |
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The Silencers | Joe Wigman | 1966-02-18 |
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The Third Day | Dr. Wheeler | 1965-08-04 |
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Nightmare in the Sun | Sam Wilson | 1965-03-06 |
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The Great Race | Henry Goodbody | 1965-07-01 |
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The Monkey's Uncle | Darius Green III | 1965-08-18 |
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Kissin' Cousins | Pappy Tatum | 1964-03-06 |
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7 Faces of Dr. Lao | Clint Stark | 1964-03-18 |
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Your Cheatin' Heart | Fred Rose | 1964-11-04 |
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Marilyn | Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1963-04-18 |
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Follow That Dream | Pop Kwimper | 1962-04-11 |
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Pocketful of Miracles | Count Alfonso Romero | 1961-12-18 |
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A Thunder of Drums | Sgt. Karl Rodermill | 1961-09-26 |
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Misty | Grandpa Clarence Beebe | 1961-06-04 |
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The Great Impostor | Warden J.B. Chandler | 1960-12-23 |
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Cimarron | Tom Wyatt | 1960-12-01 |
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Anatomy of a Murder | Parnell Emmett McCarthy | 1959-07-01 |
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Hound-Dog Man | Aaron McKinney | 1959-11-11 |
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Operation Petticoat | Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin | 1959-12-05 |
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Gidget | Russell Lawrence | 1959-04-09 |
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Man of the West | Sam Beasley | 1958-06-20 |
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Voice in the Mirror | Bill Tobin | 1958-08-13 |
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Operation Mad Ball | Col. Rousch | 1957-08-17 |
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April Love | Jed Bruce | 1957-11-27 |
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The Violators | Solomon Baumgarten | 1957-11-30 |
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Montecarlo | Mr. Homer Hinkley | 1956-12-19 |
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Bus Stop | Virgil Blessing | 1956-08-31 |
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The Solid Gold Cadillac | Mark Jenkins | 1956-08-22 |
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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit | Gordon Walker | 1956-04-12 |
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The Proud Ones | Jim Dexter | 1956-05-15 |
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Picnic | Howard Bevans | 1955-11-18 |
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The Whistle at Eaton Falls | Jim Brewster | 1951-08-02 |
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Force of Evil | Link Hall (uncredited) | 1950-08-24 |
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One Touch of Venus | Reporter | 1948-08-01 |
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State of the Union | First Reporter | 1948-04-30 |
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Homecoming | Ambulance Attendant (uncredited) | 1948-04-29 |
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The Naked City | Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited) | 1948-03-04 |
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The Countess of Monte Cristo | Assistant Director Jensen | 1948-10-31 |
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Open Secret | Carter | 1948-02-14 |
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Hello, Annapolis | Pharmacist Mate | 1942-04-23 |
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Fingers at the Window | Photographer (uncredited) | 1942-04-22 |
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Blondie's Blessed Event | Interne (uncredited) | 1942-04-09 |
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Man From Headquarters | Goldie Shores | 1942-01-23 |
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Canal Zone | New Recruit (uncredited) | 1942-03-19 |
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Law of the Jungle | Simmons | 1942-02-06 |
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Citizen Kane | Reporter (uncredited) | 1941-04-17 |
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Bested by a Beard | Phil | 1940-07-16 |
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Hullabaloo | Fourth Page | 1940-10-25 |
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I Take This Oath | Court Clerk | 1940-05-20 |
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Two Girls on Broadway | Reporter at Wedding (uncredited) | 1940-04-19 |
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Dr. Kildare Goes Home | Intern (uncredited) | 1940-09-06 |
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The Golden Fleecing | Cameraman (uncredited) | 1940-08-16 |
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And One Was Beautiful | Moroni's Parking Attendant | 1940-04-05 |
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'Taint Legal | Book Salesman | 1940-05-25 |
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Murder in Soho | Lefty | 1939-02-01 |
