Arthur O'Connell
Born
March 29, 1908
Died
May 18, 1981 (73 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
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.
Known For
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend
Self (from Bus Stop [1956]) (archive footage)
1986
The Hiding Place
Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
1975
Huckleberry Finn
Col. Grangerford
1974
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
Henry Gills
1974
Adam's Rib
Judge · (1 episode)
1973
Wicked, Wicked
Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
1973
The Poseidon Adventure
John, the Chaplain
1972
They Only Kill Their Masters
Ernie
1972
Ghost Story
Chief Owen Huston · (1 episode)
1972
The Paul Lynde Show
(1 episode)
1972
Ben
Bill Hatfield
1972
Emergency!
(1 episode)
1972
A Taste of Evil
John
1971
Cannon
(1 episode)
1971
The Last Valley
Hoffman
1971
Alias Smith and Jones
(1 episode)
1971
Night Gallery
(1 episode)
1970
There Was a Crooked Man...
Mr. Lomax
1970
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Mr. Kruft
1970
McCloud
(1 episode)
1970
Nanny and the Professor
(1 episode)
1970
Seven in Darkness
Larry Wise
1969
Room 222
(1 episode)
1969
If He Hollers, Let Him Go!
Prosecutor
1968
The Name of the Game
Charlie Sherwin · (1 episode)
1968
The Power
Prof. Henry Hallson
1968
The Second Hundred Years
(26 episodes)
1967
The Reluctant Astronaut
Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
1967
Ironside
(1 episode)
1967
A Covenant with Death
Judge Hockstadter
1967
Fantastic Voyage
Col. Donald Reid
1966
Birds Do It
Professor Wald
1966
The Silencers
Joe Wigman
1966
Ride Beyond Vengeance
The Narrator
1966
The F.B.I.
Smitty · (1 episode)
1965
The Wild Wild West
(1 episode)
1965
The Big Valley
Jubal · (1 episode)
1965
The Monkey's Uncle
Darius Green III
1965
The Third Day
Dr. Wheeler
1965
The Great Race
Henry Goodbody
1965
Nightmare in the Sun
Sam Wilson
1965
Your Cheatin' Heart
Fred Rose
1964
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Clint Stark
1964
Kissin' Cousins
Pappy Tatum
1964
Petticoat Junction
William Lawrence · (1 episode)
1963
Burke's Law
Dr. Stuart Alexander · (1 episode)
1963
The Fugitive
Dr. Josephus Harrison Adams · (1 episode)
1963
The Greatest Show on Earth
(1 episode)
1963
The Fugitive
Samuel Cole · (1 episode)
1963
Arrest and Trial
(1 episode)
1963
Marilyn
Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited)
1963
Sam Benedict
(1 episode)
1962
Follow That Dream
Pop Kwimper
1962
Pocketful of Miracles
Count Alfonso Romero
1961
The New Breed
Peter Capples · (1 episode)
1961
A Thunder of Drums
Sgt. Karl Rodermill
1961
Misty
Grandpa Clarence Beebe
1961
The Great Impostor
Warden J.B. Chandler
1960
Cimarron
Tom Wyatt
1960
Route 66
(1 episode)
1960
My Three Sons
(1 episode)
1960
Operation Petticoat
Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
1959
Hound-Dog Man
Aaron McKinney
1959
Bonanza
Dr. Samuel Hubert · (1 episode)
1959
Anatomy of a Murder
Parnell Emmett McCarthy
1959
Gidget
Russell Lawrence
1959
Voice in the Mirror
Bill Tobin
1958
Man of the West
Sam Beasley
1958
The Violators
Solomon Baumgarten
1957
April Love
Jed Bruce
1957
Alcoa Theatre
(1 episode)
1957
DuPont Show of the Month
(1 episode)
1957
Operation Mad Ball
Col. Rousch
1957
The Monte Carlo Story
Mr. Homer Hinkley
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Lyman · (1 episode)
1956
Bus Stop
Virgil Blessing
1956
The Solid Gold Cadillac
Mark Jenkins
1956
The Proud Ones
Jim Dexter
1956
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Gordon Walker
1956
Picnic
Howard Bevans
1955
Matinee Theater
(1 episode)
1955
Summer Playhouse
(1 episode)
1954
The Oscars
Self · (1 episode)
1953
Omnibus
(1 episode)
1952
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Jim Brewster
1951
Force of Evil
Link Hall (uncredited)
1950
Studio One
Curtis · (1 episode)
1948
Studio One
Manachi Conners · (1 episode)
1948
The Countess of Monte Cristo
Assistant Director Jensen
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
(1 episode)
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Jim Elkins · (1 episode)
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
Grant · (1 episode)
1948
One Touch of Venus
Reporter
1948
State of the Union
First Reporter
1948
Homecoming
Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
1948
The Naked City
Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
1948
Open Secret
Carter
1948
Hello, Annapolis
Pharmacist Mate
1942
Fingers at the Window
Photographer (uncredited)
1942
Blondie's Blessed Event
Interne (uncredited)
1942
Canal Zone
New Recruit (uncredited)
1942
Law of the Jungle
Simmons
1942
Man From Headquarters
Goldie Shores
1942
Citizen Kane
Reporter (uncredited)
1941
Hullabaloo
Fourth Page
1940
He Asked for It
1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Intern (uncredited)
1940
The Golden Fleecing
Cameraman (uncredited)
1940
Bested by a Beard
Phil
1940
'Taint Legal
Book Salesman
1940
I Take This Oath
Court Clerk
1940
Two Girls on Broadway
Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
1940
And One Was Beautiful
Moroni's Parking Attendant
1940
Murder in Soho
Lefty
1939