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.
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0640023
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q710888
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Filmography (Movies)
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
Character:Self - (archive footage)
Release Date:14/06/2022
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Character:actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:28/10/1991
The Hiding Place
Character:Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
Release Date:04/05/1975
Huckleberry Finn
Character:Col. Grangerford
Release Date:24/05/1974
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
Character:Henry Gills
Release Date:09/01/1974
Wicked, Wicked
Character:Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
Release Date:13/06/1973
The Poseidon Adventure
Character:John, the Chaplain
Release Date:01/12/1972
They Only Kill Their Masters
Character:Ernie
Release Date:22/11/1972
Ben
Character:Bill Hatfield
Release Date:23/06/1972
A Taste of Evil
Character:John
Release Date:12/10/1971
The Last Valley
Character:Hoffman
Release Date:28/01/1971
There Was a Crooked Man...
Character:Mr. Lomax
Release Date:18/09/1970
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
Character:Mr. Kruft
Release Date:11/09/1970
Seven in Darkness
Character:Larry Wise
Release Date:23/09/1969
If He Hollers, Let Him Go!
Character:Prosecutor
Release Date:08/10/1968
The Power
Character:Prof. Henry Hallson
Release Date:21/02/1968
The Reluctant Astronaut
Character:Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
Release Date:05/09/1967
A Covenant with Death
Character:Judge Hockstadter
Release Date:15/02/1967
Fantastic Voyage
Character:Col. Donald Reid
Release Date:24/08/1966
Birds Do It
Character:Professor Wald
Release Date:13/08/1966
The Silencers
Character:Joe Wigman
Release Date:18/02/1966
Ride Beyond Vengeance
Character:The Narrator
Release Date:01/01/1966
The Monkey's Uncle
Character:Darius Green III
Release Date:18/08/1965
The Third Day
Character:Dr. Wheeler
Release Date:04/08/1965
The Great Race
Character:Henry Goodbody
Release Date:01/07/1965
Nightmare in the Sun
Character:Sam Wilson
Release Date:06/03/1965
Your Cheatin' Heart
Character:Fred Rose
Release Date:04/11/1964
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Character:Clint Stark
Release Date:18/03/1964
Kissin' Cousins
Character:Pappy Tatum
Release Date:06/03/1964
Marilyn
Character:Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Release Date:18/04/1963
Follow That Dream
Character:Pop Kwimper
Release Date:11/04/1962
Pocketful of Miracles
Character:Count Alfonso Romero
Release Date:18/12/1961
A Thunder of Drums
Character:Sgt. Karl Rodermill
Release Date:26/09/1961
Misty
Character:Grandpa Clarence Beebe
Release Date:04/06/1961
The Great Impostor
Character:Warden J.B. Chandler
Release Date:23/12/1960
Cimarron
Character:Tom Wyatt
Release Date:01/12/1960
Operation Petticoat
Character:Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
Release Date:05/12/1959
Hound-Dog Man
Character:Aaron McKinney
Release Date:11/11/1959
Anatomy of a Murder
Character:Parnell Emmett "Parn" McCarthy
Release Date:01/07/1959
Gidget
Character:Russell Lawrence
Release Date:09/04/1959
Man of the West
Character:Sam Beasley
Release Date:01/10/1958
Voice in the Mirror
Character:Bill Tobin
Release Date:13/08/1958
The Violators
Character:Solomon Baumgarten
Release Date:30/11/1957
April Love
Character:Jed Bruce
Release Date:27/11/1957
Operation Mad Ball
Character:Col. Rousch
Release Date:17/08/1957
The Monte Carlo Story
Character:Mr. Homer Hinkley
Release Date:19/12/1956
Bus Stop
Character:Virgil Blessing
Release Date:31/08/1956
The Solid Gold Cadillac
Character:Mark Jenkins
Release Date:22/08/1956
The Proud Ones
Character:Jim Dexter
Release Date:15/05/1956
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Character:Gordon Walker
Release Date:12/04/1956
Picnic
Character:Howard Bevans
Release Date:18/11/1955
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Character:Jim Brewster
Release Date:02/08/1951
Force of Evil
Character:Link Hall (uncredited)
Release Date:24/08/1950
The Taming of the Shrew
Character:Curtis
Release Date:05/06/1950
The Countess of Monte Cristo
Character:Assistant Director Jensen
Release Date:31/10/1948
One Touch of Venus
Character:Reporter
Release Date:01/08/1948
State of the Union
Character:First Reporter
Release Date:30/04/1948
Homecoming
Character:Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
Release Date:29/04/1948
The Naked City
Character:Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
Release Date:04/03/1948
Open Secret
Character:Carter
Release Date:14/02/1948
Hello, Annapolis
Character:Pharmacist Mate
Release Date:23/04/1942
Fingers at the Window
Character:Photographer (uncredited)
Release Date:22/04/1942
Blondie's Blessed Event
Character:Interne (uncredited)
Release Date:09/04/1942
Canal Zone
Character:New Recruit (uncredited)
Release Date:19/03/1942
Law of the Jungle
Character:Simmons
Release Date:06/02/1942
Man From Headquarters
Character:Goldie Shores
Release Date:23/01/1942
Citizen Kane
Character:Reporter (uncredited)
Release Date:17/04/1941
Hullabaloo
Character:Fourth Page
Release Date:25/10/1940
He Asked for It
Character:
Release Date:27/09/1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Character:Intern (uncredited)
Release Date:06/09/1940
The Golden Fleecing
Character:Cameraman (uncredited)
Release Date:16/08/1940
Bested by a Beard
Character:Phil
Release Date:16/07/1940
'Taint Legal
Character:Book Salesman
Release Date:25/05/1940
I Take This Oath
Character:Court Clerk
Release Date:20/05/1940
Two Girls on Broadway
Character:Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
Release Date:19/04/1940
And One Was Beautiful
Character:Moroni's Parking Attendant
Release Date:05/04/1940
Murder in Soho
Character:Lefty
Release Date:01/02/1939
Television Appearances
Adam's Rib
Character:Judge
Ghost Story
Character:Chief Owen Huston
The Paul Lynde Show
Character:
Emergency!
Character:
Cannon
Character:
Alias Smith and Jones
Character:
Night Gallery
Character:
McCloud
Character:
Nanny and the Professor
Character:
Room 222
Character:
The Name of the Game
Character:Charlie Sherwin
The Second Hundred Years
Character:Edwin Carpenter
Ironside
Character:
The F.B.I.
Character:Smitty
The Wild Wild West
Character:
The Big Valley
Character:Jubal
Petticoat Junction
Character:William Lawrence
Burke's Law
Character:Dr. Stuart Alexander
The Fugitive
Character:Dr. Josephus Harrison Adams
The Greatest Show on Earth
Character:
The Fugitive
Character:Samuel Cole
Arrest and Trial
Character:
Sam Benedict
Character:
The New Breed
Character:Peter Capples
Route 66
Character:
My Three Sons
Character:
Bonanza
Character:Dr. Samuel Hubert
Alcoa Theatre
Character:
DuPont Show of the Month
Character:
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Character:Lyman
Matinee Theater
Character:
Summer Playhouse
Character:
The Oscars
Character:Self
Omnibus
Character:
Studio One
Character:Curtis
Studio One
Character:Manachi Conners
The Philco Television Playhouse
Character:
The Philco Television Playhouse
Character:Jim Elkins
The Philco Television Playhouse
Character:Grant
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