Arthur O'Connell

Infobox actor
name = Arthur O'Connell


imagesize =
caption = from "Bus Stop" (1956)
birthdate = birth date|1908|3|29|mf=y
location = New York City, U.S.
height =
deathdate = Death date and age|1981|5|18|1908|3|29
deathplace =Los Angeles, California, U.S.
birthname =
othername =
homepage =
academyawards =

Arthur O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Academy Award nominated 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, American actor Arthur O'Connell from New York City made his legitimate stage debut in the mid '30s, 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'Connellportrayed the father of Elvis Presley's character in the motion picture Follow That Dream.

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. 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.

Partial Filmography

External links

*imdb|0640023

Persondata
NAME=O'Connell, Arthur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American actor; acting on stage, film and television; Oscar nominee
DATE OF BIRTH=March 29, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH=New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH=May 18, 1981
PLACE OF DEATH=California, United States