Arthur O'Connell

Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage and film actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both Picnic (1955) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).[1] He made his final film appearance in The Hiding Place (1975), portraying a watch-maker who hides Jews during World War II. O'Connell bore a physical resemblance to actor Jack Albertson. The two were cast together in The Poseidon Adventure.

Arthur O'Connell
From Bus Stop (1956)
Born	March 29, 1908 New York City, U.S.
Died	May 18, 1981 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York
Occupation	Stage, film, and television actor
Years active	1938–1981
Spouse(s)	Ann Hall Dunlop ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1972)​

Biography

Bus Stop (1956)

O'Connell was born on March 29, 1908, in Manhattan, New York. His father died when O'Connell was two; he lost his mother when he was 12. O'Connell was raised by his aunt and won a scholarship to St John's College. He worked as a salesman of advertising space, then went into acting in 1929. He worked in summer stock but in the mid 1930s fell seriously ill.[2]

He made his legitimate stage debut in the middle 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 already had appeared in Freshman Year (1938) and had costarred in two Leon Errol short subjects as Errol's conniving brother-in-law.

He entered the army in 1945 and served in the signal corps. After he left the army he was spotted in little theatre by Charles Laughton and joined a travelling Shakesperean company.

His career breakthrough came on Broadway, where he appeared as the middle-aged swain of a spinsterish schoolteacher in Picnic - a role he played in the 1956 film version, earning an Oscar nomination in the process.[2]

Later, the jaded looking O'Connell frequently was cast as 40ish 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 a second Oscar nomination.

He also frequently appeared as a paterfamilias in movies starring teen idols such as Elvis Presley, Pat Boone and Fabian.

In 1959, O'Connell also played the part of Chief Petty Officer Sam Tostin, engine room chief of the fictional World War II submarine USS Sea Tiger, opposite Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in Operation Petticoat. In 1961, O'Connell played the role of Grandpa Clarence Beebe in the children's film Misty, the screen adaptation of Marguerite Henry's story of Misty of Chincoteague.[3] In 1962, he portrayed the father of Elvis Presley's character in the motion picture Follow That Dream, and in 1964 in the Presley-picture Kissin' Cousins. In the same year, O'Connell portrayed the idealist-turned-antagonist Clint Stark in The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, which has become a cult classic, and in which O'Connell's is the only character other than star Tony Randall to appear as one of the "7 faces." O'Connell continued appearing in choice character parts on both television and films during the 1960s, but avoided a regular television series, holding out until he could be assured top billing.

On Christmas Day, 1962, O'Connell was cast as Clayton Dodd in the episode "Green, Green Hills" of the western series Empire, starring Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo. This episode features Dayton Lummis as Jason Simms and Joanna Moore as Althea Dodd. In 1966, he guest-starred as a scientist who regretfully realized that he has created an all-powerful android in an episode of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, titled "The Mechanical Man." In the February 1967 episode "Never Look Back" of the TV series Lassie, he played Luther Jennings, an elderly ranger who monitors the survey tower at Strawberry Peak and who takes it hard when he finds he'll lose his job when the tower is slated for destruction.

Ill health forced O'Connell to reduce his acting appearances in the middle 1970s, but the actor stayed busy as a commercial spokesman, a friendly pharmacist who was a spokesperson for Crest.[1]

At the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease in California in May 1981, O'Connell was appearing by his own choice solely in these commercials. O'Connell is interred at Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1938	Freshman Year	Student	Uncredited
1939	Murder in Soho	Lefty
1940	And One Was Beautiful	Moroni's Parking Attendant	Uncredited
	Two Girls on Broadway	Reporter at Wedding	Uncredited
	I Take This Oath	Court Clerk	Uncredited
	The Golden Fleecing	Cameraman	Uncredited
	Dr. Kildare Goes Home	New Interne	Uncredited
	The Leather Pushers	Reporter	Uncredited
	Hullabaloo	Fourth Page	Uncredited
1941	Lucky Devils	Pilot	Uncredited
	Citizen Kane	Reporter	Uncredited
1942	Man from Headquarters	Goldie Shores
	Law of the Jungle	Simmons
	Yokel Boy	Second Assistant Director	Uncredited
	Canal Zone	New Recruit	Uncredited
	Shepherd of the Ozarks	Bruce	Uncredited
	Blondie's Blessed Event	Interne	Uncredited
	Fingers at the Window	Photographer	Uncredited
	Hello, Annapolis	Pharmacist Mate	Uncredited
1948	Open Secret	Carter
	The Naked City	Sgt. Shaeffer	Uncredited
	State of the Union	First Reporter	Uncredited
	Homecoming	Ambulance Attendant	Uncredited
	One Touch of Venus	Reporter	Uncredited
	The Countess of Monte Cristo	Assistant Director Jensen
	Force of Evil	Link Hall	Uncredited
1950	Love That Brute	Newspaperman at Funeral	Uncredited
1951	The Whistle at Eaton Falls	Jim Brewster
1955	Picnic	Howard Bevans
1956	The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit	Gordon Walker
	The Proud Ones	Jim Dexter
	The Solid Gold Cadillac	Mark Jenkins
	Bus Stop	Virgil Blessing
	The Monte Carlo Story	M. Homer Hinkley
1957	Operation Mad Ball	Col. Rousch
	The Violators	Solomon Baumgarden
	April Love	Uncle Jed Bruce
1958	Voice in the Mirror	William R. 'Bill' Tobin
	Man of the West	Sam Beasley
1959	Gidget	Russell Lawrence
	Anatomy of a Murder	Parnell Emmett McCarthy
	Hound-Dog Man	Aaron McKinney
	Operation Petticoat	Chief Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
1960	Cimarron	Tom Wyatt
1961	The Great Impostor	Warden J.B. Chandler
	Misty	Clarence Beebe
	A Thunder of Drums	Sgt. Karl Rodermill
	Pocketful of Miracles	Count Alfonso Romero
1962	Follow That Dream	Pop Kwimper
1964	Kissin' Cousins	Pappy Tatum
	7 Faces of Dr. Lao	Clint Stark
	Your Cheatin' Heart	Fred Rose
1965	Nightmare in the Sun	Sam Wilson
	The Monkey's Uncle	Darius Green III
	The Great Race	Henry Goodbody
	The Third Day	Dr. Wheeler
1966	Ride Beyond Vengeance	The Narrator
	The Silencers	Joe Wigman
	Fantastic Voyage	Colonel Donald Reid
	Birds Do It	Prof. Wald
1967	A Covenant with Death	Judge Hockstadter
	The Reluctant Astronaut	Arbuckle Fleming
1967-1968	The Second Hundred Years	Edwin Carpenter	TV Series
1968	The Power	Professor Henry Hallson
	If He Hollers, Let Him Go!	Prosecutor
1970	Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came	Mr. Kruft
	There Was a Crooked Man...	Mr. Lomax
	Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring	Business Agent
1971	The Last Valley	Hoffman
1972	Ben	Billy Hatfield
	They Only Kill Their Masters	Ernie
	The Poseidon Adventure	Chaplain John
1973	Wicked, Wicked	Mr. Fenley
1974	Huckleberry Finn	Col. Grangerford
1975	Emergency!	Mr. Metfort	S5Ep9
1975	The Hiding Place	Caspar ten Boom

Family

Arthur O'Connell was born to Julia (nee Byrne) & Michael O'Connell in New York City, New York. He was the youngest of four children. His siblings were William, Kathleen, and Juliette. In 1962, O'Connell married Ann Hall Dunlop (née Ann Byrd Hall; 1917–2000) of Washington, D.C., widow of William Laird Dunlop III (1909–1960). Arthur O'Connell and Ann Hall Dunlop divorced in December 1972 in Los Angeles.

References

1. "Arthur O'Connell, 73, Nominated For Oscars For Supporting Roles". The New York Times. May 19, 1981. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
2. Hopper, Hedda (September 17, 1963). "O'Connell Story: Break in Films After 50". Chicago Tribune. p. A1. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
3. "History of Misty of Chincoteague". Misty's Heaven. Retrieved September 17, 2017.

External links

• Arthur O'Connell at IMDb
• Arthur O'Connell at the TCM Movie Database
• Arthur O'Connell at the Internet Broadway Database
• Arthur O'Connell at Find a Grave