Edmond O'Brien

Eamon Joseph O'Brien (Éamonn Ó Briain; September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

O'Brien was both leading man and a character actor of American cinema, with his co-starring performances in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and Seven Days in May (1964) each earning him the nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; he won for his role in The Barefoot Contessa. His other notable films include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Killers (1946), A Double Life (1947), White Heat (1949), D.O.A. (1950), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Julius Caesar (1953), 1984 (1956), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Wild Bunch (1969), and The Other Side of the Wind (2018).

Early years
O'Brien was born in Brooklyn, New York, the seventh and youngest child of Agnes (née Baldwin) and James O'Brien. His parents were natives of Tallow, County Waterford, Ireland. His father died when he was four years old.

O'Brien performed magic shows for children in his neighborhood, spelling his last name backwards and billing himself as "Neirbo the Great". An aunt who taught high school English and speech took him to the theatre from an early age and he developed an interest in acting. He began acting in plays at school.

After attending Fordham University for six months, O'Brien went to Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre on a scholarship. O'Brien studied for two years under such teachers as Sanford Meisner; his classmates included Betty Garrett. "It was simply the best training in the world for a young actor, singer or dancer," O'Brien said, adding that "(w)hat these teachers encouraged above all was getting your tools ready – your body, your voice, your speech."

O'Brien took classes with the Columbia Laboratory Players group, which emphasized training in Shakespeare.

Theatre
O'Brien began working in summer stock in Yonkers. He made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atreus.

He played a grave digger in Hamlet, toured in Parnell, and then appeared in Maxwell Anderson's The Star Wagon with stars Lillian Gish and Burgess Meredith. In 1940, O'Brien performed with Ruth Chatterton in John Van Druten's Leave Her to Heaven on Broadway. Twelve years later, O'Brien appeared in Van Druten's I've Got Sixpence.

Film
O'Brien's theatre work attracted the attention of Pandro Berman at RKO. Berman offered O'Brien the role of a romantic lead in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939).

O'Brien returned to Broadway to play Mercutio opposite Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in Romeo and Juliet.

RKO offered O'Brien a long-term contract. His roles included a feature spot in A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob and the co-male lead in Parachute Battalion, both released in 1941. The latter starred Nancy Kelly, whom O'Brien would later marry.

O'Brien played the lead in Obliging Young Lady, with Eve Arden, and was featured in Powder Town. In May 1942, Universal bought out O'Brien's contract with RKO so he could star opposite Deanna Durbin in The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943). After that, O'Brien joined the armed services.

World War II
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and appeared in the Air Forces' Broadway play Winged Victory. He was joined in the Moss Hart production by Red Buttons, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, Gary Merrill, Barry Nelson and Martin Ritt. The play was filmed in 1944 with O'Brien reprising his stage performance and Judy Holliday co-starring. O'Brien toured for two years in the stage production, appearing alongside a young Mario Lanza.

Universal
O’Brien returned to the screen full time with Universal Studios, playing the lead in the iconic film noir The Killers in 1946. He followed that with the lead in The Web, and the second lead in A Double Life, both 1947 noirs.

He had a second lead in the screen version of Lillian Hellman's drama Another Part of the Forest. He then starred in the romantic comedy For the Love of Mary, the World War II set Fighter Squadron, and the noir An Act of Murder, all in 1948.

Warner Bros.
In late 1948, O'Brien signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros., which cast him as the undercover police officer in White Heat (1949) opposite James Cagney. "He [Cagney] said he had only one rule", O'Brien noted. "He would tap his heart and he would say, 'Play it from here, kid.' He always did and I believe it's the best rule for any performer. He could play a scene 90 ways and never repeat himself. He did this to keep himself fresh. I try to do this whenever possible."

In 1949, 3,147 members of the Young Women's League of America, a national charitable organisation devoted to single living, voted that O'Brien had more "male magnetism" than any other man in America today. "All women adore ruggedness," league president Shirley Connolly said. "Edmund O'Brien's magnetic appearance and personality most fully stir women's imaginative impulses. We're all agreed that he has more male magnetism than any of the 60,000,000 men in the United States today. (Runners-up were Ezio Pinza, William O'Dwyer and Doak Walker.)

OBrien's contract with Warner Brothers ended following his appearance as the second lead in Backfire (shot in 1948 but not released until 1950).

Freelance
O'Brien returned to film noir, where he was a frequent player, and made one of his most famous movies, D.O.A., where he portrays a man investigating his own murder. He followed this with the lead in the noir 711 Ocean Drive (1950). Next was a starring role in the comedy The Admiral Was a Lady, co-starring roles in the noir Between Midnight and Dawn (1950) and the Western The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951), then the leads in the crime film Two of a Kind and the Westerns Warpath and Silver City, all in 1951.

These were followed by the lead in the Western Denver and Rio Grande, and second lead in the noir The Turning Point.

However, even though O'Brien still managed to command leading man roles, the prestige of his pictures and casts had begun to diminish and his career hit a slump. According to TCM, "In the early '50s, O'Brien started struggling with his weight, which could change significantly between films. He had no problems if that relegated him to character roles, but for a few years, "it was hard to come by anything really first rate."

"The funny thing about Hollywood is that they are interested in having you do one thing and do it well and do it ever after," said O'Brien. "That's the sad thing about being a leading man – while the rewards may be great in fame and finances, it becomes monotonous for an actor. I think that's why some of the people who are continually playing themselves are not happy."

He still made some notable movies, including the lead in two for Ida Lupino, The Hitch-Hiker and The Bigamist, and as a featured player as Casca in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ensemble film of Julius Caesar (1953). And the leads again in, China Venture (1953), Shield for Murder (1954), and The Shanghai Story (1954).

O'Brien also worked heavily in television at this time, on such shows as Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars. He announced plans to direct his own films.

In 1951 he was in a well-publicized brawl with Serge Rubinstein at a cafe.

From 1950 to 1952, O'Brien starred in the radio drama Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, playing the title role. His other work in radio included Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway.

In spite of the ups and downs of his Hollywood career, O'Brien was still capable of greatness, both on the stage and on film. In 1954 Mankiewicz cast O'Brien in as press agent Oscar Muldoon in The Barefoot Contessa, earning him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

O'Brien followed this with a number of important roles, including the second lead in the musical crime film Pete Kelly's Blues, the lead in the science fiction 1984 and the noir A Cry in the Night (1956), co-lead in the World War II drama D-Day the Sixth of June and the lead in the comedy The Girl Can't Help It, all in 1956.

In 1957 O'Brien earned the second lead in the Western The Big Land, film noir Stopover Tokyo, and the second lead in the musical drama Sing, Boy, Sing and lead in the drama The World Was His Jury in 1958. In 1959 he co-starred in the World War II drama Up Periscope and the melodrama The Restless and the Damned.

Television
O'Brien appeared extensively in television, including the 1957 live 90-minute broadcast on Playhouse 90 of The Comedian, a drama written by Rod Serling and directed by John Frankenheimer in which Mickey Rooney portrayed dictatorial television comedian Sammy Hogarth. O'Brien played Al Preston, the show's headwriter driven to the brink of insanity. Burned out dealing with the volatle Hogarth, unable to come up with new material for the show's comedy sketches, Preston deliberately plagiarizes material authored by a young comedy writer who died in combat during World War II. When the ruse is discovered, Preston is fired, but tells Hogarth his rages are rooted in his inability to find love.

In 1958 he directed and starred in a TV drama written by his brother, "The Town That Slept With the Lights On", about two Lancaster murders that so frightened the community that residents began sleeping with their lights on.

From 1959 to 1960, O'Brien portrayed the title role in the syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight, about a New York City actor-turned-private detective. The producers refused to cast him unless he shed at least 50 pounds, so he went on a crash vegetarian diet and quit drinking.

"I seldom get very far away from crime," he recalled. "I've found it pays … I tried non-crime films like Another Part of the Forest … good picture, good cast, but no good at the box office … But you just put a gun in your hands and run through the streets doing cops and robbers and you're all set."

O'Brien also had his own production company, O'Brien-Frazen.

He made a French film, The Restless and the Damned for a fee more than $200,000. He was cast on the strength of his performance in The Girl Can't Help It and his Oscar.

O'Brien had roles on many television series, including an appearance on Target: The Corruptors!, The Eleventh Hour, Breaking Point and Mission: Impossible.

1960s film work
O'Brien walked off the set of The Last Voyage in protest at safety issues during the shoot. He later came back and found out that his co-starring role had been trimmed. He was cast as American reporter Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but had a heart attack during filming and was replaced in the co-starring role by Arthur Kennedy.

O'Brien recovered to direct his first feature Man-Trap (1961), a neo-noir starring Jeffrey Hunter and Stella Stevens, co-starred in the Disney comedy Moon Pilot (1962), and in the star-studded ensemble cast of the World War II epic The Longest Day (1962).

He continued to receive good roles, co-starring in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and as the author of the Robert Stroud biography the Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) was based upon.

"I've never made any kind of personality success," he admitted in a 1963 interview. "People never say 'that's an Eddie O'Brien part.' They say, 'That's a part Eddie O'Brien can play.'"

"I'd like to be able to say something important," he added. "To say something to people about their relationship with each other. If it touches just one guy, helps illustrate some points of view about living, then you've accomplished something."

Though his star would soon begin to dim, and his name occasionally slip further down in the billing, O'Brien could still deliver in the right role. His sweaty performance as a heroic U.S. senator in the tense political drama Seven Days in May (1964) earned him a second Oscar nomination.

In the mid-'60s, O'Brien co-starred with Roger Mobley and Harvey Korman in the "Gallegher" episodes of NBC TV's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. From 1963 to 1965, he co-starred in the NBC legal drama Sam Benedict.

O'Brien worked steadily in both film and television throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, however his memory problems were beginning to take their toll. A heart attack forced him to drop out of The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). He had a memorable role as the decrepit but boisterous Freddie Sykes in Sam Peckinpah's groundbreaking revisionist western The Wild Bunch (1969).

Later career
"It would be awfully hard to do a series again," he said in a 1971 interview. "I wouldn't go for an hour show again. They don't have much of a chance against the movies."

He was a cast member of The Other Side of the Wind, Orson Welles' unfinished 1970s movie that finally was released in 2018.

In 1971, he was hospitalized with a "slight pulmonary condition."

His last works, both in 1974, were an episode of the television series Police Story and main role in the film 99 and 44/100% Dead.

Recording
In 1957 O'Brien recorded a spoken-word album of The Red Badge of Courage (Caedmon TC 1040). Billboard said, "Edmond O'Brien brings intensity in the narrative portions and successfully impersonates the varied characters in dialog."

Personal life
O'Brien was first married to actress Nancy Kelly from 1941 until 1942. He married his second wife, actress Olga San Juan in 1948. San Juan was the mother of his three children, television producer Bridget O'Brien and actors Maria O'Brien and Brendan O'Brien. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976.

In the late 1970s, O'Brien fell ill with Alzheimer's disease. In a 1983 interview, his daughter Maria remembers seeing her father in a straitjacket at a Veterans' Hospital: "He was screaming. He was violent. I remember noticing how thin he'd gotten. We didn't know, because for years he'd been sleeping with all his clothes on. We saw him a little later and he was walking around like all the other lost souls there."

Death
Edmond O'Brien died on May 9, 1985, at St. Erne's Sanitorium in Inglewood, California of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 69.

Walk of Fame
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Edmond O'Brien has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1725 Vine Street, and a second star at 6523 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to the television industry. Both were dedicated on February 8, 1960.

Theatre

 * Hamlet (Oct 1936)
 * Daughters of Atreus (Oct 1936)
 * The Star Wagon (Sept 1937 – April 1938)
 * Julius Caesar (May 1938)
 * King Henry IV Part I (Jan–April 1939)
 * Leave Her to Heaven (Feb–March 1940)
 * Romeo and Juliet (May–June 1940)
 * Winged Victory (Nov 1943 – May 1944)
 * I've Got Sixpence (Dec 1952)