|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member Number: 10575
Reportedly a neighbor of Harry Houdini while growing up in the Bronx, American actor Edmond O'Brien decided to emulate Houdini by becoming a magician himself. The demonstrative skills gleaned from this experience enabled O'Brien to move into acting while attending high school. After majoring in drama at Columbia University, he made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atrus. O'Brien's mature features and deep, commanding voice allowed him to play characters far older than himself, and it looked as though he was going to become one of Broadway's premiere character actors. Yet when he was signed for film work by RKO in 1939, the studio somehow thought he was potential leading man material -- perhaps as a result of his powerful stage performance as young Marc Antony in Orson Welles' modern dress version of Julius Caesar. As Gringoire the poet in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), O'Brien was a bit callow and overemphatic, but he did manage to walk off with the heroine (Maureen O'Hara) at the end of the film. O'Brien's subsequent film roles weren't quite as substantial, though he was shown to excellent comic advantage in the Moss Hart all-serviceman play Winged Victory, in a role he repeated in the 1944 film version while simultaneously serving in World War II (he was billed as "Sergeant Edmond O'Brien"). Older and stockier when he returned to Hollywood after the war, O'Brien was able to secure meaty leading parts in such "films noir" as The Killers (1946), The Web (1947) and White Heat (1949). In the classic melodrama D.O.A. (1950), O'Brien enjoyed one of the great moments in "noir" history when, as a man dying of poison, he staggered into a police station at the start of the film and gasped "I want to report a murder...mine." As one of many top-rank stars of 1954's The Barefoot Contessa, O'Brien breathed so much credibility into the stock part of a Hollywood press agent that he won an Academy Award. On radio, the actor originated the title role in the long-running insurance-investigator series "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" in 1950. On TV, O'Brien played a Broadway star turned private eye in the 1959 syndicated weekly "Johnny Midnight," though the producers refused to cast him unless he went on a crash vegetarian diet. Plagued by sporadic illnesses throughout his life, O'Brien suffered a heart seizure in 1961 while on location in the Arabian desert to play the Lowell Thomas counterpart in Lawrence of Arabia, compelling the studio to replace him with Arthur Kennedy. O'Brien recovered sufficiently in 1962 to take the lead in a TV lawyer series, "Sam Benedict;" another TV stint took place three years later in "The Long Hot Summer." The actor's career prospered for the next decade, but by 1975 illness had begun to encroach upon his ability to perform; he didn't yet know it, but he was in the first stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Edmond O'Brien dropped out of sight completely during the next decade, suffering the ignominity of having his "death" reported by tabloids several times during this period. The real thing mercifully claimed the tragically enfeebled O'Brien in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
AccomplishmentsFilmography
|
|
Links
Humanarchives.org provides the Edmond O'Brien archive to help educate and promote humanity. Join Us
Edmond O'Brien Search Results
Edmond O'Brien News and Information
RSS news is based on the words "Edmond" and "O'Brien" so the information provided can be unrelated to "Edmond O'Brien" specifically.
Focus on Arc picture CBSSports.com - The Irish Derby left a bad smell in the air as the Aidan O’Brien-trained German-bred Frozen Fire grabbed a two-length victory in the 1 1/2-mile classic, ... |
Rupert A. Nock Middle School Honor Roll The Daily News of Newburyport, MA - ... Adam Murray, Ethan Northey, Travis O'Brien, Brian Padellaro, Madeline Quimby, Jared Sculley, Camden St. Onge, Mary-Elizabeth Stambaugh, Jordan Stamulis, ... |
Historic preservation group highlights Oklahoma’s roots Edmond Sun, OK - Attendees will learn about efforts being made to preserve other historic structures there. WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City attorney. |
Brothers in arms Billerica Minuteman, MA - John Conway, Gregory Dunham, Keith McDonald, and Kevin O'Brien proudly made their way across the stage at Nashoba Valley Regional High School in Bolton, ... |
Annual Jenkins Scholarship Gala Banquet celebrates students WolLeader.com, PA - O'Brien, who was named "Man of the Year" at last year's banquet, retired on Jun. 15. O'Brien has been a priest for 47 years and has served as St. Raymond's ... |
 Sydney Morning Herald | Trans-Canada in NB buzzes with action after truck spills million ... The Canadian Press, N.B. - "Bees don't like to fly in the rain," said Jordan O'Brien, a spokesman for the New Brunswick Agriculture Department. Seven beekeepers were called in to ... A sting operation |
Table toppers Naomh Eoin move closer to semi spot Kilkenny Advertiser, Ireland - Naomh Eoin: Edmond Spruhan, Jason Roberts, Kevin Barron, Pat Keogh, John Keogh, Eoin Murphy, Martin Murphy, JJ O’Brien, Colm Fox 0-2, Matthew Roberts 0-1, ... |
Alumni attend Walnut, St. Patrick reunion Pittsburg Morning Sun, KS - Class of 1954, Florence O’Brien Blaes, Independence; class of 1955, Don Jones, Girard, Merlin and Marilyn Jacquinot Colegrove, Walnut; class of 1956, ... Walnut News |
Latest deaths Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Orion C. Pinkerton Funeral Home, Avalon. (CO) WITNER, Wallace H. "Eli," 61, of Upper St. Clair, died June 25. O'Brien's Funeral Home, Brighton Heights. (CO) |
Fort Dodge Animal Health honors All Fort Dodge Messenger, IA - By DAWN THOMPSON, Messenger staff writer An awards ceremony to honor 145 students from both Fort Dodge Senior High and St. Edmond High School who achieved ... |
Edmond O'Brien Archive References
Are there any errors in this archive? The information presented is as provided by a number of possible sources including: Wikipedia, NNDB, IMDB, Answers.com and the archive administrator - contact admin with any corrections or concerns.
