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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
March 29, 1908
Died
May 18, 1981
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Arthur O'Connell
1.3 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
0.0
Self - (archive footage)
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
2022
7.7
actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
6.8
Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
The Hiding Place
1975
5.9
Col. Grangerford
Huckleberry Finn
1974
0.0
Henry Gills
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
1974
5.0
Judge
Adam's Rib
1973
4.8
Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
Wicked, Wicked
1973
7.1
John, the Chaplain
The Poseidon Adventure
1972
4.9
Ernie
They Only Kill Their Masters
1972
7.1
Chief Owen Huston
Ghost Story
1972
Credits
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
as Self - (archive footage)
2022
0.0
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
7.7
The Hiding Place
as Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
1975
6.8
Huckleberry Finn
as Col. Grangerford
1974
5.9
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
as Henry Gills
1974
0.0
Adam's Rib
as Judge
1973
5.0
Wicked, Wicked
as Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
1973
4.8
The Poseidon Adventure
as John, the Chaplain
1972
7.1
They Only Kill Their Masters
as Ernie
1972
4.9
Ghost Story
as Chief Owen Huston
1972
7.1
The Paul Lynde Show
1972
5.0
Ben
as Bill Hatfield
1972
5.9
Emergency!
1972
7.8
A Taste of Evil
as John
1971
5.9
Cannon
1971
6.6
The Last Valley
as Hoffman
1971
6.4
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
7.0
Night Gallery
1970
7.8
There Was a Crooked Man...
as Mr. Lomax
1970
6.8
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
as Mr. Kruft
1970
5.0
McCloud
1970
7.1
Nanny and the Professor
1970
6.0
Seven in Darkness
as Larry Wise
1969
6.8
Room 222
1969
6.0
If He Hollers, Let Him Go!
as Prosecutor
1968
5.3
The Name of the Game
as Charlie Sherwin
1968
6.8
The Power
as Prof. Henry Hallson
1968
6.2
The Second Hundred Years
as Edwin Carpenter
1967
6.3
The Reluctant Astronaut
as Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
1967
6.0
Ironside
1967
6.8
A Covenant with Death
as Judge Hockstadter
1967
4.7
Fantastic Voyage
as Col. Donald Reid
1966
6.7
Birds Do It
as Professor Wald
1966
5.0
The Silencers
as Joe Wigman
1966
6.0
Ride Beyond Vengeance
as The Narrator
1966
5.9
The F.B.I.
as Smitty
1965
5.4
The Wild Wild West
1965
7.6
The Big Valley
as Jubal
1965
6.1
The Monkey's Uncle
as Darius Green III
1965
5.7
The Third Day
as Dr. Wheeler
1965
5.8
The Great Race
as Henry Goodbody
1965
7.1
Nightmare in the Sun
as Sam Wilson
1965
2.2
Your Cheatin' Heart
as Fred Rose
1964
6.3
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
as Clint Stark
1964
6.9
Kissin' Cousins
as Pappy Tatum
1964
4.6
Petticoat Junction
as William Lawrence
1963
5.7
Burke's Law
as Dr. Stuart Alexander
1963
6.0
The Fugitive
as Dr. Josephus Harrison Adams
1963
7.2
The Fugitive
as Samuel Cole
1963
7.2
🎬
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
5.0
Arrest and Trial
1963
7.7
Marilyn
as Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited)
1963
6.0
Sam Benedict
1962
6.0
Follow That Dream
as Pop Kwimper
1962
6.1
Pocketful of Miracles
as Count Alfonso Romero
1961
7.3
The New Breed
as Peter Capples
1961
7.0
A Thunder of Drums
as Sgt. Karl Rodermill
1961
5.5
Misty
as Grandpa Clarence Beebe
1961
5.9
The Great Impostor
as Warden J.B. Chandler
1960
6.9
Cimarron
as Tom Wyatt
1960
6.0
Route 66
1960
6.3
My Three Sons
1960
6.5
Operation Petticoat
as Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
1959
7.2
Hound-Dog Man
as Aaron McKinney
1959
4.4
Bonanza
as Dr. Samuel Hubert
1959
7.5
Anatomy of a Murder
as Parnell Emmett "Parn" McCarthy
1959
7.8
Gidget
as Russell Lawrence
1959
5.9
Man of the West
as Sam Beasley
1958
6.6
Voice in the Mirror
as Bill Tobin
1958
5.8
The Violators
as Solomon Baumgarten
1957
8.0
April Love
as Jed Bruce
1957
6.4
Alcoa Theatre
1957
6.5
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
6.8
Operation Mad Ball
as Col. Rousch
1957
6.6
The Monte Carlo Story
as Mr. Homer Hinkley
1956
5.6
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Lyman
1956
6.0
Bus Stop
as Virgil Blessing
1956
6.1
The Solid Gold Cadillac
as Mark Jenkins
1956
6.2
The Proud Ones
as Jim Dexter
1956
6.4
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
as Gordon Walker
1956
6.7
Picnic
as Howard Bevans
1955
6.3
Matinee Theater
1955
5.0
🎬
Summer Playhouse
1954
0.0
The Oscars
as Self
1953
7.0
Omnibus
1952
6.0
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
as Jim Brewster
1951
6.2
Force of Evil
as Link Hall (uncredited)
1950
6.5
Studio One
as Curtis
1948
5.0
Studio One
as Manachi Conners
1948
5.0
The Countess of Monte Cristo
as Assistant Director Jensen
1948
5.0
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
6.3
The Philco Television Playhouse
as Jim Elkins
1948
6.3
The Philco Television Playhouse
as Grant
1948
6.3
One Touch of Venus
as Reporter
1948
6.5
State of the Union
as First Reporter
1948
6.7
Homecoming
as Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
1948
7.0
The Naked City
as Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
1948
7.2
Open Secret
as Carter
1948
6.5
Hello, Annapolis
as Pharmacist Mate
1942
10.0
Fingers at the Window
as Photographer (uncredited)
1942
5.5
Blondie's Blessed Event
as Interne (uncredited)
1942
7.3
Canal Zone
as New Recruit (uncredited)
1942
5.5
Law of the Jungle
as Simmons
1942
5.1
Man From Headquarters
as Goldie Shores
1942
6.0
Citizen Kane
as Reporter (uncredited)
1941
8.0
Hullabaloo
as Fourth Page
1940
4.0
🎬
He Asked for It
1940
0.0
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
as Intern (uncredited)
1940
6.8
The Golden Fleecing
as Cameraman (uncredited)
1940
5.3
Bested by a Beard
as Phil
1940
0.0
'Taint Legal
as Book Salesman
1940
0.0
I Take This Oath
as Court Clerk
1940
4.3
Two Girls on Broadway
as Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
1940
6.6
And One Was Beautiful
as Moroni's Parking Attendant
1940
6.2
Murder in Soho
as Lefty
1939
5.0