Arthur O'Connell

Arthur O'Connell

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: Acting
Birthday: 1908-03-29
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.
Also Known As:

Movies List of Arthur O'Connell

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Anatomy of a Murder

1959 Movie
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Pocketful of Miracles

1961 Movie
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Fantastic Voyage

1966 Movie
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The Great Race

1965 Movie
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The Silencers

1966 Movie
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Bus Stop

1956 Movie
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Misty

1961 Movie
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7 Faces of Dr. Lao

1964 Movie
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Ben

1972 Movie
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The Last Valley

1971 Movie
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Man of the West

1958 Movie
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Kissin' Cousins

1964 Movie
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Gidget

1959 Movie
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The Hiding Place

1975 Movie
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The Great Impostor

1960 Movie
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The Power

1968 Movie
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Cimarron

1960 Movie
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Picnic

1955 Movie
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Follow That Dream

1962 Movie
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Open Secret

1948 Movie
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Huckleberry Finn

1974 Movie
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Dr. Kildare Goes Home

1940 Movie
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Your Cheatin' Heart

1964 Movie
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Wicked, Wicked

1973 Movie
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A Thunder of Drums

1961 Movie
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Ride Beyond Vengeance

1966 Movie
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The Proud Ones

1956 Movie
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Nightmare in the Sun

1965 Movie
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The Third Day

1965 Movie
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The Monte Carlo Story

1956 Movie
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Murder in Soho

1939 Movie
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A Taste of Evil

1971 Movie
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A Covenant with Death

1967 Movie
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Man From Headquarters

1942 Movie
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The Monkey's Uncle

1965 Movie
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Voice in the Mirror

1958 Movie
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Seven in Darkness

1969 Movie
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The Naked City

1948 Movie
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April Love

1957 Movie
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Law of the Jungle

1942 Movie
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Operation Petticoat

1959 Movie
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Homecoming

1948 Movie
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Force of Evil

1950 Movie
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Two Girls on Broadway

1940 Movie
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I Take This Oath

1940 Movie
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Hound-Dog Man

1959 Movie
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One Touch of Venus

1948 Movie
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Canal Zone

1942 Movie
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Hullabaloo

1940 Movie
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The Golden Fleecing

1940 Movie
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And One Was Beautiful

1940 Movie
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State of the Union

1948 Movie
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Citizen Kane

1941 Movie
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Hello, Annapolis

1942 Movie
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The Violators

1957 Movie
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Birds Do It

1966 Movie
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'Taint Legal

1940 Movie
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Marilyn

1963 Movie
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Bested by a Beard

1940 Movie
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Fingers at the Window

1942 Movie
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Operation Mad Ball

1957 Movie