"Pat" O'Brien (born November 11, 1899) was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.
Birth Name: William Joseph Patrick O'Brien
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5' 11"
Nickname: "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence"
Quote: "I think the Method has ruined an awful lot of potentially fine actors.."
After a decade in plays on Broadway and in the New York City area, O'Brien began appearing in movies in 1930. Often playing fast-talking "smart alecs" or romantic leads at first, he soon progressed to playing a string of authority figures, especially cops and priests. His first starring role was as ace reporter Hildy Johnson in the original 1931 version of The Front Page with Adolphe Menjou.
Warner Brothers hired O'Brien as a contract player in 1933. He remained with the studio until 1940, when he left after a dispute over the terms of his contract renewal. He appeared with James Cagney, also under contract to Warner Brothers, in nine feature films, including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and Cagney's last film, Ragtime (1981). The two originally met in 1926 and remained friends for almost six decades. After O'Brien's death, Cagney referred to him as his "dearest friend".
After he left Warner Brothers in 1940, O'Brien briefly worked for Columbia Pictures. Soon he signed a contract with RKO and appeared in several movies for that studio. In 1946 he starred in the successful film-noir suspense film, Crack-Up.
O'Brien's movie career slowed considerably by the early 1950s, although he still managed to get work in television. In his autobiography, The Wind At My Back, he professed to being completely flummoxed about the decline of his career. His close friend, Spencer Tracy, fought with his studio, MGM, to get roles for O'Brien in his films, The People Against O'Hara (1951) and The Last Hurrah (1958).
In 1959 O'Brien appeared in one of his best-known movies as a police detective opposite George Raft in Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis. He had a small role as Burt Reynolds' father in the 1978 comedy film The End, opposite Myrna Loy, cast as Reynolds' mother.
Pat O'Brien died on October 15, 1983 from a heart attack at age 83.
Birth Name: William Joseph Patrick O'Brien
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5' 11"
Nickname: "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence"
Quote: "I think the Method has ruined an awful lot of potentially fine actors.."
After a decade in plays on Broadway and in the New York City area, O'Brien began appearing in movies in 1930. Often playing fast-talking "smart alecs" or romantic leads at first, he soon progressed to playing a string of authority figures, especially cops and priests. His first starring role was as ace reporter Hildy Johnson in the original 1931 version of The Front Page with Adolphe Menjou.
Warner Brothers hired O'Brien as a contract player in 1933. He remained with the studio until 1940, when he left after a dispute over the terms of his contract renewal. He appeared with James Cagney, also under contract to Warner Brothers, in nine feature films, including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and Cagney's last film, Ragtime (1981). The two originally met in 1926 and remained friends for almost six decades. After O'Brien's death, Cagney referred to him as his "dearest friend".
After he left Warner Brothers in 1940, O'Brien briefly worked for Columbia Pictures. Soon he signed a contract with RKO and appeared in several movies for that studio. In 1946 he starred in the successful film-noir suspense film, Crack-Up.
O'Brien's movie career slowed considerably by the early 1950s, although he still managed to get work in television. In his autobiography, The Wind At My Back, he professed to being completely flummoxed about the decline of his career. His close friend, Spencer Tracy, fought with his studio, MGM, to get roles for O'Brien in his films, The People Against O'Hara (1951) and The Last Hurrah (1958).
In 1959 O'Brien appeared in one of his best-known movies as a police detective opposite George Raft in Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis. He had a small role as Burt Reynolds' father in the 1978 comedy film The End, opposite Myrna Loy, cast as Reynolds' mother.
Pat O'Brien died on October 15, 1983 from a heart attack at age 83.
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