Pat O'Brien

Actor

About

Also Known As

William Joseph Patrick O'Brien Jr.

Birth Place

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Born

November 11, 1899

Died

October 15, 1983

Cause of Death

Heart Attack

Biography

A veteran Irish-American lead and character player, Pat O'Brien is best known as one of the cynical reporters in the sterling first screen version of the Broadway play, "The Front Page" (1931), the title role (opposite Ronald Reagan) in "Knute Rockne--All American" (1940) and as Jimmy Cagney's clerical confidante in "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938).A sharp, wisecracking type in the early...

Filmography

Ragtime (1981)

Scout's Honor (1980)

The End (1978)

Kiss Me... Kill Me (1976)

Jimmy--Morgue Attendant

Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1976)

The Adventures of Nick Carter (1972)

Photos & Videos

View All

Boy Meets Girl (1938) -- (Movie Clip) What Is Our Story?

Bombardier (1943) -- (Movie Clip) Open, To Fit Him For His Task

Family & Companions

Eloise Taylor

Wife

Actress. Married from 1931 until his death.

Bibliography

"The Wind at My Back: The Life and Times of Pat O'Brien"

Pat O'Brien (1964)

Biography

A sharp, wisecracking type in the early 1930s, O'Brien found his star persona becoming increasingly sentimentalized after the Production Code crackdown of 1934, but occasionally returned memorably to his earlier type, as in "Torrid Zone" (1940), opposite Cagney and Ann Sheridan. He remained a popular star through the 40s, often in stalwart roles such as not only his Rockne but also "The Iron Major" (1943). A childhood friend of Spencer Tracy, O'Brien acted with Tracy in "The People Against O'Hara" (1951) and in John Ford's sentimental roundup of veteran character players, "The Last Hurrah" (1958). Billy Wilder also put his iconic value to good use as an Irish cop on the tail of both the gangsters and the cross-dressing heroes on the run in the director's hilarious "Some Like It Hot" (1959).

Filmography

Life Events

1923

Joined a traveling stock theater company

1930

Had an uncredited turn as a police detective in "Compliments of the Season"

1931

Breakthrough film role, Hildy Johnson in "The Front Page"

1933

Played a studio head in Victor Fleming's Hollywood satire "Bombshell", starring Jean Harlow

1934

First film with James Cagney, Lloyd Bacon's "Here Comes the Navy"

1935

Featured in Bacon's "Devil Dogs of the Air" and "The Irish In Us" with James Cagney

1935

Reteamed with Cagney in Howard Hawks' "Ceiling Zero"

1938

Played the priest opposite Cagney's gangster in "Angels With Dirty Faces", Michael Curtiz's iconic portrait of childhood friends who take different paths

1938

Reteamed with Bacon and Cagney, playing a wisecracking screenwriter in the fast-moving Hollywood spoof "Boy Meets Girl"

1940

Played Father Francis Duffy, the beloved chaplain of WWI's famed New York Irish regiment in "The Fighting 69th"

1940

Starred as the titular Notre Dame coach in "Knute Rockne, All American"; producers initially wanted Cagney for the role but Rockne's widow insisted upon O'Brien

1942

Starred with George Raft in the second film adaptation of the Prohibition-set "Broadway"

1943

Played Major Chick Davis, a commander in charge of turning cadets into fighter pilots in the quasi-documentary "Bombardier"

1944

Was star of the jungle-set WWII adventure "Marine Raiders"

1945

Starred as a lawyer trying to keep his clients out of trouble on their honeymoon in the zany but predictable caper "Having Wonderful Crime"

1947

Starred with Anne Jeffreys in the adventure "Riffraff", playing private eye Dan Hammer

1948

Starred in "Fighting Father Dunne" as a parish priest in 1900s St Louis trying to help the street urchin newsboys

1948

Played Gramp, a lovable ex-vaudevillean who serves as guardian to "The Boy with Green Hair", an orphaned and tormented youngster played by Dean Stockwell

1950

As Father O'Hara in "The Fireball", runs the orphanage that Mickey Rooney's rollerskating champ flees

1951

Featured in "The People Against O'Hara"; paired with Spencer Tracy, who had never starred in a film with O'Brien despite their longtime friendship

1952

Played the Commander of a Navy warship leading an attack on Japan in "Okinawa", a WWII action drama

1955

Co-starred in "Inside Detroit", a dramatized expose of corruption in the US auto industry

1958

Starred with Tracy in John Ford's political drama "The Last Hurrah"

1959

Had a featured role in the Billy Wilder classic "Some Like it Hot", playing the cop trailing the gangsters and the bumbling heros in drag

1960

Starred as a maverick veteran lawyer partnered with his newly practicing by-the-book son in the ABC sitcom "Harrigan and Son"

1965

Lone film credit of the decade, co-starring role in the Western "Town Tamer"

1969

Starred as a retired Texas Ranger who reenters law enforcement to clean up a besieged small town in the ABC TV-movie "The Over-the-Hill Gang", co-starring such fellow veterans as Walter Brennan and Andy Devine

1973

Starred as a doctor in "The Other Woman", an installment of of the daytime drama special series "ABC's Matinee Today"

1977

Portrayed the US Vice President in the sequel/remake "Billy Jack Goes to Washington"

1978

With Myrna Loy, co-starred as Burt Reynolds parents in the black comedy "The End"

1980

Final TV-movie role, co-starring in the Gary Coleman vehicle "Scout's Honor"

1980

Played Howard's uncle Joe on "Happy Days" (ABC)

1981

Final film role, playing Delmas in Milos Forman's "Ragtime", also starring Cagney in his final role

Photo Collections

Crack-Up - Lobby Card Set

Here is a set of Lobby Cards from RKO's Crack-Up (1946), starring Pat O'Brien and Claire Trevor. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Virtue - Movie Posters

A Dangerous Profession - Lobby Card Set

Here is a set of Lobby Cards from RKO's A Dangerous Profession (1949), starring George Raft and Pat O'Brien. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Twenty Million Sweethearts - Lobby Cards

Here are several Lobby Cards from First National's Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934). Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Flight Lieutenant - Movie Poster

Here is a half-sheet movie poster for Flight Lieutenant (1942), starring Pat O'Brien. Half sheets measured 22 x 28 inches.

Knute Rockne, All American - Scene Stills

Here are several scene stills from Warner Bros' Knute Rockne, All American (1940), starring Pat O'Brien and Ronald Reagan.