Edmond O'Brien

Edmond O'Brien, born Eamon Joseph O'Brien on September 10, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, as well as a film director. The seventh and youngest child of Agnes and James O'Brien, whose parents were natives of Tallow, County Waterford, Ireland, he lost his father at the age of four. O'Brien's Broadway career extended from 1936 to 1952, and his work in film and television spanned nearly four decades. He earned one Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, and received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From an early age, O'Brien demonstrated a flair for performance, staging magic shows for neighborhood children under the billing "Neirbo the Great" — his surname spelled in reverse. An aunt who taught high school English and speech introduced him to the theatre, and he began acting in school productions. After six months at Fordham University, he enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre on a scholarship, studying for two years under teachers including Sanford Meisner. His classmates there included Betty Garrett. He also trained with the Columbia Laboratory Players, a group that concentrated on Shakespeare.

O'Brien launched his professional career in summer stock in Yonkers before making his Broadway debut at age 21 in Daughters of Atreus. He subsequently played a gravedigger in Hamlet, toured in Parnell, and appeared in Maxwell Anderson's The Star Wagon alongside Lillian Gish and Burgess Meredith. In 1940, he performed opposite Ruth Chatterton in John Van Druten's Leave Her to Heaven on Broadway, a credit that appears in his verified stage record. He returned to Van Druten's work twelve years later, appearing in I've Got Sixpence in 1952. Additional Broadway credits include Romeo and Juliet, Winged Victory, and King Henry IV, Part II.

His stage work drew the attention of producer Pandro Berman at RKO, who cast O'Brien in a romantic lead in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1939. He then returned to Broadway to play Mercutio opposite Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in Romeo and Juliet before RKO signed him to a long-term contract. During this period he appeared in several studio productions, including A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob with Lucille Ball and George Murphy, and Parachute Battalion alongside Nancy Kelly, whom he would later marry. Universal subsequently bought out his RKO contract for The Amazing Mrs. Holliday with Deanna Durbin in 1943.

During World War II, O'Brien served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and took part in the Air Forces' Broadway production Winged Victory, a Moss Hart production that also featured Red Buttons, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, Gary Merrill, Barry Nelson, and Martin Ritt. The play was adapted to film in 1944, with O'Brien reprising his stage role alongside Judy Holliday. He toured in the stage version for two years, during which time he performed alongside a young Mario Lanza.

Following the war, O'Brien built a substantial film career, taking the role of insurance investigator Jim Reardon in the 1946 film noir The Killers at Universal. He went on to appear in a series of noirs and crime films, including A Double Life, White Heat opposite James Cagney at Warner Bros., and D.O.A., in which he portrayed a man investigating his own murder. His performance in The Barefoot Contessa in 1954 earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and his work in Seven Days in May in 1964 brought him a second nomination in the same category. Other notable films across his career include Julius Caesar, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Wild Bunch, and Fantastic Voyage.

Alongside his film work, O'Brien maintained an active presence in radio and television. He starred in 103 episodes of the CBS Radio drama Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar from February 3, 1950 to October 3, 1952, playing a two-fisted insurance investigator. He also appeared on Philip Morris Playhouse on Broadway and worked extensively in television on programs including Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and Lux Video Theatre. O'Brien died on May 8, 1985.