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Born: 29 March 1908 New York, New York, USA
Died: 18 May 1981 Woodland Hills, California, USA. (alzheimer's disease)

Arthur O'Connell starred with Elvis in Follow That Dream as Pop Kwimper and also in Kissin' Cousins as Pappy Tatum.

Though veteran character actor Arthur O'Connell was born in New York City in 1908, he looked as countrified as apple pie, looking ever more comfy in overalls than he ever did in a suit. He made his stage debut in the mid 1930s and came into contact with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. As a result, he earned the bit role of a reporter in the final scenes of Citizen Kane (1941). Making little leeway in films, O'Connell returned to the Broadway lights where he played Polonius in "Hamlet" and Banquo in "Macbeth", finally gaining considerable attention as the lonely, introspective schoolteacher in "Picnic" in 1953. He transferred the role successfully to film three years later and began a series of flawed and forlorn characters on TV and the screen from then on. A particular standout was as James Stewart's boozed up attorney and mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959) for which he won his second Oscar-nomination for "best supporting actor" (the first was for Picnic (1956) three years earlier). The mustachioed O'Connell usually played wise, helpful and friendly, and he also inhabited crafty villains from time to time, but there was always an unhappy ambiance and 'loser' quality in his elderly gents, which made you feel sorry for him. He played Monte Markham's "son" (Markham had been frozen in an iceberg, which explains Markham's young appearance) in the 1967 sitcom "The Second Hundred Years" but the series was short-lived. A popular guest star on all the major shows in the 70s, he was forced to curtail his work load as the progression of Alzheimer's began to steadily creep in. At the time of his death in 1981, O'Connell was appearing solely in toothpaste commercials.

Filmography

• Hiding Place, The (1975) .... Casper ten Boom
• Huckleberry Finn (1974) .... Col. Grangerford ... aka Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn: A Musical Adaptation (1974) (USA: promotional title)
• Shootout in a One-Dog Town (1974) (TV) .... Henry Gills
• Wicked, Wicked (1973) .... Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
• Poseidon Adventure, The (1972) .... Chaplain John
• They Only Kill Their Masters (1972) .... Ernie, Restaurant Owner
• Ben (1972) .... Bill Hatfield
• Taste of Evil, A (1971/II) (TV) .... John
• Last Valley, The (1971) .... Hoffman
• Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring (1970) .... Business Agent
• There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) .... Mr. Lomax
• Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970) .... Mr. Kruft ... aka War Games (1970) (USA: TV title)
• Seven in Darkness (1969) (TV) .... Larry Wise
• If He Hollers, Let Him Go! (1968) .... Prosecutor ... aka Dead Right (1968) ... aka Night Hunt (1968) (USA)
• Power, The (1968) .... Professor Henry Hallson
• Reluctant Astronaut, The (1967) .... Buck Fleming
• "Second Hundred Years, The" (1967) TV Series .... Edwin Carpenter
• Covenant with Death, A (1967) .... Judge Hockstadter
• Birds Do It (1966) .... Prof. Wald
• Fantastic Voyage (1966) .... Colonel Donald Reid ... aka Microscopia (1966) ... aka Strange Journey (1966)
• Silencers, The (1966) .... Joe Wigman
• Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966) .... The Narrator ... aka Night of the Tiger (1966)
• Third Day, The (1965) .... Dr. Wheeler
• Great Race, The (1965) .... Henry Goodbody ... aka Blake Edwards' The Great Race (1965) (USA: complete title)
• Monkey's Uncle, The (1965) .... Darius Green III
• Nightmare in the Sun (1965) .... Husband
• Your Cheatin' Heart (1964) .... Fred Rose
• 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) .... Clint Stark ... aka Secret World of Dr. Lao, The (1964)
• Kissin' Cousins (1964) .... Pappy Tatum
• Follow That Dream (1962) .... Pop Kwimper
• Pocketful of Miracles (1961) .... Count Alfonso Romero
• Thunder of Drums, A (1961) .... Sergeant Karl Rodermill
• Misty (1961) .... Grandpa Beebe
• Cimarron (1961) .... Tom Wyatt
• Great Impostor, The (1961) .... Warden J.B. Chandler
• Hound-Dog Man (1960) .... Aaron McKinney
• Operation Petticoat (1959) .... Chief Mechanic's Mate Sam Tostin
• Violators, The (1959) .... Solomon Baumgarden
• Anatomy of a Murder (1959) .... Parnell Emmett McCarthy
• Gidget (1959) .... Mr. Russell Lawrence
• Man of the West (1958) .... Sam Beasley
• Voice in the Mirror (1958) .... William Tobin
• April Love (1957) .... Jed Bruce
• Operation Mad Ball (1957) .... Col. Rousch
• Montecarlo (1956) .... Mr. Homer Hinkley ... aka Monte Carlo (1958) (USA) ... aka Monte Carlo Story, The (1958) (USA)
• Bus Stop (1956) .... Virgil 'Virge' Blessing ... aka Wrong Kind of Girl, The (1956)
• Solid Gold Cadillac, The (1956) .... Jenkins
• Proud Ones, The (1956) .... Jim Dexter, Flat Rock Deputy Sheriff
• Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, The (1956) .... Gordon Walker (head of Public Relations)
• Picnic (1955) .... Howard Bevans
• "Mr. Peepers" (1952) TV Series .... Mr. Hansen (1953-1954)
• Whistle at Eaton Falls, The (1951) .... Jim Brewster ... aka Richer Than the Earth (1951) (UK)
• Love That Brute (1950) (uncredited) .... Reporter
• Countess of Monte Cristo, The (1948) .... Assistant Director
• Force of Evil (1948) (uncredited) .... Link Hall ... aka Numbers Racket, The (1948) (USA: alternative title) ... aka Story of Tucker's People, The (1948) (USA)
• One Touch of Venus (1948) (uncredited) .... Reporter
• State of the Union (1948) (uncredited) .... First Reporter ... aka World and His Wife, The (1948) (UK)
• Homecoming (1948) (uncredited) .... Ambulance Attendant
• Naked City, The (1948) (uncredited) .... Sgt. Shaeffer
• Open Secret (1948) .... Carter
• Fingers at the Window (1942) (scenes deleted)
• Blondie's Blessed Event (1942) .... Interne ... aka Bundle of Trouble, A (1942) (UK)
• Shepherd of the Ozarks (1942) (uncredited) .... Bit ... aka Susannah (1942) (UK)
• Canal Zone (1942) .... Fledgling
• Yokel Boy (1942) (uncredited) .... Second Assistant Director ... aka Hitting the Headlines (1942) (UK)
• Law of the Jungle (1942)
• Man from Headquarters (1942) .... Goldie
• Citizen Kane (1941) (uncredited) .... Reporter
• Lucky Devils (1941) (uncredited) ... aka Flying News (1941) (USA) ... aka To Cover the World (1941) (USA)
• And One Was Beautiful (1940) (uncredited) .... Moroni's Parking Attendant
• 'Taint Legal (1940)
• He Asked for It (1940)
• Leather Pushers, The (1940) (uncredited) .... Bit
• Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940) (uncredited) .... New Interne
• Golden Fleecing, The (1940) (uncredited) .... Cameraman
• Bested by a Beard (1940)
• Two Girls on Broadway (1940) (uncredited) .... Reporter ... aka Choose Your Partner (1940) (UK)
• Murder In Soho (1939) .... Lefty ... aka Murder in the Night (1940) (USA)
• Freshman Year (1938) (uncredited) .... Student

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