Arthur OConnell 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 watchmaker who hides Jews during WWII in The Hiding Place A veteran vaudevillian OConnell 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 OConnell in the tiny role of a reporter in the closing scenes of Citizen Kane 1941 a film often referred to as OConnells film debut though in fact he had already appeared in Freshman Year 1939 and had costarred in two Leon Errol short subjects as Leons conniving brotherinlaw After numerous small movie parts OConnell returned to Broadway where he appeared as the erstwhile middleaged swain of a spinsterish schoolteacher in Picnic a role hed recreate in the 1956 film version earning an Oscar nomination in the process Later the jaded looking OConnell was frequently cast as fortyish losers and alcoholics in the latter capacity he appeared as James Stewarts boozy attorney mentor in Anatomy of a Murder 1959 and the result was another Oscar nomination In 1962 OConnell portrayed the father of Elvis Presleys character in the motion picture Follow That Dream and in 1964 in the Presleypicture Kissin Cousins OConnell 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 99yearold father has been frozen in an iceberg on the 1967 sitcom The Second Hundred Years assuming hed be billed first per the producers agreement Instead top billing went to newcomer Monte Markham in the dual role of OConnells father and his son OConnell 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 OConnell 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 Alzheimers disease in California in May 1981 OConnell was appearing solely in these commercials by his own choice OConnell was buried in Calvary Cemetery Queens New York Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur OConnell licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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