Matinee Classics - George O'Brien Biography & Filmography

George O'Brien ACTOR

PHOTOS

GEORGE O'BRIEN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

George O'Brien was born on April 19th, 1899 in San Francisco, California to Daniel O'Brien, who worked as a police officer and his wife Margaret Donohue. He excelled in athletics at Polytechnic High School and later he joined the United States Navy at the age of eighteen to serve during World War I.

became a college athlete becoming the Heavyweight Champion of the Pacific Fleet during World War I. After his service he went on to study at Santa Clara College with the initial goal to pursue a career in medicine, however he found medical studies boring and decided he wanted to see if he could find work in the entertainment industry.

He first became involved in acting working as a stunt man in Hollywood. It was just a matter of time before director, John Ford chose O'Brien to star in the film, "The Iron Horse" (1924) followed by other films directed by Ford such as, "The Blue Eagle" (1926) and "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" (1927). He was now under a contract with Fox Pictures and they continued to use him frequently on more films such as, "The Man Who Came Back" (1924), "Fig Leaves" (1926), "Paid to Love" (1927) and "East Side, West Side" (1927).

As the silent film era came to an end and sound films came about he made the transition but not necessarily with ease. He did work on his first 'talkie' again with director John Ford in 1929 in, "Salute". It was not his popularity that kept him working but more his physical appearance which helped keep him working as a film star mostly in Westerns such as, "Riders of the Purple Sage" (1931). By 1934, his contract came to an end with Fox Pictures.

He did manage to take on some other film roles that were not characterized as Westerns such as, "Ever Since Eve" (1934) and "The Border Patrolman" (1936). During World War II, O'Brien retired from the industry and joined the navy. Upon completing his military service he tried to return to acting but roles were hard to come by, however, his old friend, director John Ford did use him for three additional films, "Fort Apache" (1948), "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949) both starring John Wayne and "Cheyenne Autumn" (1964) starring Richard Widmark, James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson among many others in an all star cast. He only appeared on one television series throughout his career in the industry, "Studio 57" (1956).

O'Brien married only once to Marguerite Churchill in 1933 and by 1948 this marriage ended in divorce. He never re-married and together they had two children, a son that died at a young age and one daughter. After returning from the industry he went on to work as a rancher, but soon his health declined following a heart attack and he was mostly on bed rest until he passed away on September 4th, 1985 in Tulsa, Oklahoma after suffering from a stroke.