Born March 29, 1908 in New York, New York, to Irish immigrants, his father a hotel worker, his mother a housewife, Arthur O’Connell attended St. John’s High School and College in Brooklyn before making his stage debut in a 1929 production of The Patsy.
A travelling vaudevillian for a time, he made his film debut in an uncredited role as a student in 1938’s Freshman Year. Small roles in films continued including those in 1940’s Dr. Kildare Goes Home and 1941’s Citizen Kane. He made his Broadway debut as director of 1943’s Play-by Play. He then directed 1945’s Brighten the Corner. He did not make his acting debut on Broadway until 1949’s How Long Till Summer which quickly opened and closed. In the meantime, he continued in minor roles in films including those in 1948’s The Naked City, State of the Union, One Touch of Venus, and Force of Evil.
The actor made his TV debut in 1950 in episodes of Suspense and The Web. He returned to Broadway in the 1952 revivals of both Anna Christie and Golden Boy. In 1953 he originated the role of Howard Bevans in the 1953 Broadway version of Picnic in a cast that also included Ralph Meeker, Janice Rule, Paul Newman, Kim Stanley, and Eileen Heckart in roles that were played in the 1955 film version by William Holden, Kim Novak, Cliff Robertson, Susan Strasberg, and Rosalind Russell, respectively. O’Connell was the only major cast member to repeat his role in the screen version and the only one of the film’s cast to receive an Oscar nomination for his performance.
Now a name actor, O’Connell had four strong roles in 1956 alone in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, The Proud Ones, The Solid Gold Cadillac, and Bus Stop. Splitting his time between stage, TV, and the big screen, his 1957 output included the films Operation Madball and April Love. In 1958 he had roles in both Voice in the Mirror and Man of the West. That same year, he married Ann Hall Dunlop. The marriage would just last five years.
O’Connell had a banner year in 1959 with guest appearances on three TV shows including Father Knows Best and roles in four films including Gidget, Anatomy of a Murder, Hound-Dog Man, and Operation Petticoat, receiving a second Oscar nomination for Anatomy of a Murder. In 1961, he had major roles in Cimarron and The Great Impostor. His 1962 films included a memorable role opposite Bette Davis in Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles, the remake of Capra’s 1933 classic, Lady for a Day.
Most of O’Connell’s roles were now in guest appearances on TV but occasionally he was given an important role in a major film such as those in 1965’s The Great Race, 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, 1967’s A Covenant with Death, 1968’s The Power, 1970’s There Was a Crooked Man…, and 1972’s They Only Kill Their Masters and The Poseidon Adventure. His last film was 1975’s The Hiding Place co-starring Julie Harris and Eileen Heckart.
O’Connell had to curtail his work to TV commercials in the mid-1970s due to the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Moving eventually to the Motion Picture and Television Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, he died there on May 18, 1981. He was 73.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
PICNIC (1955), directed by Joshua Logan
O’Connell was 47 when he got his breakthrough role in films reprising his Broadway role as the somewhat beau of the old maid schoolteacher played to the hilt by Rosalind Russell in this expanded version of William Inge’s play. While everyone’s eyes were on William Holden and Kim Novak in the leads and Russell, Cliff Robertson, Susan Strasberg, Betty Field and Verna Felton in support, it was O’Connell who quietly stole the film, earning the Oscar nominated Best Picture its only nod in the acting categories. It’s Hollywood lore that had Russell allowed it, she would have been nominated in support as well and would have won her category.
BUS STOP (1956), directed by Joshua Logan
An adaptation of another Inge play earned Marilyn Monroe her best reviews of her career to date to date as the saloon singer originated by Kim Stanley, but it was newcomer Don Murray who received the film’s only Oscar nomination as the crazy in love cowboy who pursues her. O’Connell was also in top form as Murray’s father figure friend and mentor. The supporting cast includes Betty Field from the film version of Picnic and Eileen Heckart who had Rosalind Russell’s role in the stage version. Stanley got back at Monroe for stealing her stage role by playing a thinly disguised version of Monroe in 1958’s The Goddess.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959), directed by Otto Preminger
The film version of the acclaimed bestseller was one of the most controversial films of its time due to the unprecedented graphic language used in the courtroom scenes. James Stewart won his second NYFC award for Best Actor as the defense counsel for Ben Gazzara accused of murdering the man who allegedly raped his wife, Lee Remick. Stewart, O’Connell as his law partner, and George C. Scott as the prosecutor were nominated for Oscars while Remick in a role turned down by Lana Turner and Joseph N. Welch as the judge in a role turned down by Spencer Tracy and Burl Ives, were nominated for Golden Globes.
FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966), directed by Richard Fleischer
Nominated for five Oscars and winner of two for its Special Visual Effects and Sound Effects, this one of a kind hit film about a group of scientists who along with CIA agent Stephen Boyd and the submarine they are traveling in, are miniaturized to go into the head of scientist Jean Del Val to remove a blood clot from his brain. The scientists are played by Arthur Kennedy, Raquel Welch, and Donald Pleasance. The Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces (CMDF) commander is played by Edmond O’Brien. O’Connell is the Chief Medical Officer who is opposed to Welch or any woman being part of the team.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972), directed by Ronald Neame
This classic disaster film was nominated for nine Oscars, winning just one for Best Original Song, “The Morning After”. O’Connell was tenth billed behind Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, and Pamela Sue Martin. Of the six former Oscar nominees in the film, along with Hackman Borgnine, Buttons, Winters, and Albertson, he was the only one who hadn’t won. Two-time Oscar winner Winters as the fat lady, a former champion swimmer, was the only performer nominated for this film.
ARTHUR O’CONNELL AND OSCAR
Picnic (1955) – Nominated – Best Supporting Actor
Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – Nominated – Best Supporting Actor
