Oscar-winner Edmond O'Brien was one of the most respected character actors in American cinema from his heyday of the mid-1940s through the late 1960s. Born on September 10, 1915 in New York, New York, O'Brien learned his craft in the theater, appearing with Orson Welles's Mercury Players. He made his uncredited debut as an extra in Prison Break, but his real debut was with the plum supporting part of Gringoire in _Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939) . After returning from his wartime service with the Army Air Force, O'Brien built up a distinguished career as a supporting actor in A-list films, and as an occasional character lead such as in D.O.A..

O'Brien won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Barefoot Contessa and also was received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for his role as a drunken senator ferreting out an attempted coup d'etat in Seven Days in May. He also appeared as the crusty old timer Freddy who antagonizes Ben Johnson's character Tector Gorch in director Sam Peckinpah's classic Western _Wild Bunch, The (1969). Increasingly, he appeared on television in the 1960s and '70s, but managed a turn in his old boss Welles' unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind.

O'Brien married and divorced the actresses Nancy Kelly and Olga San Juan, with the latter wife being the mother of his three children, including actors Maria O'Brien and Brendan O'Brien. He died in May 1985 Inglewood, California of Alzheimer's Disease and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.


A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob (1941): $11,500

Father, with Olga San Juan, of actress Maria O'Brien and Brendan O'Brien. At the age of 10 he learned conjuring tricks from his neighbor, Harry Houdini. Brother of screenwriter Liam O'Brien. Recited Shakespeare with Keith Moon at Sam Peckinpah's surprise birthday party. Was original choice to play newspaper reporter Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but health problems forced him to turn down the role, which eventually went to Arthur Kennedy. Was cast in Black Christmas (1974) as Lt. Kenneth Fuller, but the part was recast with John Saxon because of O'Brien's poor health. He was rumored to be suffering from Alzheimers. O'Brien was originally cast as the photo-journalist Jackson Bentley (based on Lowell Thomas) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962). After O'Brien filmed several scenes, he suffered a heart attack and had to be replaced.