fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Dave O'Brien (born David Poole Fronabarger,[2] May 31, 1912 – November 8, 1969) was an American film actor, director, and writer.

Dave O'Brien
O'Brien in Reefer Madness (1936)
Born	David Poole Fronabarger (1912-05-31)May 31, 1912 Big Spring, Texas, U.S.
Died	November 8, 1969(1969-11-08) (aged 57) Catalina Island, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930–1969
Spouse(s)	Dorothy Short ​ ​ (m. 1936; div. 1954)​ Nancy O'Brien ​ ​ (m. 1955)​
Children	5[1]

Life and career

Born in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career performing in choruses and working as a stunt double[2] before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures.

O'Brien was best known to movie audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy short film series Pete Smith Specialties narrated by Pete Smith. O'Brien wrote and directed many of these subjects under the name David Barclay. O'Brien also had a small dancing part with Bebe Daniels in the Busby Berkeley musical 42nd Street (1933).

He appeared in the first few of Monogram Pictures East Side Kids films, then appeared in many low-budget Westerns, such as Producers Releasing Corporation's Texas Rangers series, where he was often billed as "Tex" O'Brien, alluding to his home state.

He appeared in Queen of the Yukon (1940) as Bob Adams. In 1940, he appeared in The Devil Bat as part of a comedy team with Donald Kerr. They also appeared together in Son of the Navy (1940) and The Man Who Walked Alone (1945).

In 1942, O'Brien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight, and had the lead role in the Western Brand of the Devil in 1944.

One of his later roles was in the MGM musical version of Kiss Me, Kate (1953), a rare featured role for the actor in an 'A' list big-budget production.

To modern audiences, he is most likely best to be remembered as a frantic dope addict in the 1936 low-budget exploitation film Tell Your Children (better known under its reissue title, Reefer Madness), yelling "Play it faster, play it faster!" to a piano-playing girl (Lillian Miles).

O'Brien married one of his co-stars of Reefer Madness, Dorothy Short, in 1936, but they divorced in 1954 after having two children. In 1955, he married Nancy O'Brien and had three more children. A keen yachtsman, he died aged 57 of a heart attack aboard a 60-foot sloop named The White Cloud while competing in a yachting race off the California coast near Catalina Island. He apparently had been experiencing symptoms of cardiac problems for several weeks, but did not seek medical attention.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition

As a writer for The Red Skelton Show, O'Brien shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1961 and shared a nomination for the same award in 1963.[3]

Selected filmography

Selected short subjects

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1942	Calling All Pa's	Joe Thunderstruck
1943	First Aid	Crandall K. Krumb, the Husband
1944	Movie Pests	Feet-in-the-Aisle-Pest	Uncredited
1946	Treasures From Trash	Alonzo T. Mousebrain	Director and Screenplay Writer as David Barclay
1946	Sure Cures	Xavier T. Schneckendorf	Director and Screenplay Writer as David Barclay
1947	Have You Ever Wondered	Main Character	Director and Screenplay Writer as David Barclay
1948	Ice Aces		Director as David Barclay
1948	You Can't Win		Director and Screenplay Writer as David Barclay
1948	Let's Cogitate		Director and Screenplay Writer as David Barclay
1949	Just Suppose	The Dad	Director as David Barclay
1950	Wrong Way Butch	Wrong Way Butch	Director as David Barclay
1952	I Love Children But...	The Dad/Papa Schlemiel	Director and Writer as David Barclay

References

External links

• Dave O'Brien at IMDb 

На других языках

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[de] Dave O’Brien (Schauspieler)

David Poole Fronabarger (* 31. Mai 1912 in Big Spring, Texas; † 8. November 1969 auf dem Meer nahe Catalina Island, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Filmschaffender. Er war vor allem unter dem Namen Dave O’Brien als Schauspieler und Stuntman tätig. War er als Regisseur oder Drehbuchautor aktiv, benutzte er zumeist den Namen David Barclay.

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- [en] Dave O'Brien (actor)

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[es] Dave O'Brien (actor)

Dave O'Brien (31 de mayo de 1912 – 8 de noviembre de 1969) fue un actor, director y guionista cinematográfico de estadounidense.

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