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Pat O'Brien (Actor)

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Actor

The Resume

    (November 11, 1899-October 15, 1983)
    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Born William Joseph Patrick O'Brien
    Acted in 'Angels with Dirty Faces,' 'The Front Page,' 'Crack Up,' 'In Caliente,' 'Riffraff,' 'The Boy With Green Hair,' and 'A Dangerous Profession'
    Best known for his roles in 'Knute Rockne, All American' (1940) and 'Some Like it Hot' (1959)

Why he might be annoying:

    He wore a toupee.
    He wrote an autobiography.
    His career fizzled out in the mid-1950s.
    He guested on an episode of This Is Your Life.
    He was called 'Hollywood's Irishman in Residence.'
    As such, he was generally typecast as (A) the Irish priest, (B) the Irish gangster, or (C) policemen.
    He was an ardent supporter of Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War (that got him labeled a Fascist).
    He played the lead in the original Broadway production of 'The Front Page,' but was tapped to play the secondary lead for the film version (apparently it was a mistake on the studio's part, but he took the job anyway without correcting them).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Three of his children were adopted.
    He appeared in nine different films with James Cagney.
    He had the crucial role of Gramps in Joseph Losey's 'The Boy With Green Hair' one of the earliest films to communicate a pacifist anti-war message.
    He drew critical praise for his spot-on portrayal of Knute Rockne.
    His famous 'win just one for the Gipper' speech would later be used by Ronald Reagan (who played George Gipp in the movie) as a slogan for his 1980 Presidential campaign.
    He belonged to Hollywood's 'Irish Mafia' - which was basically a 'boys club' of Irish-American movie stars that also included Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Stewart.
    He won two Daytime Emmy awards for his work on 'The ABC Afternoon Playbreak' (1972).
    His last screen credit was as Uncle Joe in several episodes of Happy Days.
    He said: ' I think [Method acting] has ruined an awful lot of potentially fine actors. Look, the theatre is nothing but a mystique. It's nebulous. You get the part, you study your lines, you see what you can do with it and, finally, you evolve yourself into the part. But the Method--be a window, be a door . . . what's that got to do with anything?'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 20 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 31 Votes: 16.13% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying