Edmond O’Brien

One of the most versatile actors of his generation, Edmond O’Brien made a series of iconic noir films. From a man reporting his own murder in D.O.A. (1949) to the conflicted title character in The Bigamist (1953), he portrayed the confusion of the postwar Everyman.
His memorable roles spanned genres from Shakespeare to westerns and comedies—he also turned his hand to directing. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as the harassed press agent Oscar Muldoon in Joseph Mankiewicz’s bitter Cinderella fable The Barefoot Contessa (1954).
This first in-depth study of O’Brien charts his life and career from Broadway to Hollywood and to the rise of television, revealing a devoted family man dedicated to his craft.

Derek Sculthorpe, an archives assistant and researcher, has written plays, short stories and articles. He lives in Leeds, Yorkshire.

Derek Sculthorpe

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 246
Bibliographic Info: 50 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7443-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3379-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  v
Introduction  1
1. Tiger  3
2. Broadway to Hollywood  8
3. A Star of Tomorrow  16
4. Winged Victory  24
5. Radio Intermission  29
6. Postwar Noir  35
7. For the Love of Olga  42
8. “I want to report a murder.”  50
9. 711 Ocean Drive  59
10. Between Midnight and Dawn  65
11. An Easterner Goes West  70
12. Broadway Interlude  83
13. Turning Points  86
14. Working with Ida  93
15. ­O’Brien the Director  102
16. An Oscar for Oscar  109
17. Family Man  115
18. Television: The Early Days  122
19. After Oscar  128
20. Johnny and Sam  140
21. New Directions  148
22. A Last Hurrah  161
23. The 1970s  169
Epilogue  176
Appendix: Edmond O’Brien’s
Credits Across All Media  179
Chapter Notes  203
Bibliography  222
Index  227

• “A rich portrait of a compelling dramatic artist.”—Pop Culture Classics