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Dave O'Brien

 
Writer: Dave "Tex" O'Brien
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: May 31, 1912 in Big Spring, Texas
  • Died: Nov 08, 1969 in Torrance, California
  • Occupation: Writer, Actor
  • Active: '30s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Western
  • Career Highlights: The Devil Bat, Smoking Guns, Trail of Terror
  • First Major Screen Credit: Frontier Scout (1938)

Biography

A longtime character actor/stuntman/leading man/director, Dave O'Brien (born David Barclay) was born in Big Springs, Texas, and entered movies in the early '30s as a stuntman and occasional character actor -- he is probably best remembered by college students of the late '60s and early '70s for his portrayal of the crazed marijuana smoker in the exploitation film Reefer Madness. During the late '30s and early '40s, O'Brien also played the title role in the serial Captain Midnight, and was the responsible adult in the East Side Kids series, but it was as the lead in MGM's Pete Smith Specialty comedy shorts -- which O'Brien also directed, under his real name David Barclay -- that he was best known to '40s moviegoers. The Pete Smith shorts, which were basically comedic looks at human foibles, took full advantage of O'Brien's background in stunt work, and hold up extremely well today. O'Brien still played occasional lead roles, especially in B-pictures such as The Man Who Walks Alone (1946), an unusual comedy with serious overtones about a veteran returning home from World War II, but by the early '50s had moved into supporting parts, such as that of the stage manager in Kiss Me Kate (1953), directed by his fellow Pete Smith alumnus George Sidney. O'Brien later became a writer for Red Skelton on television. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
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Dave O'Brien

O'Brien in Reefer Madness
Born David Poole Fronabarger
May 31, 1912(1912-05-31)
Big Spring, Texas, USA
Died November 8, 1969 (aged 57)

Dave O'Brien (31 May 1912 – 8 November 1969), was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures.

Biography

O'Brien became familiar to movie audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the famous MGM 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.

He also appeared in many low-budget Westerns, often billed as 'Tex' O'Brien, alluding to his home state. To modern audiences, he is most likely best to be remembered as a frantic dope addict in low-budget exploitation film Reefer Madness (1936), yelling "Play it faster, play it faster!!" to a piano-playing girl. He appeared in Queen Of The Yukon (1940) as Bob Adams.

In 1942, O'Brien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight.

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

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 very keen yachtsman and sailor, 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.

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v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

James Allardice / Jack Douglas / Hal Kanter / Harry Winkler (1955) · Arnold M. Auerbach / Barry Blitser / Vincent Bogert / Nat Hiken / Coleman Jacoby / Harvey Orkin / Arnold Rosen / Terry Ryan / Tony Webster (1956) · Billy Friedberg / Nat Hiken / Coleman Jacoby / Arnold Rosen / A.J. Russell / Terry Ryan / Phil Sharp / Tony Webster / Sidney Zelinka (1958) · George Balzer / Hal Goldman / Al Gordon / Sam Perrin (1959) · George Balzer / Hal Goldman / Al Gordon / Sam Perrin (1960) · Dave O'Brien / Martin Ragaway / Sherwood Schwartz / Al Schwartz / Red Skelton (1961) · Carl Reiner (1962) · Carl Reiner (1963) · Sam Denoff / Bill Persky (1966) · Buck Henry / Leonard B. Stern (1967) · Allan Burns / Chris Hayward (1968) · James L. Brooks / Allan Burns (1971) · Burt Styler (1972) · Lee Kalcheim / Michael Ross / Bernard West (1973) · Treva Silverman (1974) · Rosalyn Drexler / Ann Elder / Karyl Geld Miller / Robert Illes / Lorne Michaels / Richard Pryor / Jim Rusk / Herb Sargent / James R. Stein / Lily Tomlin / Jane Wagner / Rod Warren / George Yanok (1974) · Stan Daniels / Ed. Weinberger (1975)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Trail of Terror (1944 Crime Film)
Captain Midnight [Serial] (1942 Adventure Film)
The Pinto Bandit (1944 Western Film)

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