Richard O'Brien (American actor)

{{short description|American film and television actor}}

{{Other people|Richard O'Brien}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Richard O'Brien

|birth_name = Edward Patrick O'Brien

|birth_date = {{birth date|1917|07|14}}

|birth_place = Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1983|03|29|1917|07|14}}

|death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

|occupation = Film and television actor

}}

Edward Patrick O'Brien (July 14, 1917 – March 29, 1983) was an American film and television actor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/06/obituaries/richard-o-brien-hollywood-character-actor-65-is-dead.html|title=Richard O'Brien, Hollywood Character Actor, 65, Is Dead|author=Associated Press|work=The New York Times|date=April 6, 1983|access-date=August 6, 2022}}

O'Brien was born in Fargo, North Dakota.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/richard-obrien-p53293|title=Richard O'Brien|work=AllMovie|first=Cammila|last=Collar|access-date=August 6, 2022}} He worked as a radio announcer in North Dakota before moving to Hollywood in the 1930s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/633636544/|title=Longtime Character Actor Richard O' Brien Dies at 65|work=Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|date=April 5, 1983|access-date=August 6, 2022|page=7|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}} He began appearing in films, and also worked as a manager at the Carthay Circle Theatre. During World War II he gave up acting to work as a stevedore in the San Francisco docks.

In 1953 O'Brien appeared in the television series This Is the Life, later making three appearances in Harbor Command.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

O'Brien appeared in films such as High Velocity, Rough Night in Jericho, The Honkers, Chamber of Horrors, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, No Deposit, No Return, The Pack, The Thief Who Came to Dinner, The Andromeda Strain, and Pieces of Dreams.{{Citation|title=John Willis' Screen World: Volume 22|page=107|date=1971|publisher=Crown Publishers|work=University of California}} On television, O'Brien had recurring roles in The Smith Family and the action and crime drama television series S.W.A.T. He also guest-starred in television programs including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Barnaby Jones, Trapper John, M.D., 12 O'Clock High, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, My Three Sons, The Rockford Files, Quincy, M.E., Rawhide, The Wild Wild West, The Fugitive, The Big Valley and General Hospital.

O'Brien died in March 1983 of cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 65.{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1983/04/05/Actor-Richard-OBrien-who-played-mostly-crooked-policemen-priests/1906418366800/|title=Actor Richard O'Brien, who played mostly crooked policemen, priests...|work=United Press International|date=April 5, 1983|access-date=August 6, 2022}}