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| Jack O'Brien |
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born:
20 May 1895 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
died:
29 April 1975 United States of America (terminal bronchopneumonia/arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease, age 79) |
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Australian actor, acrobat, and stuntman who was a regular presence at the Hal Roach Studios throughout the 1920s, not uncommonly playing multiple roles in a single film. His time at the studio began as early as 1921 (during the days of Harold Lloyd, Snub Pollard, and soon after, the beginnings of Our Gang) and lasted until 1929 (into the early talkies of Laurel & Hardy and Charley Chase). His parents were Blanche (Grave) O'Brien and Thomas Patrick O'Brien. A 1923 Australian newspaper article mentions Jack being "a former Bondi [Beach] Life Guard." He acted in films for athlete/showman Reginald "Snowy" Baker's company in his native Australia, with a list compiled by his son noting he "played a starring role" in 1920's "The Man from Kangaroo" (film survives; can confirm, he's in it!), as well as an unknown role in a film called "The Stockman" (have not found anything on this yet). Jack immigrated to the United States in 1920, sailing from Sydney to Los Angeles on the S.S. Ventura on 19 May, and arriving at the port of San Francisco on 7 June 1920; he gives his occupation as "movie actor" on the passenger manifest (Jack's 1975 death certificate says he had been residing in Los Angeles County, and California altogether, for 55 years). Jack confirmably worked at Roach as early as March 1921, per his first son's birth certificate. In addition to his work at Roach, Jack also acted in Poverty Row B-Westerns during the 1920s. (NOTE: Annette D'Agostino Lloyd's "The Harold Lloyd Encyclopedia" lists a Jack O'Brien as working on five Lloyd productions filmed between April and August 1919; if "our" Jack arrived in the U.S. in mid-1920, then this would seem to be a different Jack O'Brien unless he was in the U.S. before his "official" arrival.) He married Veronica Frances "Yvonne" Cook (1895-1954) in 1920, shortly before they immigrated to the U.S. Their first son, Jack, only lived for three days in March 1921. They had five more sons, all of whom thankfully made it to adulthood: Owen Thomas O'Brien (1922-1994), Brian John O'Brien (1924-2011), Kevin Patrick O'Brien (1927-2016), Donn Terence O'Brien (1929-2016), and Dennis Michael O'Brien (1931-2012). A 1922 newspaper article on Owen's birth claimed he was to be named after Harry "Snub" Pollard (also noting Jack and Snub's shared Australian roots), and that Snub and Marie Mosquini were to be the newborn's godparents. Soon, beginning in the 1930s, Jack went from in front of to behind the camera, working as a prop man (per the 1940 and 1950 U.S. Censuses) for MGM (per his WWII draft reg. card). His death certificate merely says "retired" for his occupation, but notes that he worked in it for 31 years and that it was in the motion picture business, with Desilu Productions (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's production company) being his last place of work. He passed at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, at 10:10pm on 29 April 1975, from terminal bronchopneumonia (duration: days) due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (duration: years); per the death certificate, the physician who signed the certificate had been attending Jack since June 1971. Jack was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Tracking Jack can be a difficult task, as he was one of at least four Jack O'Briens working in films or entertainment at the same time. For starters, there's the silent film actor-director John B. O'Brien (1884-1936), who was sometimes known as Jack O'Brien. Then, there was also another actor named Jack O'Brien (b. John Jerome O'Brien, 1896-1942), sometimes known in the trades as "Big Jack" O'Brien (owing to his being over 6'3"), who was a "screen daredevil" and leading man in films and serials of the 1920s (notable credits include 1920's "The Stealers" which was Norma Shearer's first onscreen credit, being the leading man in 1922's "The Bride's Play" with Marion Davies, and playing "Dinny" in John Ford's famed 1924 Western "The Iron Horse"). Lastly, there was the noted boxer Philadelphia Jack O'Brien (1878-1942). See also Jack O'Brien. |
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Real name: John Michael O'Brien Height: 5'7½" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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