Dave O'Brien

Dave O'Brien

1912-05-31 – 1969-11-08 (age 57) Big Spring, Texas, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dave O'Brien (born David Poole Fronabarger, May 31, 1912 – November 8, 1969) was an American film actor, director, and writer.

O'Brien was best known to movie audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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. In 1942, O'Brien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight.

Modern audiences perhaps best remember O'Brien as a frantic dope addict in the 1936 low-budget exploitation film Tell Your Children (better known under its reissue title, Reefer Madness).

As a writer for The Red Skelton Show, O'Brien shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1961 and shared a nomination for the same award in 1963.

O'Brien died, aged 57, of a heart attack while competing in a yachting race.

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Known For

Double Trouble
Double Trouble

1941

as Sparky Barton

Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate

1953

as Ralph

42nd Street
42nd Street

1933

as Chorus Boy (uncredited)

Madam Satan
Madam Satan

1930

as Zeppelin Reveler

Pick-up
Pick-up

1933

as Party Boy (uncredited)

The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross

1932

as Christian on Stairway (uncredited)

Flaming Bullets
Flaming Bullets

1945

as Dave Wyatt / Steve Carson

The Devil Bat
The Devil Bat

1940

as Johnny Layton

Undercover Agent
Undercover Agent

1939

as Billiards Player

Captain Midnight
Captain Midnight

1942

as Captain Albright / Captain Midnight

Lightnin' Crandall
Lightnin' Crandall

1937

as Tommy Shannon

Fighting Valley
Fighting Valley

1943

as Tex Wyatt

College Humor
College Humor

1933

as Student

Wonder Bar
Wonder Bar

1934

as Chorus Boy (uncredited)

On Your Toes
On Your Toes

1939

as Man in Audience

That's Entertainment, Part II
That's Entertainment, Part II

1976

as (archive footage) (uncredited)

New Frontier
New Frontier

1939

as Jason Braddock

Three in the Saddle
Three in the Saddle

1945

as Dave Wyatt

The Big Parade of Comedy
The Big Parade of Comedy

1964

as Actor in the Pete Smith Shorts (archive footage)

Rasputin and the Empress
Rasputin and the Empress

1932

as Soldier (uncredited)