Eamon Joseph O'Brien (Irish: Éamonn Ó Briain; September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, and film director.

(1950), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Julius Caesar (1953), 1984 (1956), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Wild Bunch (1969), and The Other Side of the Wind (2018).

An aunt who taught high school English and speech took him to the theatre from an early age and he developed an interest in acting.

"It was simply the best training in the world for a young actor, singer or dancer," O'Brien said, adding that "(w)hat these teachers encouraged above all was getting your tools ready – your body, your voice, your speech.

O'Brien returned to Broadway to play Mercutio opposite Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in Romeo and Juliet.

His roles included a feature spot in A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob and the co-male lead in Parachute Battalion, both released in 1941.

O'Brien played the lead in Obliging Young Lady, with Eve Arden, and was featured in Powder Town.

In May 1942, Universal bought out O'Brien's contract with RKO so he could star opposite Deanna Durbin in The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943).

He was joined in the Moss Hart production by Red Buttons, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy, Gary Merrill, Barry Nelson and Martin Ritt.

[4][6] O’Brien returned to the screen full time with Universal Studios, playing the insurance investigator in film noir The Killers in 1946.

He then starred in the romantic comedy For the Love of Mary, the World War II set Fighter Squadron, and the noir An Act of Murder, all in 1948.

In late 1948, O'Brien signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros., which cast him as the undercover police officer in White Heat (1949) opposite James Cagney.

O'Brien returned to film noir, where he was a frequent player, and made one of his most famous movies, D.O.A., where he portrays a man investigating his own murder.

However, even though O'Brien still managed to command leading man roles, the prestige of his pictures and casts had begun to diminish and his career hit a slump.

"[6] He still made some notable movies, including the lead in two for Ida Lupino, The Hitch-Hiker and The Bigamist, and as a featured player as Casca in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ensemble film of Julius Caesar (1953).

In 1954 Mankiewicz cast O'Brien as press agent Oscar Muldoon in The Barefoot Contessa,[4] earning him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

From 1959 to 1960, O'Brien portrayed the title role in the syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight, about a New York City actor-turned-private detective.

[17] O'Brien had roles on many television series, including an appearance on Target: The Corruptors!, The Eleventh Hour, Breaking Point and Mission: Impossible.

[citation needed] He was cast as American reporter Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but had a heart attack during filming and was replaced in the co-starring role by Arthur Kennedy.

O'Brien recovered to direct his first feature Man-Trap (1961), a neo-noir starring Jeffrey Hunter and Stella Stevens, co-starred in the Disney comedy Moon Pilot (1962), and in the star-studded ensemble cast of the World War II epic The Longest Day (1962).

He continued to receive good roles, co-starring in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and as the author of the Robert Stroud biography the Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) was based upon.

In the mid-'60s, O'Brien co-starred with Roger Mobley and Harvey Korman in the "Gallegher" episodes of NBC TV's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

O'Brien worked steadily in both film and television throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, however his memory problems were beginning to take their toll.

He had a memorable role as the decrepit but boisterous Freddie Sykes in Sam Peckinpah's groundbreaking revisionist western The Wild Bunch (1969).

Billboard said, "Edmond O'Brien brings intensity in the narrative portions and successfully impersonates the varied characters in dialog.