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

The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross

1932

as Christian on Stairway (uncredited)

Ship Cafe
Ship Cafe

1935

as Young Man (uncredited)

Rollin' Westward
Rollin' Westward

1939

as Ranch hand Red

Texas Wildcats
Texas Wildcats

1939

as Ed Arden

Forbidden Trails
Forbidden Trails

1941

as Jim Cramer

42nd Street
42nd Street

1933

as Chorus Boy (uncredited)

Cash Stashers
Cash Stashers

1953

as A Shmoe Named Joe

Tell Your Children
Tell Your Children

1938

as Ralph

Tahiti Nights
Tahiti Nights

1944

as Jack

Woman Wanted
Woman Wanted

1935

as Steve - Tap Dancer at Baxter's Party (uncredited)

Buried Alive
Buried Alive

1939

as Carson

Flaming Lead
Flaming Lead

1939

as Frank Gordon

Student Tour
Student Tour

1934

as Student

Victory Quiz
Studio Visit
Studio Visit

1946

as O'Brien

Good News
Good News

1930

as Student

Seventh Column
Seventh Column

1943

as Falstaff Pratt the Indestructible Man

🎦
Pest Control

1950

as Cruising Wolf

Madam Satan
Madam Satan

1930

as Zeppelin Reveler

Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate

1953

as Ralph