Arthur O'Connell

Born: 1908-03-29

Arthur O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films (starting with a small role in Citizen Kane) in 1941 and television programs (mostly guest appearances). Among his screen appearances were Picnic, Anatomy of a Murder, and as the watch-maker who hides Jews during WWII in The Hiding Place. A veteran vaudevillian, O'Connell, from New York City, made his legitimate stage debut in the mid 1930s, at which time he fell within the orbit of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Welles cast O'Connell in the tiny role of a reporter in the closing scenes of Citizen Kane (1941), a film often referred to as O'Connell's film debut, though in fact he had already appeared in Freshman Year (1939) and had costarred in two Leon Errol short subjects as Leon's conniving brother-in-law. After numerous small movie parts, O'Connell returned to Broadway, where he appeared as the erstwhile middle-aged swain of a spinsterish schoolteacher in Picnic - a role he'd recreate in the 1956 film version, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. Later the jaded looking O'Connell was frequently cast as fortyish losers and alcoholics; in the latter capacity he appeared as James Stewart's boozy attorney mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and the result was another Oscar nomination. In 1962 O'Connell portrayed the father of Elvis Presley's character in the motion picture Follow That Dream, and in 1964 in the Presley-picture Kissin' Cousins. O'Connell continued appearing in choice character parts on both TV and films during the 1960s, but avoided a regular television series, holding out until he could be assured top billing. He appeared as Joseph Baylor in the 1964 episode "A Little Anger Is a Good Thing" on the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point. The actor accepted the part of a man who discovers that his 99-year-old father has been frozen in an iceberg on the 1967 sitcom The Second Hundred Years, assuming he'd be billed first per the producers' agreement. Instead, top billing went to newcomer Monte Markham in the dual role of O'Connell's father and his son. O'Connell accepted the demotion to second billing as well as could be expected, but he never again trusted the word of any Hollywood executive. Ill health forced O'Connell to significantly reduce his acting appearances in the mid '70s, but the actor stayed busy as a commercial spokesman, a friendly pharmacist who was a spokesperson for Crest toothpaste. At the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease in California in May 1981, O'Connell was appearing solely in these commercials, by his own choice. O'Connell was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York. Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur O'Connell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.    


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Citizen Kane

as Reporter (uncredited)
Released: 1941-04-17

Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a...

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The Poseidon Adventure

as John, the Chaplain
Released: 1972-12-01

When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

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Anatomy of a Murder

as Parnell Emmett McCarthy
Released: 1959-07-01

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a...

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The Great Race

as Henry Goodbody
Released: 1965-07-01

Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century...

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Bus Stop

as Virgil Blessing
Released: 1956-08-31

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in...

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Pocketful of Miracles

as Count Alfonso Romero
Released: 1961-12-18

A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society...

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Ben

as Bill Hatfield
Released: 1972-06-23

A lonely boy becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. This rat is also the leader of a pack of...

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Force of Evil

as Link Hall (uncredited)
Released: 1950-08-24

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big...

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Operation Petticoat

as Chief Motor Machinist's Mate Sam Tostin
Released: 1959-12-05

A World War II submarine commander finds himself stuck with a damaged sub, a con-man executive...

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Man of the West

as Sam Beasley
Released: 1958-06-20

Heading east to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher for his frontier town home, Link Jones is...

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Picnic

as Howard Bevans
Released: 1955-11-18

Labor Day in a small Kansas farm town. Hal, a burly and resolute drifter, jumps off a dusty...

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The Naked City

as Sgt. Shaeffer (uncredited)
Released: 1948-03-04

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan...

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There Was a Crooked Man...

as Mr. Lomax
Released: 1970-09-18

Arizona Territorial Prison inmate Paris Pitman, Jr. is a schemer, a charmer, and quite popular...

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Fantastic Voyage

as Col. Donald Reid
Released: 1966-08-24

In order to save an assassinated scientist, a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic...

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Cimarron

as Tom Wyatt
Released: 1960-12-01

The epic story of a family involved in the Oklahoma Land Rush of April 22, 1889.

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State of the Union

as First Reporter
Released: 1948-04-30

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on...

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7 Faces of Dr. Lao

as Clint Stark
Released: 1964-03-18

An old Chinese man rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the...

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The Last Valley

as Hoffman
Released: 1971-01-28

People in a small German village in the last valley to remain untouched by the devastating...

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The Silencers

as Joe Wigman
Released: 1966-02-18

Matt Helm is called out of retirement to stop the evil Big O organization who plan to explode an...

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The Reluctant Astronaut

as Arbuckle "Buck" Fleming
Released: 1967-09-05

Roy Fleming is a small-town kiddie-ride operator who is deathly afraid of heights. After...

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The Solid Gold Cadillac

as Mark Jenkins
Released: 1956-08-22

Laura Partridge is a very enthusiastic small stockholder of 10 shares in International Projects,...

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Gidget

as Russell Lawrence
Released: 1959-04-09

Due to an accident while swimming in the sea, Francis meets the surfer Moondoggie. She's...

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Kissin' Cousins

as Pappy Tatum
Released: 1964-03-06

An Army officer returns to the Smoky Mountains and tries to convince his kinfolk to allow the...

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The Proud Ones

as Jim Dexter
Released: 1956-05-15

Robert Ryan plays an aging sheriff responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town....

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April Love

as Jed Bruce
Released: 1957-11-27

A teenager, recently in trouble with the police, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle on...

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A Thunder of Drums

as Sgt. Karl Rodermill
Released: 1961-09-26

Captain Maddocks will never be promoted beyond Captain because of a mistake that he made in the...

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Misty

as Grandpa Clarence Beebe
Released: 1961-06-04

Every year the Chincoteague fire department rounds up the wild ponies of Assateague Island and...

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The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

as Gordon Walker
Released: 1956-04-12

Tom Rath is a suburban father and husband haunted by his memories of World War II, including a...

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Huckleberry Finn

as Col. Grangerford
Released: 1974-05-24

Huckleberry Finn is a 15-year-old boy who has had a difficult relationship with his often...

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The Great Impostor

as Warden J.B. Chandler
Released: 1960-12-23

Fictionalized account of Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr., who stole or created fictional identities...

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One Touch of Venus

as Reporter
Released: 1948-08-01

A window dresser's kiss brings a statue of the Roman goddess of love to life.

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A Taste of Evil

as John
Released: 1971-10-11

On her way home from a stay at a mental institution after a traumatic rape, a woman realizes...

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A Covenant with Death

as Judge Hockstadter
Released: 1967-02-15

An innocent man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but as he's about to be hanged...

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The Golden Fleecing

as Cameraman (uncredited)
Released: 1940-08-16

A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.

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Follow That Dream

as Pop Kwimper
Released: 1962-04-11

When the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state...

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Ride Beyond Vengeance

as The Narrator
Released: 1966-01-01

Jonas Trapp falls in love with the beautiful Jessie, a wealthy girl out of his humble class....

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Operation Mad Ball

as Col. Rousch
Released: 1957-08-17

In this wacky military spoof, Lemmon plays a terminally bored Army private waging a war of wits...

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The Monkey's Uncle

as Darius Green III
Released: 1965-08-18

College whiz-kid Merlin Jones concocts a method for teaching advanced information to a...

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Man From Headquarters

as Goldie Shores
Released: 1942-01-23

A police reporter solves a murder case in Chicago, then moves on to St. Louis-but not...

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Shootout in a One-Dog Town

as Henry Gills
Released: 1974-01-09

A small-town banker is forced to protect his town against a vicious gang of bank robbers...

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They Only Kill Their Masters

as Ernie
Released: 1972-11-22

An enigmatic young woman has been murdered in a small California coast town. The investigation...

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The Hiding Place

as Casper ten Boom, 'Papa'
Released: 1975-05-04

The Hiding Place is an account of a Dutch family who risk their lives by offering a safe haven...

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Hound-Dog Man

as Aaron McKinney
Released: 1959-11-11

A rustic drama set in the early 20th century, Hound Dog Man is the simple story of a young man,...

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The Power

as Prof. Henry Hallson
Released: 1968-02-21

One by one members of a special project team are being killed by telekinesis - the ability to...

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The Monte Carlo Story

as Mr. Homer Hinkley
Released: 1956-12-19

Stylish, sophisticated and absolutely broke, Dino and Maria pursue a romance until they realize...

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Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend

as Self (from Bus Stop [1956]) (archive footage)
Released: 1986-04-19

Her story is well-known — the lonely child who yearned for affection and approval which she...

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Law of the Jungle

as Simmons
Released: 1942-02-06

Nona Brooks, former member of a stranded theatrical troupe, earns a temporary living singing in...

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Dr. Kildare Goes Home

as Intern (uncredited)
Released: 1940-09-06

A young doctor gives up big-city success to help his father set up a small-town clinic.

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Homecoming

as Ambulance Attendant (uncredited)
Released: 1948-04-29

Self-absorbed Dr. Lee Johnson enlists with the Army medical corps during World War II, more out...

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Nightmare in the Sun

as Sam Wilson
Released: 1965-03-06

A hitchhiker sleeps with a rancher's wife and is hunted by the sheriff for her murder.

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Hello, Annapolis

as Pharmacist Mate
Released: 1942-04-23

Rivals Bill Arden and Paul Herbert enter the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in order to impress...

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And One Was Beautiful

as Moroni's Parking Attendant
Released: 1940-04-05

A teenager falls hard for an irresponsible playboy.

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Blondie's Blessed Event

as Interne (uncredited)
Released: 1942-04-09

Cookie is born, producing unmitigated joy in the Bumstead household. Adding to the chaos a new...

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Two Girls on Broadway

as Reporter at Wedding (uncredited)
Released: 1940-04-19

Eddie Kerns sells his song to a Broadway producer and also lands a job dancing in the musical....

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Wicked, Wicked

as Mr. Fenley, Hotel Engineer
Released: 1973-06-13

Simmons, the manager of a seaside hotel in California, has a problem: Guests are turning up...

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Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

as actor 'Anatomy of a Murder' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1991-10-28

This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie...

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Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

as Mr. Kruft
Released: 1970-09-11

War is brewing between the soldiers at an otherwise quiet army base and the civilians of a...

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Murder in Soho

as Lefty
Released: 1939-02-01

A London nightclub hostess pretends to fall for the mobster who killed her husband.

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Pericles on 31st Street

as Dan Ryan
Released: 1962-04-12

Racial tensions break out on 31st Street, a multi-ethnic community. Sam Peckinpah directed this...

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Birds Do It

as Professor Wald
Released: 1966-08-13

Melvin Byrd, who dreams of being a scientist, is a Cape Kennedy "miniscule molecular particle...

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Voice in the Mirror

as Bill Tobin
Released: 1958-08-13

Jim Burton, chronic alcoholic, is cared for by Ellen, his incredibly patient, sexy, hard-working...

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Your Cheatin' Heart

as Fred Rose
Released: 1964-11-04

The story of the country and western singer Hank Williams.

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Fingers at the Window

as Photographer (uncredited)
Released: 1942-04-22

In Chicago, an unemployed actor aims to solve the mystery concerning a string of ax murders,...

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The Third Day

as Dr. Wheeler
Released: 1965-08-04

A man stumbles out of a car crash with no memory of what transpired. Everyone who he meets...

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Marilyn

as Self ("Bus Stop") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 1963-04-18

This 1963 documentary, released less than a year after Marilyn Monroe's death, showcases the...

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I Take This Oath

as Court Clerk
Released: 1940-05-20

The trials and tribulations of a group of newly sworn-in police officers.

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The Whistle at Eaton Falls

as Jim Brewster
Released: 1951-08-02

A newly promoted plant supervisor finds himself in the position of having to announce a layoff...

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The Violators

as Solomon Baumgarten
Released: 1957-11-30

A New York City probation officer, noted for his sympathy with delinquents, put to a severe test...

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Hullabaloo

as Fourth Page
Released: 1940-10-25

A radio actor faces trouble when a science-fiction story causes the audience to panic.

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Seven in Darkness

as Larry Wise
Released: 1969-09-23

A plane carrying seven blind people to a convention for the blind in Seattle crashes in the...

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Open Secret

as Carter
Released: 1948-02-14

A couple discovers that their friend has gone missing. Their investigation leads them to believe...

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'Taint Legal

as Book Salesman
Released: 1940-05-25

Edgar Kennedy is over-joyed when told he has won a $5,000 prize in a "How To Be Happy Though...

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If He Hollers, Let Him Go!

as Prosecutor
Released: 1968-10-08

James Lake (Raymond St. Jacques) is an escaped black convict imprisoned for a murder he didn't...

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Bested by a Beard

as Phil
Released: 1940-07-16

Leon Errol disguises himself as a mystic, in order to fool repo men.

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The Countess of Monte Cristo

as Assistant Director Jensen
Released: 1948-10-31

This musical tells the tales of two movie extras who abscond to an expensive resort with their...

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Canal Zone

as New Recruit (uncredited)
Released: 1942-03-19

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Bonanza

as Dr. Samuel Hubert
First aired: 1959-09-12

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch...

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The Fugitive

as Dr. Josephus Harrison Adams
First aired: 1963-09-17

Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route...

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The Fugitive

as Samuel Cole
First aired: 1963-09-17

Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route...

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Ironside

as uncredited
First aired: 1967-03-28

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of...

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Matinee Theater

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-10-31

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of...

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The Wild Wild West

as uncredited
First aired: 1965-09-17

The Wild Wild West is an American television series. Developed at a time when the television...

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Burke's Law

as Dr. Stuart Alexander
First aired: 1963-09-20

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on...

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My Three Sons

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-09-29

A widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas raises three sons with the help of his...

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Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

as Lyman
First aired: 1956-10-05

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...

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The Big Valley

as Jubal
First aired: 1965-09-15

The Big Valley is an American western television series which ran on ABC from September 15,...

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Ghost Story

as Chief Owen Huston
First aired: 1972-09-15

Ghost Story is an American television anthology series that aired for one season on NBC from...

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Emergency!

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-01-22

The crew of Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, particularly the paramedic team, and...

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Petticoat Junction

as William Lawrence
First aired: 1963-09-24

The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters...

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Cannon

as uncredited
First aired: 1971-09-14

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26,...

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The Philco Television Playhouse

as uncredited
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

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The Philco Television Playhouse

as Jim Elkins
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

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The Philco Television Playhouse

as Grant
First aired: 1948-10-03

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC...

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The F.B.I.

as Smitty
First aired: 1965-09-19

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was...

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The Name of the Game

as Charlie Sherwin
First aired: 1968-09-20

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and...

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Night Gallery

as uncredited
First aired: 1970-12-16

Rod Serling narrates an anthology of fantasy, horror and sci-fi stories from a set resembling a...

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Studio One

as Curtis
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

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Studio One

as Manachi Conners
First aired: 1948-11-07

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher...

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Route 66

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-10-07

Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America in a Chevrolet...

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McCloud

as uncredited
First aired: 1970-02-17

Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud of the small western town of Taos, New Mexico is assigned to the...

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Alias Smith and Jones

as uncredited
First aired: 1971-01-05

Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western series that originally aired on ABC from 1971 to...

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The Oscars

as Self
First aired: 1953-03-19

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...

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Omnibus

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-11-09

Omnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.

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Arrest and Trial

as uncredited
First aired: 1963-09-15

Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American crime/legal drama series that ran during the 1963-1964...

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Sam Benedict

as uncredited
First aired: 1962-09-15

Sam Benedict is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The...

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DuPont Show of the Month

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-09-29

DuPont Show of the Month is an acclaimed 90-minute television anthology series that aired...

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Room 222

as uncredited
First aired: 1969-09-11

Room 222 is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television....

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Nanny and the Professor

as uncredited
First aired: 1970-01-21

Nanny and the Professor is an American fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and...

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The New Breed

as Peter Capples
First aired: 1961-10-03

The New Breed is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from October 3, 1961 to June...

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Alcoa Theatre

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-09-30

Alcoa Theatre is a half-hour American anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on alternate...

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The Second Hundred Years

as uncredited
First aired: 1967-09-06

The Second Hundred Years is an American sitcom starring Monte Markham which aired on the ABC...

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The Paul Lynde Show

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-09-13

The Paul Lynde Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC. The series stars Paul Lynde and...

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Adam's Rib

as Judge
First aired: 1973-09-14

Adam's Rib is an American situation comedy broadcast on ABC-TV from September 14 to December 28,...

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