Hugh O'Connell (August 4, 1898 – January 19, 1943) was an American film actor and performed on Broadway.Fleming p. 265
Early years Hugh O'Connell was born on August 4, 1898, in New York City. After being orphaned at an early age, he went to live with a farmer near Green Bay, Wisconsin. He studied business at the Appleton Business College in Wisconsin. After working at a depot of the Northwestern Railroad, he became an usher at a theater in Chicago. The Cal Stewart Stock Company was playing at that venue, and when the troupe went on the road, he went with it.
Career O'Connell's experience with the Stewart company led to jobs with stock companies in Juneau, Alaska, the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, and other places. He left a touring troupe in Seattle, hoping to find better opportunities on the West Coast. When he failed to find such opportunities there and in San Francisco, he went East with another company and acted in "a lot of one-night stands" before joining road companies based in New York. His Broadway credits include Face Value (1921), Zeno (1923), Cousin Sonia (1925), The Wisdom Tooth (1926), Sure Fire (1926), Ballyhoo (1927), Fog (1927), The Racket (1927), Gentlemen of the Press (1928), Week-End (1929), Once in a Lifetime (1930), Face the Music (1932), A Saturday Night (1933), The Milky Way (1934), Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 (1936), and Run Sheep Run (1938). An Associated Press review of The Milky Way said it was "the best performance of Hugh O'Connell, who is undoubtedly the funniest actor on the stage ..."
Personal life and death O'Connell was married and had a son. He died on January 19, 1943, in Hollywood, California.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1931 The Smiling Lieutenant Niki's Orderly 1931 Secrets of a Secretary Charlie Rickenbacker 1931 Personal Maid Kipp 1933 Broadway Through a Keyhole Chuck Haskins 1933 All at Sea 1934 Gift of Gab Patsy 1934 Cheating Cheaters Steve Wilson 1934 Strange Wives Warren 1934 The Man Who Reclaimed His Head Minor Role Uncredited1935 It Happened in New York Greg Haywood 1935 Chinatown Squad Sergeant McLeash 1935 Manhattan Moon Speed 1935 She Gets Her Man Windy 1935 The Affair of Susan Dudley Stone 1935 Diamond Jim Charles B. Horsley 1937 Ready, Willing, and Able Truman Hardy 1937 Fly-Away Baby Hughie Sprague 1937 Marry the Girl Michael 'Mike' Forrester 1937 The Footloose Heiress John C. Allyn 1937 That Certain Woman Virgil Whitaker 1937 The Perfect Specimen Waldorf Hotel Clerk 1938 Swing Your Lady Smith 1938 Accidents Will Happen John Oldham 1938 Torchy Blane in Panama Skinner 1938 Women Are Like That George Dunlap 1938 Mystery House Newell Morse 1938 Penrod's Double Trouble Professor Caligostro 1940 My Favorite Wife Johnson - Insurance Adjuster 1940 Lucky Partners Niagara Clerk 1941 The Mad Doctor Lawrence Watkins 1941 The People vs. Dr. Kildare Process Server Uncredited1941 Puddin' Head Kincaid 1941 My Life with Caroline Muirhead 1941 Three Girls About Town Chief of Police 1941 Moonlight in Havana Charlie (final film role)
References
Bibliography Fleming, E.J. Carole Landis: A Tragic Life in Hollywood. McFarland, 2005.
External links
Internet Broadway Database Billboard Jan 30, 1943 Biography