---
name: "Joseph O'Conor"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joseph-oconor"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "14 February 1910"
died: "21 January 2001"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T05:13:12.398958+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joseph O'Conor

Actor. Born 14 February 1910 in Dublin, Ireland. Died 21 January 2001.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 14 February 1910, Dublin, Ireland
- **Died:** 21 January 2001
- **Active:** 1967–1998
- **Also known as:** Joseph O'Connor
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 68 (2), 1990s 82 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, History 2, Family 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $120m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_O%27Conor, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6285870, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640561/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88894

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Oliver!*](https://film.one/film/oliver.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Joseph O'Conor was an Irish actor and playwright. He trained at RADA and began his career on the stage in the late 1940s, appearing in productions at the Old Vic and later with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

On television he played Old Jolyon Forsyte in *The Forsyte Saga* (1967). His film roles include Mr Brownlow in *Oliver!* (1968), the narrator in *The Dark Crystal* (1982), the Earl of Derby in *Elizabeth* (1998) and the chief inquisitor in *The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc* (1999). He also wrote six plays and directed for the theatre.

O'Conor died in London in 2001.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Elizabeth* (1998), Fi1m 82, as Earl of Derby — [page](https://film.one/film/elizabeth.md)
- *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), Fi1m 60, as Fisher — [page](https://film.one/film/anne-of-the-thousand-days.md)
- *Oliver!* (1968), Fi1m 76, as Mr. Brownlow — [page](https://film.one/film/oliver.md)

## Complete filmography (61)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Macbeth* (2001), as King Duncan
- *The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc* (1999), as chief inquisitor
- *Immortality* (1998), Actor
- *Elizabeth* (1998), as Earl of Derby — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/elizabeth.md)
- *Dalziel and Pascoe* (1996), series, as Wally Tallantire
- *Tom & Viv* (1994), as Bishop of Oxford
- *The Forbidden Quest* (1993), as J.C. Sullivan
- *Performance* (1991), series, as Earl of Northumberland
- *Casualty* (1986), series, as George Polston
- *Henry VI Part 1* (1983), as Duke of Exeter / Shepherd
- *The Dark Crystal* (1982), as Narrator / Urskeks (voice)
- *The Barchester Chronicles* (1982), series, as Bunce
- *John Diamond* (1981), as Alfred Diamond
- *Othello* (1981), as Lodovico
- *A Private Battle* (1980), Actor
- *Only Connect* (1979), as John Bury
- *The Other Side* (1979), series, as John Bury
- *Romeo and Juliet* (1978), as Friar Laurence
- *The BBC Television Shakespeare* (1978), series, as Friar Laurence
- *The Copyist* (1978), as Heinrich Schalleplatte
- *BBC2 Play of the Week* (1977), series, as Heinrich Schalleplatte
- *The Ghost of Adelphi Terrace* (1975), as George Bernard Shaw
- *The Black Windmill* (1974), as Sir Edward Julyan
- *Lost Hearts* (1973), as Mr. Abney (as Joseph O'Connor)
- *Yellow Dog* (1973), as Dover
- *Centre Play* (1973), series, as George Bernard Shaw
- *Penny Gold* (1973), as Blachford
- *Father Dear Father* (1973), as Vicar
- *Doomwatch* (1972), as Vicar
- *A Ghost Story for Christmas* (1971), series, as Mr. Abney
- *The Prime Minister's Daughter* (1970), as Mayland
- *Manhunt* (1970), series, as Von Gebhardt
- *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), as Fisher — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/anne-of-the-thousand-days.md)
- *A Walk with Love and Death* (1969), as Pierre of St. Jean
- *Plays of Today* (1969), series, as Aston
- *The Possessed* (1969), as Stepan Verhovensky
- *Oliver!* (1968), as Mr. Brownlow — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/oliver.md)
- *Sir Arthur Conan Doyle* (1967), series, as James Campbell
- *The Forsyte Saga* (1967), series, as 'Old Jolyon' Forsyte
- *Lord Raingo* (1966), series, as Andy Clyth
- *Mystery and Imagination* (1966), series, as General
- *The Spies* (1966), series, as Polini
- *The World of George Orwell: 1984* (1965), as O'Brien
- *Out of the Unknown* (1965), series, as Freeman
- *No Place Like Earth* (1965), as Freeman
- *The Mill on the Floss* (1965), series, as Mr. Tulliver
- *Hit and Run* (1965), series, as Gerald Prestley
- *The Gorgon* (1964), as Coroner
- *Redcap* (1964), series, as CO
- *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, as Joseph Brendon
- *The Devil-Ship Pirates* (1964), as Don Jose Margella
- *Theatre 625* (1964), series, as O'Brien, Sergeant Kettlewell
- *Crooks in Cloisters* (1964), as Father Septimus
- *Festival* (1963), series, as Father Arnall
- *The Rose Affair* (1961), as O'Riorden
- *The Day of the Fox* (1961), as Colonel Gregory
- *Gorgo* (1961), as Prof. Hendricks
- *An Arabian Night* (1960), as Caliph Haroun-Al-Raschid
- *Twentieth Century Theatre: Colombe* (1960), as Lagarde
- *Worm in the Bud* (1959), as District Inspector
- *Paul Temple's Triumph* (1950), as Inspector Crane

## Gallery

- ![Joseph O'Conor](https://film.one/media/person/159165/gallery-626a60f69a9f.jpg) Joseph O'Conor — PBS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Winston_and_O%27Brien_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Stevan Kragujevic photo: Lawrence Olivier, Judy Dench, John Neville, Joseph O'Connor in Belgrade during an Old Vic tour of Yugoslavia, 1959 (with the approval o](https://film.one/media/person/159165/gallery-6a1ba74005b3.jpg) Stevan Kragujevic photo: Lawrence Olivier, Judy Dench, John Neville, Joseph O'Connor in Belgrade during an Old Vic tour of Yugoslavia, 1959 (with the approval o — Stevan Kragujević, CC BY-SA 3.0 rs, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Stevan_Kragujevic%2C_Laurence_Olivier%2C_Judi_Dench%2C_John_Neville_and_Joseph_O%27Conor_in_Belgrade.JPG/1280px-Stevan_Kragujevic%2C_Laurence_Olivier%2C_Judi_Dench%2C_John_Neville_and_Joseph_O%27Conor_in_Belgrade.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![The tragic hero, Winston Smith (David Buck), being comforted by his would-be friend and counselor O'Brien (Joseph O'Conor) in the NET Playhouse presentation of  (1965)](https://film.one/media/person/159165/gallery-77fb38c51d5d.jpg) The tragic hero, Winston Smith (David Buck), being comforted by his would-be friend and counselor O'Brien (Joseph O'Conor) in the NET Playhouse presentation of  (1965) — PBS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Winston_and_O%27Brien.jpg/1280px-Winston_and_O%27Brien.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joseph-oconor