--- name: "Pat O'Brien" canonical: "https://film.one/person/pat-obrien" fi1m_id: "pat-obrien" imdb_id: "nm0002285" tmdb_id: 3155 wikidata_id: "Q1790788" roles: ["Actor"] born: "10 November 1899" died: "15 October 1983" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 75 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-25T02:37:27.460054+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." --- # Pat O'Brien ## Identity Pat O'Brien - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/pat-obrien - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** pat-obrien - **IMDb ID:** nm0002285 - **TMDB ID:** 3155 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1790788 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_O%27Brien_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1790788, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002285/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3155 Actor. Born 10 November 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Died 15 October 1983. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 10 November 1899, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA - **Died:** 15 October 1983 - **Active:** 1934–1959 - **Also known as:** William Joseph Patrick O'Brien, Пэт О’Брайен - **Frequently works with:** [James Cagney](https://film.one/person/james-cagney.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 70 (3), 1950s 92 (1) - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 2 of 4 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Crime 2, Drama 2, Romance 2, Comedy 1, Music 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $27m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_O%27Brien_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1790788, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002285/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3155 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*Some Like It Hot*](https://film.one/film/some-like-it-hot.md) (92) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Pat O'Brien > For half a century Pat O'Brien was the man standing next to the trouble: the priest, the cop, the coach, the reporter who talked faster than anyone could listen. He was at his best with James Cagney beside him, and a little thinner without. Watch enough Warner Bros. pictures from the 1930s and you learn what a Pat O'Brien part looks like before he opens his mouth. Somebody is about to do something rash, and O'Brien is the one beside him with his hands in his pockets, waiting to say so. A priest, a policeman, a soldier, a newspaperman; usually Irish, with a brogue produced when the script asked for it and put away when it did not. He played the good man so often that it is easy to forget he could also play the sharp one, the con artist or the wise guy who has the angle before anyone else in the scene has noticed there is one. The career divides where the studio did. He came off the stage at the end of the 1920s and was a lead early: Hildy Johnson in *The Front Page* (1931), the reporter who cannot stop talking, was the part that first showed what he could do at speed. Warner Bros. signed him in the early 1930s and kept him working through the 1940s, and the best of that stretch is the Cagney pictures, nine of them, with O'Brien as the steady one to Cagney's live wire. *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938) is the one to see: he is Father Jerry Connolly, the boyhood friend who went into the church while Cagney went the other way, and the argument between them is the film. *Knute Rockne, All American* (1940) gave him the title role and the locker-room speech about winning one for the Gipper, opposite Ronald Reagan. The reservation, and it is close to the only one anyone has, is that the goodness went soft. After the Production Code arrived in 1934 the studio leaned on the decent-fellow side of him and the wise guy went into storage; *Torrid Zone* (1940) is where you can watch it happen. He said near the end of his life that he had had "many juicy parts and three great ones", and he was right on both counts. Most actors do not get three. What we have reviewed is the edges of this. *Flirtation Walk* (1934) gives him Scrapper Thornhill in a film we found pleasant, slight and a good hour too long once it reaches West Point; it is not the film to judge him by. *Some Like It Hot* (1959) has him as Detective Mulligan, part of the gangster business that keeps cutting across Curtis, Lemmon and Monroe. We will admit that on our last viewing we found ourselves waiting for the gangster scenes to finish so the three leads could come back, which is unfair to O'Brien and to the plot, and true. Start with *Angels with Dirty Faces*, and watch what he does while Cagney is talking. The good man is the harder part to make interesting, and for a decade he made it look like the easy one. ## Biography Pat O'Brien (born William Joseph Patrick O'Brien) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and numerous television programmes between the 1920s and the early 1980s. He was a popular star during the 1930s and 1940s, often playing priests, policemen, reporters and military figures. Notable roles include Hildy Johnson in *The Front Page* (1931), Jerry Connolly in *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938), the title character in *Knute Rockne, All American* (1940) and Detective Mulligan in *Some Like It Hot* (1959). He co-starred in nine films with James Cagney. O'Brien also worked in radio and on stage, and made later television appearances including in *Happy Days* and *WKRP in Cincinnati*. He died in Santa Monica, California, in 1983. *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Some Like It Hot* (1959), Fi1m 92, as Detective Mulligan — [page](https://film.one/film/some-like-it-hot.md) - *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938), Fi1m 82, as Jerry Connolly — [page](https://film.one/film/angels-with-dirty-faces.md) - *Flirtation Walk* (1934), Fi1m 57, as "Scrapper" Thornhhill — [page](https://film.one/film/flirtation-walk.md) - *Here Comes the Navy* (1934), Fi1m 70, as Biff Martin — [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-the-navy.md) ## Complete filmography (127) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Ragtime* (1981), as Delmas - *Scout's Honor* (1980), as Mr. Caboose - *WKRP in Cincinnati* (1978), series, Actor - *The End* (1978), as Ben Lawson - *Billy Jack Goes to Washington* (1977), as President of the Senate - *Kiss Me... Kill Me* (1976), as Jimmy, the morgue attendant - *The Sky's the Limit* (1975), as Abner Therman - *Happy Days* (1974), series, Actor - *Amanda Fallon* (1973), as Emory - *Banyon* (1972), series, Actor - *The Adventures of Nick Carter* (1972), as Hallelujah Harry - *Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol* (1972), as Sgt. McGll - *Alias Smith and Jones* (1971), series, Actor - *The Phynx* (1970), as Pat O’Brien - *McCloud* (1970), series, Actor - *The Over the Hill Gang* (1969), as Captain Oren Hayes - *Town Tamer* (1965), as Judge Murcott - *Branded* (1965), series, Actor - *Kraft Suspense Theatre* (1963), series, as Lt. John Curwood, Inspector Dan Zarilla - *Going My Way* (1962), series, Actor - *The Virginian* (1962), series, as J. Jimerson Jones, Doc Bigelow - *The Road to Hong Kong* (1962), as Chinese Restaurateur (uncredited) - *Babe Ruth Story: That Ever Livin' Babe* (1962), as Narrator - *The Best of the Post* (1960), series, as Mike Breen - *Harrigan and Son* (1960), series, Actor - *Some Like It Hot* (1959), as Detective Mulligan — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/some-like-it-hot.md) - *The Last Hurrah* (1958), as John Gorman - *Kill Me Tomorrow* (1957), as Bart Crosbie - *Invitation to a Gunfighter* (1957), as Sheriff Kyle Bickford - *Telephone Time* (1956), series, Actor - *Inside Detroit* (1955), as Gus Linden - *Science Fiction Theatre* (1955), series, Actor - *Climax!* (1954), series, as Police Lieutenant Moore, Police Lieutenant, Ed Talbot - *Ring of Fear* (1954), as Frank Wallace - *Jubilee Trail* (1954), as Ernest 'Texas' Conway - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Major Irish - *The Ford Television Theatre* (1952), series, as Lt. V. Keever - *Okinawa* (1952), as Lt. Cmdr. Hale - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as John Wentworth - *The People Against O'Hara* (1951), as Det. Vincent Ricks - *Criminal Lawyer* (1951), as James 'Jimmy' Regan - *The Fireball* (1950), as Father O'Hara - *Lux Video Theatre* (1950), series, as Tim Larkin, Captain Barnaby, Joe Crandall, George Morrell, Charley Hackett, Eddie Gorman - *Johnny One-Eye* (1950), as Martin Martin - *A Dangerous Profession* (1949), as Joe Farley - *The Boy with Green Hair* (1948), as Gramp Fry - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Mike Waterson - *Ford Theatre* (1948), series, Actor - *Fighting Father Dunne* (1948), as Father Peter J. Dunne - *Riff-Raff* (1947), as Dan Hammer - *Crack-Up* (1946), as George Steele - *Perilous Holiday* (1946), as Patrick Nevil - *Man Alive* (1945), as Michael O'Flaherty 'Speed' McBride - *Having Wonderful Crime* (1945), as Michael J. Malone - *Secret Command* (1944), as Sam Gallagher - *Marine Raiders* (1944), as Maj. Steve Lockhart - *His Butler's Sister* (1943), as Martin Murphy - *The Iron Major* (1943), as Francis William 'Frank' / 'Cav' Cavanaugh - *Bombardier* (1943), as Chick Davis - *The Navy Comes Through* (1942), as Chief Michael 'Mike' Mallory - *Flight Lieutenant* (1942), as Samuel J. 'Sam' Doyle - *Broadway* (1942), as Dan McCorn - *Two Yanks in Trinidad* (1942), as Tim Reardon - *Knute Rockne All American* (1940), as Knute Rockne - *Flowing Gold* (1940), as Ian 'Hap' O'Connor - *Escape to Glory* (1940), as Mike Farrough - *Torrid Zone* (1940), as Steve Case - *'Til We Meet Again* (1940), as Steve Burke - *Castle on the Hudson* (1940), as Warden Walter Long - *The Fighting 69th* (1940), as Father Duffy - *Slightly Honorable* (1939), as John Webb - *The Night of Nights* (1939), as Dan O'Farrell - *Indianapolis Speedway* (1939), as Joe Greer - *The Kid from Kokomo* (1939), as William Jennings 'Billy / 'Square Shooting Murph' Murphy - *Off the Record* (1939), as Thomas "Breezy" Elliott - *Breakdowns of 1938* (1938), as Pat O'Brien (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938), as Jerry Connolly — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/angels-with-dirty-faces.md) - *Garden of the Moon* (1938), as John Quinn - *Boy Meets Girl* (1938), as J. Carlyle 'J.C.' Benson - *Cowboy from Brooklyn* (1938), as Roy Chadwick - *Out Where the Stars Begin* (1938), as Pat O'Brien - *Women Are Like That* (1938), as Bill Landin - *Submarine D-1* (1937), as Butch Rogers - *Back in Circulation* (1937), as Bill Morgan - *Slim* (1937), as Red Blayd - *San Quentin* (1937), as Capt. Stephen Jameson - *The Great O'Malley* (1937), as James Aloysius 'Jim' / 'Jimmy' O'Malley - *China Clipper* (1936), as Dave Logan - *Public Enemy's Wife* (1936), as Lee Laird - *I Married a Doctor* (1936), as Dr. William P. Kennicott - *Ceiling Zero* (1936), as Jake L. Lee - *Stars Over Broadway* (1935), as Al McGillevray - *Page Miss Glory* (1935), as Click Wiley - *The Irish in Us* (1935), as Pat O'Hara - *Oil for the Lamps of China* (1935), as Stephen Chase - *In Caliente* (1935), as Larry MacArthur - *Devil Dogs of the Air* (1935), as Lieut. Brannigan - *Flirtation Walk* (1934), as "Scrapper" Thornhhill — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/flirtation-walk.md) - *I Sell Anything* (1934), as "Spot Cash" Cutler - *Here Comes the Navy* (1934), as Biff Martin — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-the-navy.md) - *The Personality Kid* (1934), as Ritzy - *Twenty Million Sweethearts* (1934), as Rush Blake - *Gambling Lady* (1934), as Charlie Lang - *I've Got Your Number* (1934), as Terry Riley - *College Coach* (1933), as Coach Gore - *Bombshell* (1933), as Jim Brogan - *Bureau of Missing Persons* (1933), as Detective Butch Saunders - *The World Gone Mad* (1933), as Andy Terrell - *Destination Unknown* (1933), as Matt Brennan - *Laughter in Hell* (1933), as Barney Slaney - *Air Mail* (1932), as Duke Talbot - *Virtue* (1932), as Jimmy Doyle - *Flaming Gold* (1932), as Ben Lear - *American Madness* (1932), as Matt Brown - *Hollywood Speaks* (1932), as Jimmy Reed - *The Strange Case of Clara Deane* (1932), as Frank Deane - *Scandal for Sale* (1932), as Waddell - *The Final Edition* (1932), as Sam Bradshaw - *Hell's House* (1932), as Matt Kelly - *Consolation Marriage* (1931), as Steve Porter - *Flying High* (1931), as Sport Wardell - *Personal Maid* (1931), as Peter Shea - *The Front Page* (1931), as Hildy Johnson - *Crimes Square* (1931), as Marty - *Honor Among Lovers* (1931), as Conroy (uncredited) - *Compliments of the Season* (1930), as Police Detective (uncredited) - *My Mistake* (1930), Actor ## Gallery - ![Rialto Theater (1940)](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-b7ec5fedc848.jpg) Rialto Theater (1940) — Self Scanned, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/1940_-_Rialto_Theater_-_19_Seo_NC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg/1280px-1940_-_Rialto_Theater_-_19_Seo_NC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Earle Theater advertisement for the American comedy film His Butler's Sister (1943) - 24 Dec. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-6ef923cce2a3.jpg) Earle Theater advertisement for the American comedy film His Butler's Sister (1943) - 24 Dec. 1943 Morning Call, Allentown PA — Universal Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/1943_-_Earle_Theater_Ad_-_24_Dec_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg/1280px-1943_-_Earle_Theater_Ad_-_24_Dec_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Title: Television host Mike Douglas, Mayor John F. Collins, Mary Collins, actor Pat O'Brien, and unidentified man Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Co](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-6f1135a8f051.jpg) Title: Television host Mike Douglas, Mayor John F. Collins, Mary Collins, actor Pat O'Brien, and unidentified man Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Co — City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Actor_Pat_O%27Brien_%2811223348173%29_%28a%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Title: Home of Pat O'Brien, Brentwood, California Subjects: Houses Places: California > Los Angeles (county) > Brentwood Notes: Title from item. Extent: 1](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-3e5bdb7f4c92.jpg) Title: Home of Pat O'Brien, Brentwood, California Subjects: Houses Places: California > Los Angeles (county) > Brentwood Notes: Title from item. Extent: 1 — Tichnor Brothers, Publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Home_of_Pat_O%27Brien%2C_Brentwood%2C_California_%2860132%29.jpg/1280px-Home_of_Pat_O%27Brien%2C_Brentwood%2C_California_%2860132%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Pat O'Brien](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-0649918f2009.jpg) Pat O'Brien — Image via TMDB - ![Pat O'Brien](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-0410fede27bd.jpg) Pat O'Brien — Image via TMDB - ![Title: Mayor John F. Collins with Mary Collins, Mike Douglas, and Pat O'Brien Creator: Record American Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Collins recor](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-b8ef673ff34b.jpg) Title: Mayor John F. Collins with Mary Collins, Mike Douglas, and Pat O'Brien Creator: Record American Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Collins recor — City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Mayor_John_F._Collins_with_Mary_Collins%2C_Mike_Douglas%2C_and_Pat_O%27Brien_%2812172519454%29.jpg/1280px-Mayor_John_F._Collins_with_Mary_Collins%2C_Mike_Douglas%2C_and_Pat_O%27Brien_%2812172519454%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Title: Mayor John F. Collins with Mary Collins, Mike Douglas, and Pat O'Brien Creator: Record American Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Collins recor](https://film.one/media/person/59235/gallery-b3e1f02a2a20.jpg) Title: Mayor John F. Collins with Mary Collins, Mike Douglas, and Pat O'Brien Creator: Record American Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Collins recor — City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Mayor_John_F._Collins_with_Mary_Collins%2C_Mike_Douglas%2C_and_Pat_O%27Brien_%2812172519454%29_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Mayor_John_F._Collins_with_Mary_Collins%2C_Mike_Douglas%2C_and_Pat_O%27Brien_%2812172519454%29_%281%29.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/pat-obrien