Patrick O'Neal

Patrick O'Neal was born on Sep 26, 1927 in USA. Patrick O'Neal's big-screen debut came with The Mad Magician directed by John Brahm in 1954, strarring Lt. Alan Bruce. Patrick O'Neal is known for J.J. Starbuck directed by Bob Bralver, Dale Robertson stars as Jerome Jeremiah 'J.J.' Starbuck and Shawn Weatherly as Jill Starbuck. The upcoming new movie Patrick O'Neal plays is Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal which will be released on Feb 19, 1993.

Dark, dashing and coldly handsome with intense, penetrating eyes, Patrick O'Neal was known for walking a fine line between elegant heroics and equally elegant villainy during a five-decade career. Born in 1927 in Ocala, Florida, and of Irish descent, he served toward the end of WWII with the United States Army Air Force and, in his late teens, was assigned to direct training shorts for the Signal Corps. A graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville, O'Neal subsequently moved to New York City and continued his dramatic studies at the Actors Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse.O'Neal made an initial impact in the early 1950s when he replaced Tony Randall in the hit comedy "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!" Following a strong role in the Broadway play "The Far Country" (1961), he gave a superlative stage portrayal of the defrocked Reverend Shannon opposite Bette Davis in "The Night of the Iguana." He also appeared in a number of anthology TV series in the 1950's including "Robert Montgomery Presents," "Kraft Theatre," "Chevron Theatre," "Schlitz Playhouse," "Studio One in Hollywood," "Pepsi-Cola Playhouse" and "Goodyear Playhouse." He made his film debut as a lieutenant in the horror film Le tueur porte un masque (1954) starring Vincent Price but appeared in only one other film that decade -- the costumed drama Le chevalier du roi (1954).O'Neal earned more attention in the next decade with both lead and supporting roles. A capable player used regularly in 1960s films, he was usually cast as rugged trooper types in action-adventures such as Un Caïd (1965) and Les tueurs sont lâchés (1968), serious-minded personnel in war pictures like Première victoire (1965), or flashy murderers in gruesome yarns like La chambre des horreurs (1966), the latter being his best-remembered film. Subsequent films included featured roles in Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), Nos plus belles années (1973), Les femmes de Stepford (1975), The Stuff (1985), Mon père c'est moi (1987), Contre-enquête (1990), Alice (1990), For the Boys - Hier, aujourd'hui et pour toujours (1991) and Piège en haute mer (1992).Portraying a pathologist in his own short-lived medical series Diagnosis: Unknown (1960), he proved a much steadier player on the smaller screen. Typically the cultivated lover or slick, shady villain on TV, he guest-starred on such popular shows as "The Naked City," "Dr. Kildare," "The Twilight Zone," "Route 66," "The Outer Limits," "Coronet Blue," "Alias Smith & Jones," "Cannon," "McCloud," "The F.B.I.," "The Doris Day Show," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Columbo" and "Murder, She Wrote." He also appeared regularly with the cast of the crime drama series Kaz (1978) and had a recurring part on Emerald Point N.A.S. (1983).His wife, actress Cynthia O'Neal (née Baxter), and brother owned several restaurants with him. He died in 1994 from respiratory failure as a complication of tuberculosis.