
Stalwart Irish-American character actor Robert Emmett O'Connor was born on March 18, 1885 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He made his bones performing in circuses and in vaudeville. He made his Broadway debut in the musical "Fritz in Tammany Hall" at the Herald Square Theatre on October 16, 1905, ultimately appearing in 13 musical comedies and operettas on the Great White Way through 1930 (he also appeared in four straight plays during that period, mostly comedies such as "The Old Soak" during the 1922-23 season). After 1930, he never appeared on Broadway again, focusing instead on his movie career. He made his movie debut in 1920 in the Harold Lloyd comedy short His Royal Slyness (1920), directed by Hal Roach. He made six comedies for the Hal Roach Studios in the years 1920-21, including one more Harold Lloyd vehicle, Never Weaken (1921), before taking a five-year hiatus from films. He returned in the Thomas Meighan drama, Tin Gods (1926), directed by Allan Dwan, then spent the next 24 years acting in movies. In 1930, he went back to the Roach Studio to support Laurel and Hardy in two Spanish language shorts, then moved over to Warner Bros. as a bit player. He played the Irish bootlegger Paddy Ryan in the classic The Public Enemy (1931) in support of fellow Irish-American James Cagney, and appeared in another classic, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). He then settled into being typecast as Irish cops. After he moved on to MGM, the typecasting led to one of his most famous roles: the plain-clothes detective in pursuit of the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera (1935). During the 1940s, still a contract player at MGM, he was kept busy, appearing in every genre, including the "Our Gang" comedies. His last film role was as the Paramount Studios' guard who remembers Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950). He virtually retired from his acting career at the age of 65, though he made some television appearances in the 1950s. Robert Emmett O'Connor died on September 4, 1962, of injuries sustained in a fire. He was 77 years old.
Movie | Sunset Boulevard | Older Paramount Gate Guard Jonesy | 1950-08-10 |
Movie | Tenth Avenue Angel | Mr. O'Callan (uncredited) | 1948-02-20 |
Movie | Easter Parade | Policeman (uncredited) | 1948-07-08 |
Movie | The Hucksters | Frank - Hotel Doorman (uncredited) | 1947-07-17 |
Movie | Merton of the Movies | Mac - Restaurant Counterman (uncredited) | 1947-10-11 |
Movie | The Romance of Rosy Ridge | Southerner (uncredited) | 1947-08-04 |
Movie | The Harvey Girls | Conductor (uncredited) | 1946-01-18 |
Movie | The Hoodlum Saint | Police Desk Sergeant (uncredited) | 1946-04-04 |
Movie | Till the Clouds Roll By | Ed (uncredited) | 1946-12-05 |
Movie | Boys Ranch | Druggist | 1946-07-18 |
Movie | Undercurrent | Stationmaster (uncredited) | 1946-11-11 |
Movie | Anchors Aweigh | Cop (uncredited) | 1945-07-14 |
Movie | A Gun in His Hand | Veteran Policeman McGuinnes (uncredited) | 1945-09-15 |
Movie | The Clock | Policeman (uncredited) | 1945-05-25 |
Movie | Adventure | Man in Cantina (uncredited) | 1945-12-28 |
Movie | They Were Expendable | Silver Dollar Bartender (uncredited) | 1945-12-07 |
Movie | The Great American Mug | Laughing Man (uncredited) | 1945-10-06 |
Movie | Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood | 2nd Studio Guard (uncredited) | 1945-10-05 |
Movie | Rationing | Sheriff | 1944-03-24 |
Movie | Barbary Coast Gent | Joe the Bartender (uncredited) | 1944-09-01 |
Movie | Gentle Annie | Childers the Bartender | 1944-12-05 |
Movie | Air Raid Wardens | Charlie Beaugart | 1943-04-04 |
Movie | Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case | Samson | 1943-05-08 |
Movie | Slightly Dangerous | Reporter (uncredited) | 1943-04-01 |
Movie | The Human Comedy | Bartender (uncredited) | 1943-03-02 |
Movie | Who Killed Who? | Host (uncredited) | 1943-06-19 |
Movie | Whistling in Brooklyn | Detective Leo Finnigan | 1943-12-01 |
Movie | Best Foot Forward | Train Conductor | 1943-10-08 |
Movie | Inflation | Joe's Co-worker (uncredited) | 1942-01-01 |
Movie | Jackass Mail | Peter Lawson | 1942-07-01 |
Movie | The Omaha Trail | Oxen Owner (uncredited) | 1942-09-01 |
Movie | Double Alibi | Patrolman Delaney | 1940-03-01 |
Movie | The Lone Wolf Strikes | House Detective | 1940-01-26 |
Movie | I Take This Oath | Police Car Driver | 1940-05-20 |
Movie | No Time for Comedy | Desk Sergeant (uncredited) | 1940-09-14 |
Movie | A Fugitive from Justice | Murphy | 1940-06-15 |
Movie | Dance, Girl, Dance | Plainclothesman (uncredited) | 1940-08-30 |
Movie | Sergeant Madden | Capt. Crane | 1939-03-24 |
Movie | Made for Each Other | Harry - Elevator Starter | 1939-02-10 |
Movie | Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President | Pat Donegan | 1939-12-01 |
Movie | Streets of New York | Police Officer Burke | 1939-04-12 |
Movie | Professor Beware | Cop at Estate | 1938-07-29 |
Movie | Waikiki Wedding | Policeman (uncredited) | 1937-03-23 |
Movie | Park Avenue Logger | Police Sergeant | 1937-03-16 |
Movie | Girl Overboard | Sergeant Hatton | 1937-02-01 |
Movie | We Who Are About to Die | Detective Mitchell | 1937-01-08 |
Movie | A Star Is Born | Santa Anita Clubhouse Bartender (uncredited) | 1937-04-27 |
Movie | The Crime Nobody Saw | Tim Burke | 1937-03-12 |
Movie | The Frame-Up | Larry Mann | 1937-05-02 |
Movie | Wells Fargo | Sea Captain | 1937-12-31 |
Movie | New Faces of 1937 | Policeman | 1937-07-02 |
Movie | Boy of the Streets | Police Officer Rourke | 1937-12-08 |
Movie | Trapped by G-Men | Federal Agent Jim | 1937-09-09 |
Movie | Super-Sleuth | Casey | 1937-07-16 |
Movie | Little Lord Fauntleroy | Policeman | 1936-03-06 |
Movie | At Sea Ashore | First Immigration Officer | 1936-04-04 |
Movie | Sinner Take All | Police Capt. Greenwood | 1936-12-18 |
Movie | Desire | Customs Official | 1936-04-11 |
Movie | Jailbreak | Policeman | 1936-08-05 |
Movie | Stolen Harmony | Warden Clark (uncredited) | 1935-04-20 |
Movie | Diamond Jim | Brady's Father | 1935-09-01 |
Movie | Star of Midnight | Police Sergeant Cleary | 1935-04-19 |
Movie | The Lone Wolf Returns | Detective Benson | 1935-12-31 |
Movie | A Night at the Opera | Henderson | 1935-11-15 |
Movie | Waterfront Lady | Police Lieutenant | 1935-10-04 |
Movie | The Big Shakedown | Regan | 1934-01-06 |
Movie | Bottoms Up | Detective Rooney | 1934-04-12 |
Movie | A Wicked Woman | Dugan (uncredited) | 1934-12-07 |
Movie | The Mysterious Mr. Wong | Officer 'Mac' McGillicuddy | 1934-12-22 |
Movie | Picture Snatcher | Lieutenant Casey Nolan | 1933-05-06 |
Movie | Gabriel Over the White House | Corrupt Police Inspector (uncredited) | 1933-03-31 |
Movie | Bed of Roses | River Boat Captain Scroggins (uncredited) | 1933-06-29 |
Movie | Mystery of the Wax Museum | Joe (Uncredited) | 1933-02-18 |
Movie | Penthouse | Police Lt. 'Steve' Stevens | 1933-09-08 |
Movie | Midnight Mary | Charlie the Cop | 1933-06-30 |
Movie | Lady for a Day | Inspector MacCreary | 1933-09-13 |
Movie | Don't Bet on Love | Edward Shelton | 1933-06-30 |
Movie | Play Girl | Police Sergeant (uncredited) | 1932-03-12 |
Movie | The Arm of the Law | Chief of Detectives Capt. Blake | 1932-04-19 |
Movie | The Big Timer | Dan Wilson | 1932-03-10 |
Movie | Taxi! | Cop with Jewish Man (uncredited) | 1932-01-23 |
Movie | Night World | The Policeman | 1932-05-04 |
Movie | Two Kinds of Women | Tim Gohagen | 1932-01-16 |
Movie | The Beast of the City | Booking Policeman (uncredited) | 1932-02-13 |
Movie | The Dark Horse | Sheriff | 1932-06-16 |
Movie | Frisco Jenny | Jim Sandoval | 1932-12-30 |
Movie | Week-End Marriage | Police Desk Clerk Eddie (uncredited) | 1932-06-18 |
Movie | The Kid from Spain | Detective Crawford | 1932-11-17 |
Movie | Blonde Venus | Dan O'Connor | 1932-09-23 |
Movie | American Madness | Police Inspector | 1932-08-15 |
Movie | Blessed Event | Jim | 1932-09-10 |
Movie | The Single Sin | Detective | 1931-02-23 |
Movie | Three Who Loved | Police Lt. Tom Rooney | 1931-07-03 |
Movie | Fanny Foley Herself | Burns | 1931-10-09 |
Movie | The Public Defender | Detective Brady | 1931-08-01 |
Movie | The Big Fight | Detective | 1930-05-11 |
Movie | The Big House | Donlin | 1930-06-14 |
Movie | Alias French Gertie | Detective Kelcey | 1930-04-20 |
Movie | Framed | Sergeant Schultze | 1930-03-16 |
Movie | Up the River | Prison Warden (uncredited) | 1930-10-12 |
Movie | Paid | Police Sgt. Cassidy | 1930-12-30 |
Movie | Man to Man | Sheriff | 1930-12-05 |
Movie | Our Blushing Brides | The Detective | 1930-07-19 |
Movie | Shooting Straight | Detective Regan | 1930-06-20 |
Movie | Weary River | Police Sergeant (uncredited) | 1929-02-10 |
Movie | The Singing Fool | Cafe Owner Bill | 1928-09-19 |
Movie | The Noose | Jim Conley | 1928-01-29 |
Movie | Dressed to Kill | Detective Gilroy | 1928-03-17 |
Movie | Tin Gods | Second Foreman | 1926-09-19 |
Movie | His Royal Slyness | (uncredited) | 1920-02-08 |
Are you sure you want to hide this?