Patrick O'Neal (actor)

Patrick O'Neal
O'Neal in 1968
Born	Patrick Wisdom O'Neal (1927-09-26)September 26, 1927 Ocala, Florida, U.S.
Died	September 9, 1994(1994-09-09) (aged 66) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Respiratory failure
Education	Riverside Military Academy Ocala High School
Alma mater	University of Florida
Occupation	Actor, restaurateur
Years active	1952–1993
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Baxter (m. 1956–94) (his death)
Children	Maximilian O'Neal Fitzjohn O'Neal
Parent(s)	Coke Wisdom O'Neal Martha O'Neal

Patrick Wisdom O'Neal (September 26, 1927 – September 9, 1994) was an American television, stage and film actor and New York restaurateur.

Early life

O'Neal was born in Ocala, Florida, to Martha and Coke Wisdom O'Neal. He attended the Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, and Ocala High School. Upon graduation, he enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville where he majored in drama.^[1] During college, O'Neal joined the Florida Players, a theatre troupe. He was also a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and was the editor of the University yearbook.^[2] After earning a bachelor's degree, O'Neal enlisted in the US Army Air Forces and served during the Korean War. During the war, he directed short training films. After his military stint, he moved to New York and studied at the Actors Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse.^[3]

Career

O'Neal was seen mostly as a guest star on US television throughout four decades, beginning in the 1950s. In the early 1960s he received critical praise for his leading role on Broadway in Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana but lost the starring role for the 1964 film version to Richard Burton. O'Neal appeared in several films of the mid-1960s. In 1969 he had a leading role in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter, and was featured in the 1973 hit The Way We Were.

With his wife and his brother Michael, O'Neal co-owned a number of successful restaurants, including the Ginger Man (later O'Neal's Restaurant) and the Landmark Tavern, both in Manhattan.^[3]

Personal life

O'Neal married actress Cynthia Baxter in 1956. They had two sons, Maximilian and Fitzjohn, and remained married until O'Neal's death.^[3]

Death

O'Neal died on September 9, 1994, of respiratory failure at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan, seventeen days short of his 67th birthday. At the time of his death, O'Neal was also suffering from cancer and tuberculosis.^[4]

Broadway credits

• A Far Country (April–November 1961)
• The Night of the Iguana (December 1961 – September 1962)

Selected filmography

Films

O'Neal in The Stepford Wives (1975)

• The Mad Magician (1954)
• The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
• From the Terrace (1960)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• In Harm's Way (1965)
• King Rat (1965)
• Chamber of Horrors (1966)
• Alvarez Kelly (1966)
• A Fine Madness (1966)
• Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968)
• The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968)
• Assignment to Kill (1968)
• Matchless (1968)
• Castle Keep (1969)
• Stiletto (1969)
• The Kremlin Letter (1970)
• Corky (1972)
• The Way We Were (1973)
• Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)
• The Stepford Wives (1975)
• The Stuff (1985)
• Like Father Like Son (1987)
• Q & A (1990)
• Alice (1990)
• For the Boys (1991)
• Under Siege (1992)

Television

• The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1 episode, 1954)
• Appointment with Adventure (1955–1956, 2 episodes)
• Dick and the Duchess (25 episodes, 1957-1958)
• One Step Beyond (1 episode, 1959)
• Diagnosis: Unknown (3 episodes, 1960)
• Naked City (1 episode, 1962)
• The Twilight Zone (1 episode, 1963) episode: "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain"
• Outer Limits (episode, "Wolf 359" 1964)
• Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1 episode, 1964)
• Night Gallery (1 episode, 1971)
• McCloud (2 episodes, 1971–1972)
• Columbo (2 episodes, 1972–1978)
• Cannon (1 episode, 1972)
• The Doris Day Show (3 episodes, 1972–1973)
• The Moneychangers (miniseries, 1976)
• Kaz (23 episodes, 1978–1979)
• Emerald Point N.A.S. (9 episodes, 1983)
• Murder, She Wrote (1 episode, 1985)
• Perry Mason Returns (television movie, 1985)
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal (television movie, 1993)

References

External links

• Patrick O'Neal at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Patrick O'Neal at the Internet Movie Database
• Patrick O'Neal at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection