Patrick O'Neal

Dark, dashing and coldly handsome with intense, penetrating eyes, Patrick O'Neal was known for walking that fine line between elegant heroics and elegant villainy during his 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 Corp and, in his late teens, was assigned to direct training shorts for the Signal Corps. A graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville, he subsequently moved to New York City and continued his dramatic studies at the Actor's 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 The Mad Magician (1954) starring Vincent Price and only appeared in one other film that decade -- the costumed drama The Black Shield of Falworth (1954). O'Neal earned more attention in the next decade with both lead and support roles on camera. A capable player used regularly in 1960s films, he was usually cast as rugged trooper types in action adventures such as King Rat (1965) and Assignment to Kill (1968), serious-minded personnel in war pictures like In Harm's Way (1965), or flashy murderers in gruesome yarns as in Chamber of Horrors (1966), the latter being his best remembered film. Subsequent films included featured roles in Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), The Way We Were (1973), The Stepford Wives (1975), The Stuff (1985), Like Father Like Son (1987), Q&A (1990), Alice (1990), For the Boys (1991) and Under Siege (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 guested on such popular shows as "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 (aka Cynthia Baxter), and brother owned several restaurants with him. He died in 1994 from respiratory failure while battling tuberculosis.