Donald O'Brien obit

 Actor Donald O-Brien Has Died

He was not on the list.

Though best known to cult film fans for his roles in Italian B-movies, Donald O'Brien hailed from Pau, in the Pyrenees mountains of France. His Irish father was a former US Army Calvary officer who fought in the Spanish-American war, and his mother was an English governess. When World War II broke out and France came under Nazi occupation, the O'Briens fled back to Ireland, where Donald would spend his formative years. He studied acting under the Irish theatre legend Micheál MacLiammóir, and later moved back to France, where he worked several oddjobs including prizefighter and office worker.

In 1953, the 23-year-old O'Brien made his first appearance in a feature film, Anatole Litvak's war drama Act of Love (1953). A chance meeting with director John Frankenheimer saw him cast as a Nazi officer in The Train (1964), which so impressed the director that he cast him in a supporting role in Grand Prix (1966). In 1967, O'Brien was brought to Italy to star in Sergio Sollima's cult Spaghetti Western Run, Man, Run (1968). His portrayal of ex-American lawman turned soldier of fortune Nathaniel Cassidy led to future leading roles in the genre for a number of years, during which he changed his name from "Donal" to "Donald" due to contracts frequently misspelling it.

O'Brien quickly became a staple of Italian B-movies, appearing in everything from Spaghetti Westerns, to horror films, to Sexploitation pictures. In 1981, he starred in Zombie Holocaust (1980) (retitled 'Doctor Butcher, M.D.' for its US release), which earned him a strong cult following among horror and exploitation film fans for his portrayal of the eponymous mad scientist. However, that same year he sustained a brain injury that paralyzed half his body, and significantly reduced the number of roles he could play even after he recovered. He appeared in several films for the notorious Joe D'Amato, and had a supporting role as a Franciscan friar opposite Sean Connery in Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose (1986).

Following another accident in 1996, O'Brien all but retired from acting, settling in Paris with his family.

 

Filmography

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1960    The Wretches                     

1961    Saint Tropez Blues            Todd Anderson        

Dynamite Jack             

1962    Tales of Paris                 (segment "Ella")

The Trial of Joan of Arc            English priest            Uncredited

1963    Ballade pour un voyou             

1964    The Train            Sergeant Schwartz     

Weekend at Dunkirk            English officier 

1965            Passeport diplomatique agent K 8            Dolbry 

Hail, Mafia            Mafia thug     

Cloportes            Gallery visitor  

Three Rooms in Manhattan            Cook at the diner      

Nick Carter and Red Club              

1966    A Matter of Resistance            American Officer            Uncredited

The Man from Interpol            Polard 

Martin Soldat            Captain Carruthers       

Grand Prix            Wallace Bennett         

1967    The Night of the Generals            Plotting German Officer            Uncredited

1968    Run, Man, Run!            Nathaniel Cassidy        

1971    The Last Traitor            Captain Ned Carter      

Finders Killers            Jack Forest 

Paid in Blood            Lee Rast    

Sheriff of Rock Springs Jones   

1972    God Is My Colt .45            Collins 

Two Brothers in Trinity            Lester O'Hara

1973    Il Giustiziere di Dio       Frank  

Sex of the Witch            Inspector        

Six Bounty Killers for a Massacre            Frank the Irishman     

Kung Fu Brothers in the Wild West            Outlaw

1974            Challenge to White Fang            Liverpool        

White Fang to the Rescue            Harold 

1975    Four of the Apocalypse            Sheriff of Salt Flat       

Giochi erotici di una famiglia per bene            Professor Riccardo Rossi   

1976    Keoma            Caldwell          

1977    A Man Called Blade            Burt Craven

Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals            Donald McKenzie       

Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century            Sgt. Stricker           

Kakkientruppen            Comandante   

1978    The Inglorious Bastards            SS Commander    

They Died with Their Boots On (aka "Silver Saddle")            Fletcher          

Tough to Kill            Major Hagerty           

1980    Flying Sex      Mr. Slider  

Zombie Holocaust (aka "Dr. Butcher")            Dr. Obrero

1981    Images in a Convent            Exorcist          

1982    2020 Texas Gladiators            Black One     

1984            Warriors of the Year 2072    Monk  

Panther Squad            General           

1986            Vendetta dal futuro (aka "Fists of Steel", "Atomic Cyborg")            Professor Olster          

The Name of the Rose            Pietro d'Assisi

1988            Ghosthouse (aka La Casa 3")            Valkos

1989            Mortacci            Archibald Williams       

1990    Una vita scellerata            Bernardino, l'ermita    

Flight from Paradise                      

Quest for the Mighty Sword            Prince Gunther           

1991    Ritorno dalla morte (aka "Frankenstein 2000")  Ric      

The Devil's Daughter (aka "The Sect")            Justice Jonathan Ford 

1993            Sparrow                    

1994    Honey Sweet Love            Officer 

Il Briganti            Sicilian baron   (final film role)

Year     Film            Role            Notes

1963            L'inspecteur Leclerc enquête            Dalton            Episode: "Voir Paris et mourir"

1980    The Day Christ Died     Roman Soldier            Television film