Denis O'Brien obit

Denis O’Brien, Former Manager of George Harrison, Dies at 80

O'Brien & Harrison co-founded the production company that backed such hits as the classic 'Monty Python's Life of Brian.' 

He was not on the list.

Denis O’Brien, who served as George Harrison’s manager for much of the former Beatle’s solo career and with Harrison co-founded the production company that backed such hits as the classic Monty Python’s Life of Brian, has died at age 80.

O’Brien’s daughter, Kristen O’Brien, told The Associated Press that Denis O’Brien died Dec. 3 in Britain at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon after being admitted for severe abdominal pains. She said the exact cause of death had not been determined.

O’Brien was a St. Louis native who moved to Europe after receiving a law degree from Washington University and had a long record of successes, along with setbacks and legal battles. Through the actor Peter Sellers, whose career he had helped revive, he met Harrison in 1973 and quickly formed a personal and professional bond. Harrison hired him as his manager after parting with Allen Klein, who had become The Beatles’ manager in 1969 but eventually fell out with the group, which broke up a year after signing with Klein.

In 1978, Harrison and O’Brien co-founded HandMade Films, a top independent company over the next decade. Their initial project was Life of Brian, Monty Python’s controversial religious parody which they financed after EMI Films dropped out at the last minute. “Life of Brian” is widely regarded as one of the greatest film comedies and Handmade went on to produce Mona Lisa, Withnail and I and Nuns on the Run among others. One notable flop: the 1986 release Shanghai Surprise, which starred Madonna and then-husband Sean Penn in a production marked by tenacious paparazzi, violent outbursts from Penn and an atmosphere so unhappy that Harrison flew in to keep the crew from quitting.

Handmade went out of business in 1991 and the partnership between Harrison and O’Brien ended in court: O’Brien was ordered by a California judge in 1996 to pay Harrison damages of $11 million for alleged mismanagement of the company’s finances. In August 2001, three months before Harrison’s death, a judge rejected the musician’s effort to stop O’Brien from declaring bankruptcy.

Harrison’s close friend Eric Idle would later allege that O’Brien tried to get him fired from Monty Python because he feared that Idle was turning Harrison against him.

O’Brien also had troubles in his family’s business. In 1997, he succeeded his father, Albert O’Brien, as president and CEO of the Union Financial Group Ltd. Two years later, the company’s board forced him out over what one executive called “a difference of opinion on the business strategy.”

According to Kristen O’Brien, he was essentially retired over the past 20 years, “enjoying life with his wife, Phyllida O’Brien.” He was married four times, most recently to Phyllida, who died in 2019. His survivors include a brother, Douglas, and daughters Kristen and Laura.

 

Producer

Randy Quaid in Cold Dog Soup (1990)

Cold Dog Soup

5.6

executive producer

1990

 

Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle in Nuns on the Run (1990)

Nuns on the Run

6.0

executive producer

1990

 

Richard E. Grant in How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

6.8

executive producer

1989

 

Checking Out (1988)

Checking Out

4.7

executive producer

1988

 

Powwow Highway (1988)

Powwow Highway

7.2

executive producer

1988

 

The Raggedy Rawney (1988)

The Raggedy Rawney

6.2

executive producer

1988

 

Gary Oldman and Theresa Russell in Track 29 (1988)

Track 29

5.8

executive producer

1988

 

Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith in The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987)

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

7.0

executive producer

1987

 

Bellman and True (1987)

Bellman and True

6.8

executive producer

1987

 

Five Corners (1987)

Five Corners

6.1

executive producer

1987

 

Withnail & I (1987)

Withnail & I

7.5

executive producer

1987

 

Madonna and Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Shanghai Surprise

3.3

executive producer

1986

 

Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson in Mona Lisa (1986)

Mona Lisa

7.3

executive producer

1986

 

Water (1985)

Water

6.0

executive producer

1985

 

Denholm Elliott, Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, and Richard Griffiths in A Private Function (1984)

A Private Function

6.5

executive producer

1984

 

Bullshot Crummond (1983)

Bullshot Crummond

5.9

executive producer

1983

 

John Cleese and Denis Quilley in Privates on Parade (1983)

Privates on Parade

4.8

executive producer

1983

 

The Missionary (1982)

The Missionary

6.2

executive producer

1982

 

Kathy Burke and Chrissie Cotterill in Scrubbers (1982)

Scrubbers

5.6

executive producer

1982

 

Monty Python in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl

7.8

executive producer

1982

 

Time Bandits (1981)

Time Bandits

6.9

executive producer

1981

 

The Long Good Friday (1980)

The Long Good Friday

7.6

executive producer (uncredited)

1980

 

John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Life of Brian (1979)

Life of Brian

8.0

executive producer

1979