Robert Vincent O'Neil obit

Robert Vincent O’Neil, Writer-Director of the Cult Film ‘Angel,’ Dies at 91

He also penned two movies starring Wings Hauser and created the ultra-violent ABC crime show 'Lady Blue,' modeled after the Dirty Harry flicks.

 He was not on the list.

Robert Vincent O’Neil, who co-wrote and directed Angel, the cult 1983 film about a “high school honor student by day … Hollywood hooker by night” that spawned a low-budget franchise, has died. He was 91.

O’Neil died Saturday in his sleep of natural causes in Fairfield, California, his daughter Lari Bain told The Hollywood Reporter.

O’Neil also co-wrote the Hollywood-set Vice Squad (1982), a crime thriller starring Wings Hauser as a sadistic pimp named Ramrod; co-wrote The Baltimore Bullet (1980), featuring James Coburn and Omar Sharif as pool hustlers; and created the ultra-violent 1985-86 ABC series Lady Blue, whose main character was nicknamed “Dirty Harriet.”

Angel, one of the first films to emerge from New World Pictures after Roger Corman sold the famed indie outfit to Harry Sloan and others, starred Donna Wilkes as Molly Stewart, a pigtailed 15-year-old high schooler who heads to Hollywood Boulevard after nightfall to work as a prostitute. Here’s the trailer.

Talking about directing Wilkes, who was 24 when the movie was made, O’Neil said in a 2008 interview that he “learned about a relationship that she had that had gone sour and she was dealing with, and it was really easy to push the buttons with her.”

Made in the neighborhood of $1 million and filmed in about three weeks, Angel was a surprising hit at the box office, grossing about $17 million ($49 million in today’s dollars).

O’Neil then co-wrote and directed the first sequel, Avenging Angel (1985), with Molly — now played by Betsy Russell after Wilkes insisted on “an outrageous price” to return — off the streets, studying to be a lawyer and tracking down the guy who murdered the cop who helped her get her life together.

The franchise limped to a conclusion with Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988), starring Mitzi Kapture, and Angel 4: Undercover (1993), toplined by Darlene Vogel. O’Neil was not involved with those.

Lady Blue starred Jamie Rose as no-nonsense Chicago cop Katy Mahoney and Danny Aiello as her boss. The MGM Television series was criticized by some for its excessive violence and canceled after 14 episodes. (Rose said she watched Clint Eastwood‘s Dirty Harry films and worked with the actor to prepare for the role.)

Born in Oakland on Sept. 15, 1930, O’Neil was raised in San Francisco and Tucson, Arizona. After studying theater at the University of Texas El Paso, he served as a cameraman in Texas during the early years of television and as a property master for Richard Rush on Psych-Out (1968) and The Savage Seven (1968) and for Dennis Hopper on Easy Rider (1969).

On those films, he pestered legendary cinematographer László Kovács for tutelage.

O’Neil’s first feature as a writer-director was Like Mother Like Daughter (1969), and he followed with such drive-in fare as The Psycho Lover (1970), Blood Mania (1970), Wonder Women (1973) and Paco (1975).

After Vice Squad — shot by Stanley Kubrick cinematographer John Alcott — O’Neil co-wrote Deadly Force, this time starring Hauser as a cop, before he and Joseph Michael Cala embarked on the script for Angel.

“Joe and I camped out on Hollywood Boulevard literally night after night after night, and we wrote it to the locations,” he said. “In other words, usually you get a script and you find the locations, but we wrote this script to the locations.”

Angel’s salacious tagline was “High school honor student by day … Hollywood hooker by night.” It all worked out great for the new owners of New World, who took the company public after acquiring it from Corman.

“Although he shot several features on location,” his daughter said, “his choice setting was always the streets of Hollywood, where a sheet of folded pink paper in his shirt pocket made it appear that he possessed a permit and where the LAPD was always happy to let him ride along.”

O’Neil also was a playwright; his most recent work was NightHawks, a crime story loosely based on the Edward Hopper painting that ran in repertory in Los Angeles in 2005 and ’14. He was still writing and developing projects as recently as last year.

Survivors include his twin daughters, Lari (and her husband, Andrew) and Lisa (Bill); daughter Nicole (Lloyd); brother Ron (Evie); grandchildren Jessica, Quinn, Sara, Russell, Jess and Robert; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was married to Lois Lansing, the eldest daughter of James B. Lansing (of JBL and Altec Lansing fame), model Bonita Merino and actress Sunni Walton.

Director

Jamie Rose in Lady Blue (1985)

Lady Blue

6.5

TV Series

Director (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1985

1 episode

 

Betsy Russell in Avenging Angel (1985)

Avenging Angel

4.9

Director (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1985

 

Donna Wilkes in Angel (1983)

Angel

5.8

Director (directed by)

1983

 

Paco (1975)

Paco

5.1

Director (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1975

 

Ross Hagen and Nancy Kwan in Wonder Women (1973)

Wonder Women

4.5

Director (as Robert O'Neil)

1973

 

Blood Mania (1970)

Blood Mania

4.0

Director (as Robert O'Neil)

1970

 

The Psycho Lover (1970)

The Psycho Lover

5.5

Director

1970

 

The Sins of the Daughter (1969)

The Sins of the Daughter

4.8

Director (as Robert V. O'Neil)

1969

 

Writer

C. Thomas Howell and Renée Humphrey in Jailbait (1993)

Jailbait

4.3

Video

screenplay

story (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1993

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

writer (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1990

1 episode

 

Mitzi Kapture in Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988)

Angel III: The Final Chapter

4.9

characters (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1988

 

Jamie Rose in Lady Blue (1985)

Lady Blue

6.5

TV Series

created by

story

writer ...

1985–1986

4 episodes

 

Charles Taylor in Code of Vengeance (1985)

Code of Vengeance

6.8

TV Series

story by

1986

1 episode

 

Betsy Russell in Avenging Angel (1985)

Avenging Angel

4.9

written by (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1985

 

What Waits Below (1984)

What Waits Below

4.7

screenplay by

1984

 

Donna Wilkes in Angel (1983)

Angel

5.8

written by

1983

 

Deadly Force (1983)

Deadly Force

4.9

screenplay

1983

 

Vice Squad (1982)

Vice Squad

6.4

written by

1982

 

The Baltimore Bullet (1980)

The Baltimore Bullet

5.9

screenplay (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1980

 

Paco (1975)

Paco

5.1

screenplay (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1975

 

Ross Hagen and Nancy Kwan in Wonder Women (1973)

Wonder Women

4.5

adaptation (as Robert O'Neil)

1973

 

The Psycho Lover (1970)

The Psycho Lover

5.5

written by

1970

 

The Sins of the Daughter (1969)

The Sins of the Daughter

4.8

screenplay (as Robert V. O'Neil)

1969

 

The Mighty Gorga (1969)

The Mighty Gorga

2.9

writer (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1969

 

Actor

Shhhh (2014)

Shhhh

2.8

Peter Post

2014

 

Irish Whiskey (1997)

Irish Whiskey

6.2

(as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1997

 

Producer

Jamie Rose in Lady Blue (1985)

Lady Blue

6.5

TV Series

co-producer (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1985–1986

13 episodes

 

Tiffany Bolling and Robin Mattson in Bonnie's Kids (1972)

Bonnie's Kids

6.2

associate producer (as Robert O'Neil)

1972

 

The Psycho Lover (1970)

The Psycho Lover

5.5

producer

1970

 

Dr. Sex (1964)

The Sadistic Hypnotist

3.7

producer (uncredited)

1969

 

The Mighty Gorga (1969)

The Mighty Gorga

2.9

producer (as Robert H. O'Neil)

1969

 

Set Decorator

Boris Karloff and Tongolele in Isle of the Snake People (1971)

Isle of the Snake People

3.4

Set Decorator (as Bob O'Neil)

1971

 

Production Manager

Bootleggers (1974)

Bootleggers

5.2

production manager (as Robert O'Neil)

1974

 

Paul Carr, Lee de Broux, T.J. Escott, Michael Pataki, and Jon Shank in The Dirt Gang (1972)

The Dirt Gang

2.9

unit manager (as Robert O'Neil)

1972

 

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

Count Yorga, Vampire

5.7

production supervisor (as Robert V. O'Neil)

1970

 

Art Department

Peter Fonda in Easy Rider (1969)

Easy Rider

7.2

property master (as Robert O'Neil)

1969

 

The Angry Breed (1968)

The Angry Breed

4.8

props (as Robert O'Neil)

1968

 

The Savage Seven (1968)

The Savage Seven

5.4

property master (as Robert Vincent O'Neill)

1968

 

Susan Strasberg in Psych-Out (1968)

Psych-Out

5.9

property master (as Robert O'Neil)

1968

 

Camera and Electrical Department

Cry Blood, Apache (1970)

Cry Blood, Apache

3.4

grip (as Bob O'Neill)

1970

 

Self

Masters of the Grind

Self

Post-production