Joan O’Brien obit

Joan O’Brien, ‘Operation Petticoat’ and ‘It Happened at the World’s Fair’ Actress, Dies at 89

She started her career as a TV singer, then appeared in ‘The Comancheros’ and ‘It’s Only Money’ and on ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’ 

She was not on the list.

Joan O’Brien, the actress and singer who shared a submarine with Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat and a romantic relationship with Elvis Presley in It Happened at the World’s Fair, has died. She was 89.

O’Brien’s death was confirmed Wednesday by her daughter, Melissa, in a brief phone call with The Hollywood Reporter. She did not wish to provide any details.

A onetime contract player at MGM, O’Brien also appeared alongside John Wayne in The Alamo (1960) and The Comancheros (1961) and starred in four films released in 1962: It’s Only Money, Six Black Horses, We Joined the Navy and Samar, opposite Jerry Lewis, Audie Murphy, Kenneth More and George Montgomery, respectively.

After making her big-screen debut as the girlfriend of Dean Jones’ overzealous law student in the drama Handle With Care (1958), O’Brien played the embarrassingly clumsy Second Lieutenant Dolores Crandall in the World War II comedy Operation Petticoat (1959), directed by Blake Edwards.

And in It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963), she portrayed a nurse at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle who attends to pilot Mike Edwards (Presley) after he suffers a leg “injury” when kicked in the shin by a youngster (Kurt Russell in his first movie). They two wind up having dinner at the top of the Space Needle and falling in love.

In fact, she played lots of nurses during her career.

Joan Marie O’Brien was born on Valentine’s Day in 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She and her family moved to California, and at age 15, she became a regular performer on Hometown Jamboree, a Los Angeles TV program hosted by country singer Cliffie Stone.

Around the time she graduated from Chaffey High School in Ontario, California, O’Brien began a four-year stint as a singer on CBS’ The Bob Crosby Show. In 1959, she stepped in for “Champagne Lady” Alice Lon on The Lawrence Welk Show and portrayed an opera singer on an episode of NBC’s Bat Masterson.

O’Brien also put her vocal talents to work in 1963 on The Dick Van Dyke Show episode “The Foul Weather Girl” when she played a high school friend of Rob’s (Van Dyke) who comes to New York looking to advance her career and makes Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) jealous.

A year later, she was a teacher in Get Yourself a College Girl (1964), also featuring Mary Ann Mobley, Chad Everett, Nancy Sinatra, The Dave Clark Five and The Animals.

O’Brien’s résumé included work on the Warner Bros. shows The Alaskans, Bronco, Cheyenne, The Roaring 20’s and Surfside 6 and such other series as M Squad, Markham, Wagon Train, Bachelor Father, Bus Stop, The Virginian, The Lieutenant and Perry Mason.

She also was on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in 1964 and had a relationship with star Robert Vaughn. In January 1965, she swallowed the contents of a pill box at his home on Mulholland Drive and was hospitalized in a coma after what police termed an attempted suicide.

O’Brien didn’t do much acting after that, though she did sing with Harry James’ band.

O’Brien had brief marriages to guitarist Billy Strange, NBC executive John Meyers, actor-dancer Harvey Allen and artist Dino Kotopoulis — all those marriages ended in divorce — before she wed Malcolm Bernard Campbell, a retired U.S. military officer, in 1979. They were together until his 2004 death.

Actress

Valentine's Day (1964)

Valentine's Day

7.6

TV Series

1965

1 episode

 

Raymond Burr in Perry Mason (1957)

Perry Mason

8.3

TV Series

Jill FenwickBetty Roberts

1960–1965

2 episodes

 

The Dave Clark Five in Get Yourself a College Girl (1964)

Get Yourself a College Girl

4.9

Marge Endicott

1964

 

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

7.7

TV Series

Chris Brinel

1964

1 episode

 

James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in The Virginian (1962)

The Virginian

7.6

TV Series

Joan

1964

1 episode

 

Gary Lockwood in The Lieutenant (1963)

The Lieutenant

8.2

TV Series

Lt. Ruth Riley

1964

1 episode

 

Elvis Presley and Joan O'Brien in It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)

It Happened at the World's Fair

6.0

Diane Warren

1963

 

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

The Dick Van Dyke Show

8.4

TV Series

Jane Leighton

1963

1 episode

 

We Joined the Navy (1962)

We Joined the Navy

5.5

Carol

1962

 

Jerry Lewis in It's Only Money (1962)

It's Only Money

6.3

Wanda Paxton

1962

 

George Montgomery, Joan O'Brien, Ziva Rodann, and Gilbert Roland in Samar (1962)

Samar

5.9

Cecile Salazar

1962

 

Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, and Joan O'Brien in Six Black Horses (1962)

Six Black Horses

6.4

Kelly

1962

 

Joan Freeman, Marilyn Maxwell, and Rhodes Reason in Bus Stop (1961)

Bus Stop

6.9

TV Series

Julie

1962

1 episode

 

Tuesday Weld in Follow the Sun (1961)

Follow the Sun

7.3

TV Series

Nita Parker

1962

1 episode

 

Rawhide (1959)

Rawhide

7.9

TV Series

Melinda Stimson

1962

1 episode

 

Clu Gulager and Barry Sullivan in The Tall Man (1960)

The Tall Man

7.3

TV Series

Marilee

1962

1 episode

 

Don Collier, Judy Lewis, and Bruce Yarnell in Outlaws (1960)

Outlaws

7.3

TV Series

Laurie Danvers

1962

1 episode

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.7

TV Series

Meryle

1961

1 episode

 

Surfside 6 (1960)

Surfside 6

7.9

TV Series

Linda Faris

1961

1 episode

 

John Wayne, Ina Balin, Lee Marvin, Nehemiah Persoff, and Stuart Whitman in The Comancheros (1961)

The Comancheros

6.8

Melinda Marshall

1961

 

Donald May, Dorothy Provine, and Rex Reason in The Roaring 20's (1960)

The Roaring 20's

8.0

TV Series

Mona Fenton

1961

1 episode

 

Bachelor Father (1957)

Bachelor Father

7.2

TV Series

Janice McCleery

1960–1961

3 episodes

 

Audie Murphy in Whispering Smith (1961)

Whispering Smith

7.4

TV Series

Marilyn Manning

1961

1 episode

 

Gardner McKay in Adventures in Paradise (1959)

Adventures in Paradise

8.1

TV Series

Lila Simmons

1961

1 episode

 

Bringing Up Buddy (1960)

Bringing Up Buddy

7.2

TV Series

Ruth Grayson

1961

1 episode

 

Cheyenne (1955)

Cheyenne

8.0

TV Series

Selma Dawson

1961

1 episode

 

John McIntire in Wagon Train (1957)

Wagon Train

7.5

TV Series

Candy O'HaraVictoria

1960

2 episodes

 

Brian Keith in The Westerner (1960)

The Westerner

7.8

TV Series

Libby

1960

1 episode

 

Bat Masterson (1958)

Bat Masterson

7.3

TV Series

Eileen McDermottDora MillerDolores Clark

1959–1960

3 episodes

 

John Wayne, Richard Widmark, and Laurence Harvey in The Alamo (1960)

The Alamo

6.8

Mrs. Sue Dickinson

1960

 

The Islanders (1960)

The Islanders

6.5

TV Series

Ann Brenner

1960

1 episode

 

Lock Up (1959)

Lock Up

7.5

TV Series

Claudia Scott

1960

1 episode

 

Henry Fonda in The Deputy (1959)

The Deputy

6.9

TV Series

Emily Price

1960

1 episode

 

The Chevy Mystery Show (1960)

The Chevy Mystery Show

7.5

TV Series

Susan Hudson

1960

1 episode

 

Ty Hardin in Bronco (1958)

Bronco

7.1

TV Series

Judith Castle

1960

1 episode

 

Roger Moore in The Alaskans (1959)

The Alaskans

8.3

TV Series

Fay Campbell

1960

1 episode

 

Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in Operation Petticoat (1959)

Operation Petticoat

7.2

Lt. Dolores Crandall RN

1959

 

Riverboat (1959)

Riverboat

7.3

TV Series

Sonja Torgin

1959

1 episode

 

Ray Milland in Markham (1959)

Markham

8.1

TV Series

Julia Conrad

1959

1 episode

 

Man Without a Gun (1957)

Man Without a Gun

7.6

TV Series

Ellen Duncan

1959

1 episode

 

Dean Jones and Joan O'Brien in Handle with Care (1958)

Handle with Care

6.7

Mary Judson

1958

 

Lee Marvin in M Squad (1957)

M Squad

8.0

TV Series

Marla Ross

1958

1 episode

 

The Liberace Show (1952)

The Liberace Show

7.8

TV Series

1954

1 episode

 

Soundtrack

Elvis Presley and Joan O'Brien in It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)

It Happened at the World's Fair

6.0

performer: "Happy Ending" (uncredited)

1963

 

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

The Dick Van Dyke Show

8.4

TV Series

performer: "Just In Time" (uncredited)

1963

1 episode

 

Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)

General Electric Theater

6.7

TV Series

performer: "What Do You Suppose?"

1961

1 episode

 

Surfside 6 (1960)

Surfside 6

7.9

TV Series

performer: "It Had to Be You", "Get Happy"

1961

1 episode

 

Audie Murphy in Whispering Smith (1961)

Whispering Smith

7.4

TV Series

performer: "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" (uncredited)

1961

1 episode

 

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (1956)

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show

7.8

TV Series

performer: "I've Got a Right to Sing the Blues", "But Yours" (as Joanie O'Brien, uncredited)

1960

1 episode

 

The Easter Seal Teleparade of Stars (1955)

The Easter Seal Teleparade of Stars

6.8

TV Special

performer: "Tweedlee Dee"

1955

 

Bob Crosby in The Bob Crosby Show (1953)

The Bob Crosby Show

8.4

TV Series

performer: "Crying in the Chapel", "You, You, You"performer: "I Want a Full-Time Job" (as Joanie O'Brien)

1953

1 episode

 

Self

That Regis Philbin Show (1964)

That Regis Philbin Show

7.9

TV Series

Self

1965

1 episode

 

Ernest Borgnine and Ben Alexander in About Faces (1959)

About Faces

5.8

TV Series

Self

1961

1 episode

 

Spirit of the Alamo (1960)

Spirit of the Alamo

8.3

TV Movie

Self

1960

 

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (1956)

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show

7.8

TV Series

Self - Singer (as Joanie O'Brien)

1960

1 episode

 

The Liberace Show (1952)

The Liberace Show

7.8

TV Series

Self

1958–1959

5 episodes

 

Shower of Stars (1954)

Shower of Stars

7.2

TV Series

Self (as Joanie O'Brien)

1957

1 episode

 

The Easter Seal Teleparade of Stars (1955)

The Easter Seal Teleparade of Stars

6.8

TV Special

Self - Singer (as Joanie O'Brien)

1955

 

Bob Crosby in The Bob Crosby Show (1953)

The Bob Crosby Show

8.4

TV Series

Self (as Joanie O'Brien)

1953

1 episode

 

Hometown Jamboree

TV Series

Self (1949-1960) (as Joanie O'Brien)

1949–1960

 

Archive Footage

The Definitive Elvis: The Hollywood Years - Part II: 1962-1969

8.4

Video

Self (archive footage)

2002