Brian Edward O'Connor (born February 14, 1953), known professionally as Brian Brucker O'Connor or Brian O'Connor, is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and

guidance counselor A school counselor is a professional who works in primary (elementary and middle) schools or secondary schools to provide academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students through a school ...

. His best known roles include Biddle in ''

Beverly Hills Cop II ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' and the second insta ...

'' (1987) and Schemer on ''

Shining Time Station ''Shining Time Station'' is an American children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the Ame ...

'' (1989–1993). O’Connor briefly reprised his role as Schemer in a 2020 parody of

Thomas and the Magic Railroad ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle. It is the only theatrical live-action/animated ''Thomas & Friends'' film in the franc ...

entitled “The Magic Railroad Parody” which aired exclusively on YouTube.

Career

O'Connor graduated from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

in 1975 to pursue a career in acting. Arriving in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he co-founded the comedy troupe ''Slap Happy'', along with fellow UMass alum Allan Jacobs. Joined by Jeff Ernstoff and Jan Kirschner, the group toured the nation and reached over 200 universities, receiving critical praise for performances in Boston,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During the ''Slap Happy'' tour, O'Connor participated in a

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...

production of the

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

musical ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

''. O'Connor made his onscreen debut with the recorded-live

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

special '' National Lampoon's Class of '86'' (1986). He followed this with a guest appearance on ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' and his feature film debut in ''

'' (1987) as Biddle. He returned to New York in 1988 to perform a one-man show ("One Hour Out of Your Life") at the Judith Anderson Theatre, earning praise from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

. In 1989, O'Connor was cast as Horace Schemer on ''

'' (1989–1993); the character, known commonly as "Schemer", proved to be his signature role. The roguish and clumsy, but still caring, character quickly grew in popularity with audiences. Since the show's cancellation, O'Connor has made numerous public appearances as Schemer. Following his appearance in the indie comedy film ''

Terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

'' (2004), Mr. O'Connor performed in the 2005

Geva Theatre Center Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard. The C ...

production of the solo play ''The Race of the Ark Tattoo''. Shortly thereafter, he went back to school to become certified as a children's guidance counselor. In 2016, O'Connor became the vocalist and co-guitarist for independent band The 6660s.

Personal life

O'Connor was born into a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent, the third of five children. He was married for seven years to actress

Jane Brucker Jane Rachel Brucker (born May 14, 1958) is an American actress best known for playing the part of Lisa Houseman, Baby's elder sister in the hit 1987 film ''Dirty Dancing''. Life and career Brucker was born in Falls Church, Virginia. She studied t ...

, best known for portraying Lisa Houseman in ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

'' (1987); they have a daughter, Sally (born 1989). O'Connor and Brucker appeared in the same 1986 episode of ''

'' ("Baby Blues"), although their characters did not share scenes.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Brian 1953 births Living people American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors People from Lynnfield, Massachusetts Male actors from Massachusetts 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors University of Massachusetts alumni