George O'Hara (born George Bolger, February 22, 1899 – October 16, 1966) was an American motion picture
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 ...
and
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
of the
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
era.
Biography
Born in
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 ...
and raised in
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
, George O'Hara began his acting career under contract as a performer for early Hollywood director
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.
Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...
. Sennett was immediately charmed by the handsome, cleft-chinned young actor and saw O'Hara as a potentially popular matinee idol. O'Hara's acting career received an early boost when Sennett cast the young actor in the commercially successful 1920 romantic film ''Love, Honor, and Behave'' opposite the popular silent film actress
Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost (born Marie Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian-born film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films.
Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was d ...
.
In 1921, O'Hara began working behind the camera with Sennett's tutelage. He was credited as an associate producer in the
Ben Turpin
Bernard "Ben" Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) was an American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films. His trademarks were his cross-eyed appearance and adeptness at vigorous physical comedy. Turpin wo ...
film ''
A Small Town Idol
''A Small Town Idol'' is a 1921 American silent feature comedy film produced by Mack Sennett and released through Associated First National. The film stars Ben Turpin and was made and acted by many of the same Sennett personnel from his previou ...
'' and later worked as a continuity and title writer throughout the 1920s in the film industry as well as continuing his successful acting career.
George O'Hara was most popular with the public when starring in two-reel action and adventure serials of the 1920s, such as ''The Pacemakers'' and ''
Casey of the Coast Guard
''Casey of the Coast Guard'' was a 1926 American silent action film serial released in ten chapters, directed by William Nigh and written by Lewis Allen Browne. The film is now presumed lost.
Plot
John Casey ( George O'Hara) is a Coast Guard o ...
''. In his most popular serial, ''Fighting Blood'', O'Hara was cast as a boxer; a role well-suited to O'Hara, who in his free time was a boxing aficionado and moderately successful in the amateur lightweight division of the sport.
Throughout the 1920s, O'Hara continued working as an actor and became a quite popular matinee idol. He costarred with
John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...
and
Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903Costello's obituary in ''The New York Times'' says that she was born on September 17, 1905. – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. ...
in a silent film adaptation of ''
Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler, whaling ship ''Pequod (Moby- ...
'' called ''
The Sea Beast'' playing Barrymore's evil half-brother; O'Hara was aptly cast as he bore a resemblance to the legendary actor. With the advent of sound films however, the film studios began to heavily promote a new crop of actors and many of the formerly popular actors of the silent era (including O'Hara) found it increasingly difficult to find work. O'Hara quietly faded into an early retirement in the early 1930s but began trying to rebuild his career later in the decade by taking bit parts, most notably as the role of a clerk in the 1940
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
directed film adaptation of
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
's ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
''.
O'Hara never again achieved the success he had attained in his early career and spent the next several decades playing as an extra in often uncredited roles. O'Hara died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 1966.
Partial filmography
* ''
Love, Honor and Behave
''Love, Honor and Behave'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Stanley Logan and starring Wayne Morris and Priscilla Lane. The supporting cast includes John Litel, Thomas Mitchell, Dick Foran and Dickie Moore. " Bei Mir Bist Du Sc ...
'' (1920) - Newlywed Groom
*''
A Small Town Idol
''A Small Town Idol'' is a 1921 American silent feature comedy film produced by Mack Sennett and released through Associated First National. The film stars Ben Turpin and was made and acted by many of the same Sennett personnel from his previou ...
'' (1921) - Cameraman
* ''
Queenie'' (1921) - Vivian Van Winkle
*''
The Crossroads of New York
''The Crossroads of New York'' is a lost 1922 American silent comedy film directed by F. Richard Jones and an all-star cast of silent comedians. It was produced by Mack Sennett and released through First National Distributors.
Plot
As describ ...
'' (1922) - Michael Flint
*''
Shirley of the Circus
''Shirley of the Circus'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee, and starring Shirley Mason, George O'Hara, Crauford Kent, Alan Hale Sr., and Lule Warrenton. The film was released by Fox Film Corporation on November 1 ...
'' (1922) - Pierre
*''Fighting Blood'' (1923) - Gale Galen aka Six Second Smith
*''A Midsummer Night's Scream'' (1923)
*''
Listen Lester'' (1924) - Jack Griffin
*''
Darwin Was Right
''Darwin Was Right'' is a 1924 American comedy film directed by Lewis Seiler and written by Eddie Moran. The film stars Nell Brantley, George O'Hara, Stanley Blystone, Dan Mason, Lon Poff and Bud Jamison. The film was released on October 26, ...
'' (1924) - Robert Lee
*''
The Sea Beast'' (1926) - Derek Ceeley
*''
Casey of the Coast Guard
''Casey of the Coast Guard'' was a 1926 American silent action film serial released in ten chapters, directed by William Nigh and written by Lewis Allen Browne. The film is now presumed lost.
Plot
John Casey ( George O'Hara) is a Coast Guard o ...
'' (1926) - Ensign John Casey
*''
Why Girls Go Back Home'' (1926) - John Ross
*''
Bigger Than Barnum's'' (1926) - Robert Blandim
* ''
Going the Limit'' (1926) - Gordon Emery
*''
The False Alarm
''The False Alarm'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Frank O'Connor and starring Ralph Lewis, Dorothy Revier and John Harron.Munden p.227
Cast
* Ralph Lewis as Fighting John Casey
* Dorothy Revier as Mary Doyle
* John Harron ...
'' (1926) - Tim Casey
*''The Timid Terror'' (1926) - Talbot Trent
*''Is That Nice?'' (1926) - Ralph Tanner
*''
California or Bust
''California or Bust'' is a 1927 American silent comedy-drama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars George O'Hara, Helen Foster, and John Steppling, and was released on January 9, 1927.
Plot
Jeff Daggett is a mechanic in the fictional town ...
'' (1927) - Jeff Daggett
*''
Burnt Fingers
''Burnt Fingers'' is a 1927 American mystery film directed by Maurice S. Campbell and starring Eileen Percy, Ivan Doline and Edna Murphy.Wlaschin p.41
A young woman working as a dancer at a nightclub goes to confront a man who is blackmailing ...
'' (1927) - Dick
*''
Yours to Command
''Yours to Command'' is a 1927 American comedy film directed by David Kirkland and written by Scott Darling and Ewart Adamson. The film stars George O'Hara, Shirley Palmer, William Burress, Dot Farley, Jack Luden and William J. Humphrey. T ...
'' (1927) - Robert Duane
* ''
Ladies Beware
''Ladies Beware'' is a 1927 American silent crime film directed by Charles Giblyn and starring George O'Hara, Nola Luxford and Kathleen Myers.Munden p.412
Synopsis
Jack, a jewel thief, is advised to leave town by the police. Before he does so ...
'' (1927) - Jack O'Diamonds
*''
Pirates of the Pines'' (1928) - John Markham
*''
A Single Man
''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American period romantic drama film based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for the Acad ...
'' (1929, writer)
*''
'' (1929, writer)
*''
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...
'' (1939) - Teller (uncredited)
*''
News Is Made at Night'' (1939) - Usher (uncredited)
*''
The Honeymoon's Over'' (1939) - Elevator Operator (uncredited)
*''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' (1940) - Clerk (uncredited)
*''
The Cowboy and the Blonde
The Cowboy and the Blonde is a 1941 American Western (genre), Western comedy film directed by Ray McCarey and released by 20th Century Fox.
Cast
* Mary Beth Hughes as Crystal Wayne
* George Montgomery (actor), George Montgomery as Lank Garret ...
'' (1941) - Melvyn
*''
Cadet Girl'' (1941) - Waiter (uncredited)
*''
Remember the Day'' (1941) - Photographer (uncredited)
*''
The Dolly Sisters'' (1945) - Frank Tinny (uncredited)
*''
When My Baby Smiles at Me'' (1948) - Stagehand (uncredited) (final film role)
References
External links
*
George O'Haraat Silent Ladies & Gents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohara, George
1899 births
1966 deaths
Male actors from New York City
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
American male screenwriters
Deaths from cancer in California
Male actors from Hollywood, Los Angeles
20th-century American male actors
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters