George O'Hara (born George Bolger, February 22, 1899 – October 16, 1966) was an American motion picture

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

of the

silent film A silent film is a film without 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, w ...

era.

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and raised in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, 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 producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...

. 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 Mary Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian 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 discove ...

. 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 Esotropia, cross-eyed appearance and adeptness at vigorous physical comedy ...

film '' A Small Town Idol'' 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''. 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 a ...

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 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' 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), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

directed film adaptation of

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

'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 Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in 1966.

Partial filmography

* '' Love, Honor and Behave'' (1920) - Newlywed Groom *'' A Small Town Idol'' (1921) - Cameraman * '' Queenie'' (1921) - Vivian Van Winkle *'' The Crossroads of New York'' (1922) - Michael Flint *'' Shirley of the Circus'' (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'' (1924) - Robert Lee *'' The Sea Beast'' (1926) - Derek Ceeley *'' Casey of the Coast Guard'' (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'' (1926) - Tim Casey *''The Timid Terror'' (1926) - Talbot Trent *''Is That Nice?'' (1926) - Ralph Tanner *'' California or Bust'' (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 he ...

'' (1927) - Dick *'' Yours to Command'' (1927) - Robert Duane * '' Ladies Beware'' (1927) - Jack O'Diamonds *'' Pirates of the Pines'' (1928) - John Markham *''

A Single Man ''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American historical drama film, period romantic drama film based on A Single Man (novel), the 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood. The List of directorial debuts, directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the fi ...

'' (1929, writer) *''

Side Street A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.Main road — definition

'' (1929, writer) *''

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

'' (1939) - Teller (uncredited) *'' News Is Made at Night'' (1939) - Usher (uncredited) *'' The Honeymoon's Over'' (1939) - Elevator Operator (uncredited) *''

'' (1940) - Clerk (uncredited) *'' The Cowboy and the Blonde'' (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'Hara
at 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