Volume III: Biographies

(O'BRIEN, Thomas) *

Actor (1914)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Thomas O'Brien, a Reliance actor, appeared in the Reliance film, McCarn Plays Fate, released through Thanhouser in 1914.

Biographical Notes: His biography appeared in the 1916 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory: "Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 25, 1889. Educated at Leland Stanford [Stanford University]. Early career: with Barnum and Bailey's Circus in 1898 [at the age of nine?]. Stage career: in vaudeville and with one-night-stand Popular Stock Company. Screen career: Essanay, Biograph, with D.W. Griffith two years as assistant in production of The Escape, Birth of a Nation; also with Fox and Peerless. Is rough rider and cowboy, 18 months with Royal Northwest Mounted Police." An obituary notice in Variety, June 18, 1947, placed his birth in San Diego, California, on July 25, 1890, and his death in Los Angeles, June 8, 1947.

Note: The attribution of a role in McCarn Plays Fate to Thomas O'Brien is tentative, as one account assigns the part to A.E. O'Brien.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914: McCarn Plays Fate (Reliance film released by Thanhouser 8-18-1914)

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