William Joseph Patrick “Pat” O’Brien was born on 11 November 1899, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, inTO a Roman Catholic family with Irish ancestry. He was an actor most recognized for movies such as ‘’Some Like it Hot’’ and ‘’Angels With Dirty Faces’’.
So, just how rich was Pat O’Brien? Authoritative sources estimate that O’Brien’s net worth was as high as $1.5 million, accumulated from his six decades long acting career in Hollywood, as well as on the silver screen. He also wrote a couple of books.
Pat O’Brien Net Worth $1.5 million
Pat grew up near 13th and Clybourn streets in Milwaukee. He attended Marquette Academy and went on to join the US Navy in World War I. Having returned from war, O’Brien decided to continue his education and enrolled into Marquette University shortly after. During his college days, O’Brien found an acting job, and went on to appear in several Broadway plays and spent a decade there. Pat made his silver screen debut in Paramount’s film ‘’Honor Among Lovers’’ which was well received by the critics. He continuously played significant roles during the early ‘30s, appearing in several MGM musicals. In the upcoming years, he played in a variety of Warner Bros movies which resulted in a long term contract, making a name for himself and gaining attention and reputation. His appearances, either supporting or lead roles, were often critically acclaimed. During this era of his career, he played lead parts in ‘’I Married a Doctor’’ and ‘’Public Enemy’s Wife’’ among many others. However, the highlight of this period was his role in ‘’Angels with Dirty Faces’’ in which he played a Catholic priest with a problematic past, Fr. Jerry Connolly. The movie was nominated for several awards and earned a total of $1.7 million at the box office, considerable in those days. O’Brien’s performance is said to have added significantly to the movie.
Pat eventually left Warner Bros and signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, but never appeared in any of their movies, and went on to sign a contract with RKO, eventually appearing in several of their movies usually playing a certain type of military or authority characters. In the mid ‘40s, he established his own production company with his manager, and signed a contract with Columbia to make several movies together. One of the most noted appearances he made during this period was his role of Father Peter J. Dunne, in ‘’Fighting Father Dunne’’, a 1948 biographical film. The number of roles Pat would get was slowly decreasing in the 1950s and his friend Spencer Tracy persuaded MGM studio to give O’Brien parts in a couple of their films, and in the following year, he had several big roles, the highlight being the role of Detective Mulligan in ‘’Some like it Hot’’, a 1959 comedy in which he played alongside Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis.
He continued to appear in movies, but eventually returned to theatre, and remained a theatre actor throughout the ‘60s until the ‘80s. During his long career, he appeared in over 80 movies and had plenty of television appearances.
In his personal life, Pat married Eloise in 1931 and they had four kids together – three of them adopted. O’Brien is said to have been passionate about storytelling and jokes, and a regular guest at many Hollywood parties. He died on 15 October 1983 from a heart attack – even President Ronald Regan expressed his sadness at Pat’s death.
