Biography for
Patrick O'Neal (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 September 1927, Ocala, Florida, USA

Date of Death

9 September 1994, New York City, New York, USA (respiratory failure due to tuberculosis and cancer.)

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Dark, dashing and coldly handsome with intense, penetrating eyes, Patrick O'Neal was known for walking that fine line between elegant heroics and elegant villainy during his five-decade career. Born in 1927 in Ocala, Florida, and of Irish descent, he served toward the end of WWII with the United States Army Air Corp and, in his late teens, was assigned to direct training shorts for the Signal Corps. A graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville, he subsequently moved to New York and continued his dramatic studies at the Actor's Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse.

O'Neal made an initial impact in the early 1950s when he replaced Tony Randall in the hit Broadway comedy "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!". Following a strong role in "The Far Country" (1961), he gave a superlative portrayal of the defrocked Reverend Shannon opposite Bette Davis and Margaret Leighton in Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" later that year. Unfortunately for him, Richard Burton collared the role in its 1963 transition to film, The Night of the Iguana (1964). The attention nevertheless earned O'Neal both lead and support roles on camera, but most of those performances would be routine and, for the most part, overlooked. A capable player used regularly in 1960s films and 1970s television, he was usually cast as either a rugged trooper in the action adventures King Rat (1965) and Assignment to Kill (1968); a careerist sycophant in the naval spectacle In Harm's Way (1965); or as a flashy murderer in such gruesome yarns as Chamber of Horrors (1966), probably his best known film. In later years, it was almost strictly television movies and guest spots. His wife and brother owned several restaurants with him. He died in 1994 from respiratory failure while battling tuberculosis.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Spouse

Cynthia O'Neal

(1956 - 9 September 1994) (his death) 3 children

Trivia

Owned a restaurant called "The Ginger Man," named after the play in which he was appearing at the time. (The play opened off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theater on Thursday, November 21, 1963, the eve of President Kennedy's assassination.) Carroll O'Connor later co-owned the restaurant.

Owned the restaurant "O'Neals' Balloon," located across Columbus Avenue from Lincoln Center on the site now occupied by Merlot/Iridium. The restaurant, which he co-owned with his brother, was a favorite of the dancers from George Balanchine's company. It featured a Robert Crowl mural of dancers painted circa 1970 which now hangs at "O'Neal's"/"The Ginger Man", on 64th Street east of Broadway, which also was owned by Patrick O'Neal and his brother. "The Ginger Man" is still frequented by performers at Lincoln Center.

Credited Gregory Peck with steering him in the right direction to effectively realize his ambition to be a successful paid actor; O'Neal asked Peck for career advice while working as a grip on one of Peck's movies.