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George O'Hara (actor)
Encyclopedia
George O'Hara was an American
motion picture actor
and screenwriter
of the silent film
era.
and raised in Hollywood, California, George O'Hara began his acting career under contract as a performer for early Hollywood director Mack Sennett
. 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
.
In 1921, O'Hara began tentatively working behind the camera with Sennett's tutelage. He was credited as an associate producer in the Ben Turpin
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 afficienado 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
and Dolores Costello
in a silent film adaptation of Moby-Dick
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
directed film adaptation on John Steinbeck
's The Grapes of Wrath
.
O'Hara never again achieved the enormous 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
in Los Angeles, California
in 1966.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
motion picture actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
of the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era.
Biography
Born George Bolger in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and raised in Hollywood, California, George O'Hara began his acting career under contract as a performer for early Hollywood director Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
. 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
Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born actress of the early days of cinema. During her twenty year career, she made 121 silent and talking pictures.-Early life:...
.
In 1921, O'Hara began tentatively working behind the camera with Sennett's tutelage. He was credited as an associate producer in the Ben Turpin
Ben Turpin
Ben Turpin was a cross-eyed American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films.-Personal life:...
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
Casey of the Coast Guard
Casey of the Coast Guard is a 1926 action genre silent film, released in ten chapters. Directed by William Nigh and written by Lewis Allen Browne. The film is presumed to be lost.-Plot:...
. 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 afficienado 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
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
and Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello
Dolores Costello was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen"...
in a silent film adaptation of Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
called The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast is a silent film adaptation of the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale...
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 Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
directed film adaptation on John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath (film)
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F...
.
O'Hara never again achieved the enormous 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
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1966.
External links
- George O'Hara at Silent Ladies & Gents