George O'Brien Biography

Fast Facts

• During his service in the Navy, he volunteered to act as a stretcher bearer for wounded Marines and was decorated for bravery
• Won a Trustees Award at the 1976 Western Heritage Awards for his outstanding careering portraying the Western movie hero
• Cowboy star Tom Mix helped him find employment as an assistant cameraman, extra and stuntman after he was discharged from the Navy
• During World War I, he became the Navy's Pacific Fleet light-heavyweight boxing champion
• Had a personal and professional relationship with director John Ford from 1924 to 1964
• One of Hollywood's best-known western stars, he appeared in dozens of films in the genre including" Riders of the Purple Sage," Frontier Marshal" and "The Cowboy Millionaire․"
• The film "The Iron Horse," which featured a cast of thousands, established him as a star
• Retired from acting to produce stage plays and write scripts for films and television
• Re-enlisted in the Navy following the attack on Pearl Harbor and was at Attu when Americans captured it from the Japanese
• Rudolph Valentino knocked O'Brien from the rigging of a ship into the sea for one of his earliest film stunts