What a sad day yesterday was, to learn of the passing of one of our treasured hunks.
Mr. Hugh O'Brian passed away on Monday, September 5th of natural causes at the age of ninety-one! Veteran of nearly 50 movies, extensive stage work and countless episodes of television, he was primed to make a return to feature film-making after an eighteen year hiatus when he died. Famous the world over for his title role on
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955-1961), he was a particular favorite at Poseidon's Underworld for his scantily-clad, physically-captivating part in the 1965 Lana Turner sudser
Love Has Many Faces. At home in either a tuxedo or next to nothing, we did prefer the latter in most cases! A Golden Globe-winner as Most Promising Newcomer - Male in 1954, he did live up to that promise with a prolific career as a rugged on-screen macho man, but one with a heart. If the fact that this site has received a huge upsurge in hits on pages that feature O'Brian means that more people will come to know him and who he was, that's a great reward for me. We will miss you, Mr. O'Brian and pay tribute to you today with a series of handsome portraits.
Hugh was a terrific guy. I met him several times while doing volunteer work for his youth leadership development organization, HOBY (Hugh O'Brian Youth). Hugh believed that we are all the sum of our cumulative experiences and that none of us is limited by the circumstances of our birth. A real loss but his legacy lives on: http://www.hoby.org/
ReplyDeleteI was sad to see this yesterday in the news and immediately knew there would be a mention of it here. He really was gorgeous, and a decent actor. I never would have watched "Wyatt Earp" but I sure did love the Lana Turner movie. These pictures are testimony that he looked really good with or without a shirt, and like him with the shaggy 1970's hair as well. Sad he's gone but he left a very positive legacy.
ReplyDeleteScooter, I am jealous! I meant to mention HOBY in this little post, but I did go into further detail with it on the initial tribute to him that is linked within this one. He was much more than just an actor.
ReplyDeleteGingerguy, I really could never get into Wyatt Earp either, though I have tried. I don't know if it's the fact that it's black & white or that I seem to only see it in rather blurry prints or what. He was a huge success in the part nevertheless! Since I tend to like brawnier looks a little more than skinny, I tend to look for Hugh in post-1960 projects. I need to see "Harpy" again, because I recall that as one of the first times I really took notice of him as a kid.
Poseidon,when I heard that Hugh had died my first thought was to come to the Depths to read your post about him. I knew him mostly from TV. I confess that for a brief time, as a kid, I confused him and Rod Taylor! Of course I learned to tell them apart, but they were my "type" manly with thick heads of hair!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a nice tribute Poseidon. I hate to think who'll we'll lose next.
Hi Roberta! Thanks for thinking of Hugh, and me, together.... LOL One of the pitfalls of adoring older stars is that we have to say goodbye to them sooner than we wish to! Thankfully, we get to revisit them through their recorded works. I also hate to think of who's next. I try not to! <:-)
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