Arthur O'Connell (March 29, 1908 - May 18, 1981) was an Academy Award nominated American stage and film actor. He appeared in films (starting with a small role in Citizen Kane) in 1941 and television programs (mostly guest appearances). Among his screen appearances were Picnic, Anatomy of a Murder, and as the watch-maker who hides Jews during WWII in The Hiding Place.

A veteran vaudevillian, American actor Arthur O'Connell from New York City made his legitimate stage debut in the mid '30s, at which time he fell within the orbit of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Welles cast O'Connell in the tiny role of a reporter in the closing scenes of Citizen Kane (1941), a film often referred to as O'Connell's film debut, though in fact he had already appeared in Freshman Year (1939) and had costarred in two Leon Errol short subjects as Leon's conniving brother-in-law.

After numerous small movie parts, O'Connell returned to Broadway, where he appeared as the erstwhile middle-aged swain of a spinsterish schoolteacher in Picnic - a role he'd recreate in the 1956 film version, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. Later the jaded looking O'Connell was frequently cast as fortyish losers and alcoholics; in the latter capacity he appeared as Jimmy Stewart's boozy attorney mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and the result was another Oscar nomination.

O'Connell continued appearing in choice character parts on both TV and films during the 1960s, but avoided a regular television series, holding out until he could be assured top billing. The actor accepted the part of a man who discovers that his 99-year-old father has been frozen in an iceberg on the 1967 sitcom The Second Hundred Years, assuming he'd be billed first per the producers' agreement. Instead, top billing went to newcomer Monte Markham in the dual role of O'Connell's father and his son. O'Connell accepted the demotion to second billing as well as could be expected, but he never again trusted the word of any Hollywood executive.

Ill health forced O'Connell to significantly reduce his acting appearances in the mid '70s, but the actor stayed busy as a commercial spokesman, a friendly pharmacist who was a spokesperson for Crest toothpaste. At the time of his death from Alzheimer's disease in California in May 1981, O'Connell was appearing solely in these commercials, by his own choice.

Though veteran character actor Arthur O'Connell was born in New York City in 1908, he looked as countrified as apple pie, looking ever more comfy in overalls than he ever did in a suit. He made his stage debut in the mid 1930s and came into contact with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. As a result, he earned the bit role of a reporter in the final scenes of Citizen Kane (1941). Making little leeway in films, O'Connell returned to the Broadway lights where he played Polonius in "Hamlet" and Banquo in "Macbeth", finally gaining considerable attention as the amiable bachelor storekeeper in "Picnic" in 1953. He transferred the role successfully to film three years later and began a series of flawed and forlorn characters on TV and the screen from then on. A particular standout was as James Stewart's boozed up attorney and mentor in Anatomy of a Murder (1959) for which he won his second Oscar-nomination for "best supporting actor" (the first was for Picnic (1956) three years earlier). The mustachioed O'Connell usually played wise, helpful and friendly, and he also inhabited crafty villains from time to time, but there was always an unhappy ambiance and 'loser' quality in his elderly gents, which made you feel sorry for him. He played Monte Markham's "son" (Markham had been frozen in an iceberg, which explains Markham's young appearance) in the 1967 sitcom "The Second Hundred Years" but the series was short-lived. A popular guest star on all the major shows in the 70s, he was forced to curtail his work load as the progression of Alzheimer's began to steadily creep in. At the time of his death in 1981, O'Connell was appearing solely in toothpaste commercials.