Robert Emmett O'Connor was a stalwart Irish-American character actor, born on March 18, 1885, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to his acting career, he made a name for himself performing in circuses and vaudeville.
He made his Broadway debut in the musical "Fritz in Tammany Hall" at the Herald Square Theatre on October 16, 1905, and went on to appear in 13 musical comedies and operettas on the Great White Way until 1930. During this period, he also appeared in four straight plays, mostly comedies.
After 1930, he shifted his focus to his movie career, making his film debut in 1920 in the Harold Lloyd comedy short "His Royal Slyness," directed by Hal Roach. He went on to make six comedies for the Hal Roach Studios between 1920 and 1921, including another Harold Lloyd vehicle, "Never Weaken," before taking a five-year hiatus from films.
He returned to the big screen in 1926 with the Thomas Meighan drama "Tin Gods," directed by Allan Dwan, and spent the next 24 years acting in movies. In 1930, he went back to the Roach Studios to support Laurel and Hardy in two Spanish language shorts, then moved over to Warner Bros. as a bit player.
He played the Irish bootlegger Paddy Ryan in the classic "The Public Enemy" (1931) in support of fellow Irish-American James Cagney and appeared in another classic, "Mystery of the Wax Museum" (1933). He then settled into being typecast as Irish cops, leading to one of his most famous roles: the plainclothes detective in pursuit of the Marx Brothers in "A Night at the Opera" (1935).
During the 1940s, he was kept busy by MGM, appearing in every genre, including the "Our Gang" comedies. His last film role was as the Paramount Studios guard who remembers Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). He virtually retired from acting at the age of 65, though he made some television appearances in the 1950s.
Robert Emmett O'Connor died on September 4, 1962, at the age of 77, due to injuries sustained in a fire.
