Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien was a character actor of American cinema, and performed in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and Seven Days in May (1964), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the latter of which he received a nomination in the same category. His other notable films include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Killers (1946), A Double Life (1947), White Heat (1949), D.O.A. (1950), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), Julius Caesar (1953), 1984 (1956), The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Wild Bunch (1969), and The Other Side of the Wind (2018). Early years Born Eamon Joseph O'Brien in Brooklyn, New York, he was the seventh and youngest child of Agnes (née Baldwin) and James O'Brien. His parents were natives of Tallow, County Waterford, Ireland. His father died when he was four years old. O'Brien performed magic shows for children in his neighborhood. He performed under the title, "Neirbo the Great" ("neirbo" being "O'Brien" spelled backwards). An aunt who taught high school English and speech took him to the theatre from an early age and he developed an interest in acting. He began acting in plays at school. After attending Fordham University for six months, O'Brien went to Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre on a scholarship. O'Brien studied for two years under such teachers as Sanford Meisner; his classmates included Betty Garrett. He said, "It was simply the best training in the world for a young actor, singer or dancer." He added, "What these teachers encouraged above all was getting your tools ready – your body, your voice, your speech." O'Brien took classes with the Columbia Laboratory Players group, which emphasized training in Shakespeare. Theatre O'Brien began working in summer stock in Yonkers. He made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atreus. He played a grave digger in Hamlet, went on tour with Parnell, then appeared in Maxwell Anderson's The Star Wagon, starring Lillian Gish and Burgess Meredith. In 1940 he appeared with Ruth Chatterton in John Van Druten's Leave Her to Heaven on Broadway. Twelve years later he appeared