George O'Brien (1899-1985)

George O'Brien made many films in his career and is remembered mostly for Westerns. He was born in San Francisco, where his father was Chief of Police. George enlisted in the Navy in WWI and would remain with the Naval Reserve - serving in WWII. He achieved boxing championships while in the Navy and retired as a Captain in 1946. After the first war, he tried Hollywood as a stuntman in the Silent era. John Ford, the noted Irish director, gave George a supporting role in the film The Iron Horse (1924) and a contract. His last film some forty years later in 1964, was another John Ford film Cheyenne Autumn. It is noted that most of the western films he made were one step better than grade B films being made in this time period. George O'Brien was voted among the top five Box Office Cowboy stars in the years 1936-1940.