J. Pat O'Malley

James Patrick Francis O'Malley (March 15, 1904 – February 27, 1985) was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programmes from the 1940s to 1982, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. He also appeared on the Broadway stage in Ten Little Indians (1944) and Dial M for Murder (1954).[2]

J. Pat O'Malley
As "Perkins" in the 1955 hit television serial, Spin and Marty
Born	James Patrick Francis O'Malley (1904-03-15)15 March 1904 Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	27 February 1985(1985-02-27) (aged 80) San Juan Capistrano, California, U.S.
Occupation	Singer, composer, songwriter, actor, music director
Years active	1929–1985
Spouse(s)	Fay M. O'Malley ( m. 1936) [1]
Children	2[2]

J. Pat O'Malley and Susan Gordon in "The Fugitive", a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone

The New York Times drama critic Theodore Goldsmith praised O'Malley's performance in Ten Little Indians, calling him "a rara avis, a comedian who does not gauge the success of his efforts by the number of laughs he induces at each performance".[3]

Early years

Born into an Irish family in Burnley, Lancashire,[4] O’Malley began his career in entertainment in 1925 as a recording artist and then as principal singer with Jack Hylton and his orchestra in the United Kingdom from 1930 to 1933. Known at that time as Pat O'Malley, he recorded more than four hundred popular songs of the day. In 1930 he sang "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about aviator Amy Johnson, performed by Jack Hylton's band.[5] He began a solo recording career in 1935 in parallel with his work with Hylton.

At the end of 1935 Hylton and O'Malley came to the United States to record with a band composed of American musicians, thus emulating Ray Noble and Al Bowlly. The venture was short-lived. O'Malley remained in the US, known professionally as J. Pat O'Malley (to avoid confusion with another film actor named Pat O'Malley); he had a long and varied acting career, including the 1943 film Lassie Come Home as "Hynes".

Television career

O'Malley guest-starred in 1951 as a sheriff on Bill Williams's syndicated western series, The Adventures of Kit Carson. From 1950-55, he appeared in five episodes of The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse. From 1951-57 he was cast in eight episodes of another anthology series, Robert Montgomery Presents. Other television work from this period include roles in Walt Disney's Spin and Marty film (1955) and serial (1955-57) as the always-faithful ranch steward, Perkins.

In 1956 he guest-starred in one of the last episodes, "The Guilty", of the NBC legal drama Justice, based on case files of the Legal Aid Society of New York. In 1958 he was a guest star in Peter Gunn (Season 1, Episode 3, "The Vicious Dog") as Homer Tweed.

He also appeared in Rod Cameron's syndicated City Detective in the episode "Found in a Pawnshop" (1955). In 1960 O'Malley was cast in another Cameron syndicated series, Coronado 9, set in San Diego. In 1959 and 1960 O'Malley portrayed a judge and a newspaper editor in three episodes of the ABC western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams, as a roaming former Confederate soldier.

On January 6, 1959 O'Malley played a priest in the episode "The Secret of the Mission" on the syndicated adventure series Rescue 8, starring Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries. In the storyline the priest is trapped with a would-be thief named Carlos (Rafael Campos) under the roof of a collapsed church.

O'Malley was cast as Walter Morgan in the 1959 episode "The First Gold Brick" of the NBC western series The Californians. In 1959-1960 he made eight appearances as Judge Caleb Marsh in Black Saddle. In 1959 he was cast as Dr Hardy in an early episode of Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper. In season 3, Episode 10, titled "The Medicine Man", of the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen, O'Malley played the character of Doc. He also appeared in the role of a bank president in an episode of The Real McCoys titled "The Bank Loan", which was released 15 January 1959.

In 1960 O'Malley made guest appearances on The Tab Hunter Show, The Law and Mr. Jones, Johnny Midnight, Johnny Staccato, Harrigan and Son, Adventures in Paradise, The Islanders, Going My Way, The Tall Man, and as Jim Phelan on Lawman episode titled "The Swamper." He made numerous guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, including as the defendant in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor" and as the murderer in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Roving River". O'Malley also appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "The Chaser".

In 1961 O'Malley appeared in 3 episodes of Tales of Wells Fargo, in different roles. In the episode "The Has-Been" he had the title role, playing a fading entertainer grieving over the loss of his wife. In one poignant scene, O'Malley displayed his song and dance talent as he performed for an imaginary audience in an abandoned dance hall. Later that year he guest-starred in the television version of Bus Stop and the following year appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone, "The Fugitive" and "Mr. Garrity and the Graves". He also guest-starred twice on The Lloyd Bridges Show in that series' 1962-1963 season. He then co-starred with Spring Byington in the 1964 episode "This Train Don't Stop Till It Gets There" of The Greatest Show on Earth.

During the 1963-1964 season O'Malley appeared in eight episodes of My Favorite Martian and returned to The Twilight Zone, playing a bit part in the episode "The Self-Improvement of Salvatore Ross". In the 1964-1965 season, he was cast in Wendy and Me. O'Malley appeared in the Hogan's Heroes episode "How to Cook a German Goose by Radar" in 1966, and the 1967 episode "D-Day at Stalag 13". In 1966 he also appeared as Ed Breck in the episode "Win Place and Die" of Jack Sheldon's short-lived sitcom Run, Buddy, Run. He appeared occasionally as "Vince" in The Rounders. In the 1966 episode "The Four Dollar Law Suit" of the syndicated western series Death Valley Days, O'Malley played the lawyer for Alfred Hall (Strother Martin), a country chicken farmer who sues an insurance company for underpaying him four dollars after his chicken coop burns to the ground. In the January 19 and 25, 1967 episodes of Batman, he played an eccentric inventor, "Pat Pending", who's robbed by Catwoman.

In 1969 O'Malley portrayed Carol Brady's (Florence Henderson) father in the first episode of ABC's The Brady Bunch. The name "Fleming" was used in O'Malley's first two appearances on The Fugitive (Season 1, See Hollywood And Die; Season 3, Crack In A Crystal Ball). In 1973 O'Malley starred with Shirley Booth in the short-lived comedy A Touch of Grace. He made several appearances on Maude between 1973 and 1975; and he performed on other series such as It Takes a Thief, One Day At A Time, Emergency!, Adam-12, The Practice, Three's Company, and Taxi. O'Malley also appeared on the ABC television series Family in 1979. And on Barney Miller in the 1975 episode “You Dirty Rat” as Mr. Holliman, the likeable homeless man who fell asleep and spent the weekend in Spiegel’s department store.

Voice work

Walt Disney engaged O'Malley to provide voices for animated films such as the Cockney coster in the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" sequence in Mary Poppins (1964); Cyril Proudbottom, Winkie, and a policeman in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); and the role of Colonel Hathi and the vulture Buzzie in The Jungle Book (1967). His voice can be heard in Alice in Wonderland (1951), in which he performs all the character voices in "The Walrus and the Carpenter" segment (besides Alice), including Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus, the Carpenter, and Mother Oyster. O'Malley also provided the voice of Br'er Fox in Song of the South (1946) when James Baskett was unavailable. Actor Dick Van Dyke has said that O'Malley was his dialect coach on Mary Poppins, attributing his infamous Cockney accent in that film to O'Malley.[6]

Death

O'Malley died of cardiovascular disease in San Juan Capistrano in 1985, two weeks before his 81st birthday.[7]

Selected TV and filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1940	Captain Caution	Fish Peddler
1941	Private Nurse	Henry's Friend	Uncredited
1941	Paris Calling	Sgt. Bruce McAvoy
1942	Over My Dead Body	Petie Stuyvesant
1943	Thumbs Up	Sam Keats
1943	Lassie Come Home	Hynes
1944	The White Cliffs of Dover	Martin	Uncredited
1949	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	Cyril Proudbottom / Mr. Winkie / Policeman / Paper boy (unseen)	Voice
1951	Alice in Wonderland	Tweedledum and Tweedledee / Walrus and Carpenter / Mother Oyster	Voice
1955	Spin and Marty: The Movie	Perkins	TV Series
1956	The Fastest Gun Alive	Cross Creek Townsman	Uncredited
1957	Four Boys and a Gun	Fight manager
1957	Courage of Black Beauty	Mike Green
1957	Witness for the Prosecution	The shorts salesman	Uncredited
1958	The Long, Hot Summer	Ratliff
1958	Playhouse 90	Pubkeeper	Episode: "Bomber's Moon"
1960	Lawman	Jim Phelan	Episode "The Swamper"
1960–1964	The Twilight Zone	Gooberman - Town Drunk / Old Man / Old Ben / Homburg	4 episodes
1961	Tales of Wells Fargo	Dr. Cobb / Cedric Manning	2 episodes
1961	One Hundred and One Dalmatians	Jasper / Colonel [8]	Voice
1961	Blueprint for Robbery	Pop Kane
1961	The Real McCoys		Episode: "A Man of Influence"
1961	The Saga of Windwagon Smith	Mayor Crum	Short, Voice, Uncredited
1961-1971	Bonanza	Harry Simpson / Clancy / Big Mac	3 episodes
1962	The Cabinet of Caligari	Martin
1962	Gunsmoke	Gabe	Episode: "Old Comrade"
1963	Son of Flubber	Sign-Painter	Uncredited
1963	The Andy Griffith Show	Mr. Fields	Episode: "Up in Barney's Room"
1963	Shotgun Wedding	Buford Anchors
1964	Hey There, It's Yogi Bear	Snively	Voice
1964	A House Is Not a Home	Muldoon
1964	Mary Poppins	Pearly Drummer / Master of Hounds / Huntsman / various other roles	Voice, Uncredited
1964	Apache Rifles	Captain Thatcher
1964	The Lucy Show	Major MacFarland	Episode: "Lucy Goes Into Politics"
1964	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Sam Petrie	Episode: "The Plots Thicken"
1965	Jonny Quest	Chopper	Voice, Episode: "Attack of the Tree People"
1966	The Man From U.N.C.L.E.	Francis X. O'Reilly / The Old Prospector	2 episodes
1967	Batman	Pat Pending	2 episodes
1967	Gunn	Tinker
1966-1967	Hogan's Heroes	British General / Corporal Walter Tillman	2 episodes
1966-1968	Green Acres	Ben Hanks / Windy Hinkle / Dooly Watkins / Diller Fangworth	4 episodes
1967	The Jungle Book	Colonel Hathi, the Elephant / Buzzie, the Vulture	Voices
1967	Gunn	Tinker
1968	It Takes a Thief	Thoreau	Episode: "A Matter of Royal Larceny"
1968	The Flying Nun	Captain Barnaby	Episode: "The Sister and the Old Salt"
1968	Star!	Dan
1969	Daniel Boone	Uncle Brian	Episode: "Copperhead Izzy"
1969	Hello, Dolly!	Park policeman
1970	The Cheyenne Social Club	Dr. Foy
1971	Willard	Jonathan Farley
1971	Skin Game	William
1973	Robin Hood	Otto the Blacksmith - a dog	Voice, Uncredited
1973	A Touch of Grace	Herbert Morrison	Regular cast member; 13 episodes
1973	Emergency!	old bill	Episode: "Messin' Around"
1975-1977	Maude	Bert Beasley	8 episodes
1976	The Gumball Rally	Barney Donahue
1978	One Day at a Time	Mr. Peabody	season 4, Episode 8: "Peabody's War"
1979	Three's Company	Leo Moran	Episode: "Old Folks at Home"
1979–1981	Barney Miller	Walter Dooley / Walt Hathaway / Mr. Holliman	2 episodes (The Rainmaker, 1981)
1981	Cheaper to Keep Her	Landlord

References

1. "Social Security Death Index: Fay M. O'Malley". Rootsweb Ancestry. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
2. "J. Pat O'Malley". The New York Times. 2 March 1985. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
3. Theodore Goldsmith (30 July 1944). "One of the 'Ten Little Indians'". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
4. "J. Pat O'Malley". www.originalmmc.com. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
5. "AMY - Lyrics - International Lyrics Playground". lyricsplayground.com.
6. "Dick Van Dyke apologizes to Brits for his 'atrocious' Cockney accent in 'Mary Poppins'". nydailynews.com.
7. no byline (1 March 1985). "Veteran Film-TV Actor J. Pat O'Malley Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
8. Staff, Moviefone (27 January 2011). "101 Things You Never Knew About '101 Dalmatians'". AOL Moviefone. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.

External links

• J. Pat O'Malley on IMDb
• J. Pat O'Malley at the Internet Broadway Database
• J. Pat O'Malley profile; accessed 22 September 2014.