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On this day, April 19, 1925, actor Hugh O'Brian, of "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," was born.
Hugh O'Brian
O'Brian in 1965
Born: Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925; Rochester, New York, U.S.
Died: September 5, 2016 (aged 91); Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, U.S.
Alma mater: University of California
Website: hughobrian.me
Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961) and the NBC action television series Search (1972–1973). His notable films included the adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (1965); he also had a notable supporting role in John Wayne's last film, The Shootist (1976).
He created the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, a nonprofit youth leadership-development program for high-school scholars. It has sponsored more than 500,000 students since O'Brian founded the program in 1958, following an extended visit with physician and theologian Albert Schweitzer.
Life and career
Early life and military service
O'Brian was born Hugh Charles Krampe in Rochester, New York, the son of Hugh John Krampe, who served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and Edith Lillian (née Marks) Krampe. O’Brian once described his father as “one of the toughest men I ever knew”; this inspired his interest in the military.
O'Brian moved with his parents to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, around 1930, when he was about five years old. His father had become an executive with the Armstrong Cork Company, which was headquartered in Lancaster. The Krampe family lived at the Stevens House Hotel temporarily before moving to the newly developed School Lane Hills houses in the city's West End. O'Brian attended Lancaster city elementary schools. The Krampes resided in Lancaster for about four years before they moved to Chicago, where his father had another position with the Armstrong Cork Company. Years later, in 1963, Hugh O'Brian was awarded the key to the city by Lancaster Mayor George Coe.
After the move to the Chicago area, Krampe and his family lived in Winnetka, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School. He transferred to the Kemper Military School (closed in 2002) in Boonville, Missouri, where he lettered in football, basketball, wrestling, and track.
After one semester at the University of Cincinnati, Krampe dropped out to enlist in the Marine Corps during World War II. At 17, he became the youngest Marine drill instructor on record.
O'Brian as Harry Chamberlain in Rocketship X-M (1950)
O'Brian alias Wyatt Earp in the ABC western anthology The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
With Louise Fletcher (1959)
Career start and name change
After World War II ended, Krampe planned to become a lawyer and had been accepted at Yale University for the fall of 1947. Before that, he lived in Hollywood, where he was dating an actress. He attended her rehearsals of the Somerset Maugham play Home and Beauty. When the lead actor failed to show up, director Ida Lupino asked him to read the lines. He got the role and the play received a tremendous review, then received a contract offer from an agent.
Krampe changed his name after the program incorrectly listed him as "Hugh Krape". He later said, "I decided right then I didn't want to go through life being known as Huge Krape, so I decided to take my mother's family name, O'Brien, but they misspelled it as 'O'Brian' and I just decided to stay with that."
Lupino signed him to Never Fear, a film she was directing. O'Brian gained a contract with Universal Pictures.
{snip}
Personal life and death
O'Brian in 1964
On June 25, 2006, at age 81, O'Brian married his girlfriend of 18 years, Virginia Barber (born circa 1952); it was his first and only marriage. The ceremony was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park with the Rev. Robert Schuller officiating. Barber, who had been married once previously, is a teacher by profession and the couple spent their honeymoon studying philosophy at Oxford University. O'Brian stated that he believed, "an active mind is as important as an active body." O'Brian had one son, Hugh Donald Krampe, by a relationship with photographer Adina Etkes. O'Brian died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on September 5, 2016, at the age of 91. Three individuals have since come forward claiming O'Brian was their father.
{snip}
O'Brian in 1965
Born: Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925; Rochester, New York, U.S.
Died: September 5, 2016 (aged 91); Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, U.S.
Alma mater: University of California
Website: hughobrian.me
Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961) and the NBC action television series Search (1972–1973). His notable films included the adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (1965); he also had a notable supporting role in John Wayne's last film, The Shootist (1976).
He created the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, a nonprofit youth leadership-development program for high-school scholars. It has sponsored more than 500,000 students since O'Brian founded the program in 1958, following an extended visit with physician and theologian Albert Schweitzer.
Life and career
Early life and military service
O'Brian was born Hugh Charles Krampe in Rochester, New York, the son of Hugh John Krampe, who served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and Edith Lillian (née Marks) Krampe. O’Brian once described his father as “one of the toughest men I ever knew”; this inspired his interest in the military.
O'Brian moved with his parents to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, around 1930, when he was about five years old. His father had become an executive with the Armstrong Cork Company, which was headquartered in Lancaster. The Krampe family lived at the Stevens House Hotel temporarily before moving to the newly developed School Lane Hills houses in the city's West End. O'Brian attended Lancaster city elementary schools. The Krampes resided in Lancaster for about four years before they moved to Chicago, where his father had another position with the Armstrong Cork Company. Years later, in 1963, Hugh O'Brian was awarded the key to the city by Lancaster Mayor George Coe.
After the move to the Chicago area, Krampe and his family lived in Winnetka, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School. He transferred to the Kemper Military School (closed in 2002) in Boonville, Missouri, where he lettered in football, basketball, wrestling, and track.
After one semester at the University of Cincinnati, Krampe dropped out to enlist in the Marine Corps during World War II. At 17, he became the youngest Marine drill instructor on record.
O'Brian as Harry Chamberlain in Rocketship X-M (1950)
O'Brian alias Wyatt Earp in the ABC western anthology The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
With Louise Fletcher (1959)
Career start and name change
After World War II ended, Krampe planned to become a lawyer and had been accepted at Yale University for the fall of 1947. Before that, he lived in Hollywood, where he was dating an actress. He attended her rehearsals of the Somerset Maugham play Home and Beauty. When the lead actor failed to show up, director Ida Lupino asked him to read the lines. He got the role and the play received a tremendous review, then received a contract offer from an agent.
Krampe changed his name after the program incorrectly listed him as "Hugh Krape". He later said, "I decided right then I didn't want to go through life being known as Huge Krape, so I decided to take my mother's family name, O'Brien, but they misspelled it as 'O'Brian' and I just decided to stay with that."
Lupino signed him to Never Fear, a film she was directing. O'Brian gained a contract with Universal Pictures.
{snip}
Personal life and death
O'Brian in 1964
On June 25, 2006, at age 81, O'Brian married his girlfriend of 18 years, Virginia Barber (born circa 1952); it was his first and only marriage. The ceremony was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park with the Rev. Robert Schuller officiating. Barber, who had been married once previously, is a teacher by profession and the couple spent their honeymoon studying philosophy at Oxford University. O'Brian stated that he believed, "an active mind is as important as an active body." O'Brian had one son, Hugh Donald Krampe, by a relationship with photographer Adina Etkes. O'Brian died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on September 5, 2016, at the age of 91. Three individuals have since come forward claiming O'Brian was their father.
{snip}
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