Dave O'Brien
Date of birth: 1912-05-31
Place of birth: Big Spring, Texas, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: David Poole Fronabarger, David Fronabarger, David O'Brien, Dave O'Brian, Dave Tex O'Brien, Dave 'Tex' O'Brien, Tex O'Brien, Tex Coe, David Barclay, Dave Barclay
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dave O'Brien (born David Poole Fronabarger, May 31, 1912 – November 8, 1969) was an American film actor, director, and writer. O'Brien was best known to movie audiences in the 1940s as the hero of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy short film series Pete Smith Specialties narrated by Pete Smith. O'Brien wrote and directed many of these subjects under the name David Barclay. He also appeared in many low-budget Westerns, often billed as Tex O'Brien. In 1942, O'Brien starred in the movie serial Captain Midnight. Modern audiences perhaps best remember O'Brien as a frantic dope addict in the 1936 low-budget exploitation film Tell Your Children (better known under its reissue title, Reefer Madness). As a writer for The Red Skelton Show, O'Brien shared an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1961 and shared a nomination for the same award in 1963. O'Brien died, aged 57, of a heart attack while competing in a yachting race.
Movie Credits
Welcome Home
1935-08-09
A con artist attends a reunion in his hometown and discovers that his former classmates are trying t
The Devil Bat
1940-12-13
Dr. Paul Carruthers is frustrated because he thinks his employers, Mary Heath and Henry Morton, have
Million Dollar Racket
1937-09-30
Millionaire Larry Duane is posing as his own chauffeur while touring the West and meets Molly Hennes
Spooks Run Wild
1941-10-24
A group of delinquents on their way to summer camp get stuck in a haunted house.
Song of the Buckaroo
1938-12-07
An outlaw on the run assumes the identity of a dead man. When in his new identity he finds himself e
Tell Your Children
1938-06-15
High-school principal Dr. Alfred Carroll relates to an audience of parents that marijuana can have d
Those Good Old Days
1949-04-16
Life in mid-century America is humorously compared to life at the turn of the century. Subject cover
Man's Country
1938-07-06
An undercover Texas Ranger runs into trouble when he learns that the murderer he's trailing has a tw
Bowery at Midnight
1942-10-30
A seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses his Bo
Born to Be Wild
1938-02-16
Truck drivers Steve Hackett and Bill Purvis are fired from their jobs with the West Coast Trucking c
The Sign of the Cross
1932-11-30
A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
Neighbor Pests
1947-05-03
Narrator Pete Smith talks about the different kinds of neighbors that can be pests, and how to deal
The Secret of Treasure Island
1938-03-17
A variety of people are searching for a long-hidden treasure somewhere on an island. Chapters: 1.
Let's Cogitate
1948-12-25
Short film covering a variety of topics that folks may have wondered about.
Trigger Smith
1939-03-22
A cowboy goes after a gang of stagecoach robbers who murdered his brother.
The Kettles in the Ozarks
1956-04-01
Ma and the kids head out to help Pa's brother Sedgewick with the his farm in Mournful Hollow, Arkans
Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto
1941-05-05
Rancher Timothy Wade is ambushed by a masked man riding a pinto horse. His young son, Buzzy Wade and
Flying Wild
1941-03-10
A group of young men who work at an aviation factory begin to suspect that a doctor who runs an air
On the Spot
1940-06-11
Frankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an a
Forbidden Trails
1941-12-25
Two ex-cons plan to kill the range rider marshal who sent them to prison and, when their plan fails,
Frontier Scout
1938-09-16
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant has a job for Wild Bill Hickok (George Houston) and his sidekick (Al St. John)
Riders of the Sage
1939-08-01
In an effort to get Jim Martin to sell his ranch, the Halsey brothers have kidnapped his son Tom. Wh
Whirlwind Horseman
1938-04-29
Ken and Happy, looking for their friend Cherokee, run into an outlaw gang led by Ritter who have bee
Wonder Bar
1934-03-31
Harry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with Liane, t
Crashing Thru
1939-12-11
Renfrew of the Mounties hunts brother-and-sister gold hijackers.
Gangsters of the Frontier
1944-09-22
Tex put the Kern gang away once but they have returned with reinforcements and have take over the to
Enemy of the Law
1945-05-07
Charley Gray is about to be released from the state penitentiary after serving a long term for the r
Frontier Fugitives
1945-09-01
Ellen Williams' father has a valuable collection of furs and an outlaw gang is after them. Before he
The Phantom of 42nd Street
1945-05-02
A theatre critic teams up with a cop to investigate the murder of a Broadway actor.
Consolation Marriage
1931-11-21
A sportswriter jilted by his globe-trotting girlfriend marries a woman jilted by her boyfriend.
Down Texas Way
1942-05-22
"The Rough Riders", has U. S. Marshals Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) and Tim McCall (Tim McCoy) coming t
The Man Who Walked Alone
1945-03-15
A war hero returns home following a medical discharge and ends up entangled with a young woman speed
Queen of the Yukon
1940-08-26
The owner of an Alaskan gambling boat and her business partner help thwart a crooked businessman who
The Black Coin
1936-09-01
Government agents try to thwart smugglers, while some sort of plot unfolds, about a hidden treasure
Law and Order
1942-08-21
Billy the Kid and his pals Jeff Travis and Fuzzy Jones are arrested and brought to Fort Culver, wher
Brothers of the West
1937-06-29
Tyler is a range detective whose brother stands accused of robbing a bank and murdering the bank pre
Daughter of the Tong
1939-08-28
A detective matches wits with the female leader of a crime ring.
Where the Buffalo Roam
1938-10-12
Tex returns to Santa Fe to find his Mother murdered. Foster runs the town and all crimes committed b
Utah Trail
1938-08-12
Tex and his sidekicks arrive to help out his friend Jeffers, a railroad owner, only to find that he
The Singing Cowgirl
1938-06-02
Tolen is after the Harkins ranch where his men have found gold. After they kill Harkins, Dorothy and
One Man's Journey
1933-08-31
Dr. Eli Watt, a widower, comes to a small town, considering himself a failure in his attempt to have
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006-03-21
Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street.
Gun Packer
1938-11-16
Jack has been called in to investigate stage robberies where the stolen gold bullion mysteriously di
Out for Fun
1954-05-08
A tense businessman seeks to find a relaxing pastime but proves himself inept at golf, duck-hunting,
Phantom Rancher
1940-03-31
Cowboy puts on a black mask and a black outfit to fight a gang of land-grabbing crooks.
Drifting Westward
1939-01-25
Manuel and Carga are after the hidden map of a gold mine which is somewhere in the hacienda willed t
Flaming Lead
1939-11-01
Cowhand Ken Clark is stranded in Chicago, and temporarily takes a job as a sharp-shooter entertainer
Captain Midnight
1942-02-15
Secret Service Major Steel is one of the few men in America aware of the fact that Captain Albright
Good News
1930-08-22
A college football star falls for his mousy French tutor.
T.V. of Tomorrow
1953-06-06
A variety of fanciful innovations in "future" T.V. sets, including a model with a built-in stove, an
Hot Saturday
1932-10-28
A pretty but virtuous small-town bank clerk is the victim of a vicious rumor from an unsuccessful su
Buried Alive
1939-11-06
A prison trustee rescues a despondent executioner from a bar-room brawl, and is blamed for the fight
Water Rustlers
1939-01-06
Shirley Martin finds that Weylan has diverted the water from the valley and her cattle are dying. Fi
Flying High
1931-11-14
An inventor and his lanky girlfriend set an altitude record in his winged contraption.
Woman Wanted
1935-08-02
Just after a jury finds Ann Grey guilty of murder, the car carrying her to prison crashes into anoth
College Humor
1933-07-05
A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coe
The Whispering Skull
1944-12-29
Rangers Tex Haines and Dave Wyatt track a killer known as the Whispering Skull. In the wake of the S
On Your Toes
1939-10-14
A Russian dance company agrees to stage the new ballet written by a vaudeville hoofer.
Roar of the Dragon
1932-07-08
A boatload of Westerners is trapped in Manchuria as bandits led by Russian renegade Voronsky ravage
Guns of the Law
1944-03-30
The Texas Rangers take on a shyster who is trying to bilk a family of their money after he learns th
Code of the Cactus
1939-02-25
When Blackton outbids Bill Carson. Bill suspects he will have to rustle cattle to fulfill the contra
Outlaws' Paradise
1939-04-18
Bill Carson assumes the identity of gang leader Trigger Mallory in order to fool his gang and his gi
Undercover Agent
1939-04-19
A railway postal clerk goes after a sweepstakes counterfeiting ring.
Wyoming Outlaw
1939-06-27
Will Parker has been destroyed by a local politician and now must steal to feed his family. He steal
New Frontier
1939-08-10
The Three Mesquiteers convince a group of settlers to exchange their present property for some which
Fighting Mad
1939-11-05
Ann Fenwick is a witness to a bank robbery in the U.S. and the bandits, led by Trigger and Leon capt
The Fighting Renegade
1939-08-31
El Puma, a Mexican desert guide, escorts an archaeological expedition headed by Professor Lucius Llo
The Arizona Kid
1939-09-28
Roy is a Confederate officer stationed in Missouri during the Civil War. He must put an end to outla
Mutiny in the Big House
1939-10-24
A young man forges a check in order to help his mother, but is caught and sentenced to 14 years in p
Billy the Kid Wanted
1941-10-03
Billy the Kid and his pal Jeff help their friend Fuzzy Jones escape from jail, and the trio heads fo
Double Trouble
1941-11-21
Harry Langdon and Charley Rogers star in this 1941 Monogram comedy, about two bumbling brothers who
The Pinto Bandit
1944-04-26
A masked desperado wants to disrupt the mail service between two frontier communities.
Texas Wildcats
1939-04-09
Lightning Bill Carson and sidekick Magpie are after Burrows, the man that killed a friend of theirs.
Danger Ahead
1940-01-22
The Royal Mounties are called in when one of the armored cars owned by Maxwell, containing a gold sh
Murder on the Yukon
1940-02-25
Unknown to Joan Manning, her trading post partner Weathers is operating a counterfeiting ring. When
The Texas Marshal
1941-07-12
Local "patriot's league" leader secretly kills off ranchers, buys up their estates, which are underm
Yukon Flight
1940-01-02
When the plane owned by the "Yukon and Columbia Mail Service" crashes, RCMP Sergeant Renfrew (James
Sky Bandits
1940-07-06
Sgt. Renfrew and Constable Kelly go aloft to search for a plane missing with a shipment of gold from
Rollin' Westward
1939-03-01
A cowboy helps a pretty young woman and her father in their fight against land-grabbers who are tryi
Trail of Terror
1943-09-06
Texas Ranger O'Brien has an outlaw twin brother. When his sibling is killed, O'Brien assumes his ide
Tahiti Nights
1944-12-28
During World War Two, an American band leader, Jack (Dave O'Brien) arrives on a Tahitian island , an
Bad Men of Thunder Gap
1943-03-05
Tex Wyatt is blamed for a murder actually committed by Ransom and Holman, a couple of thieves. Tex m
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
1936-01-13
A 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for his
Things We Can Do Without
1953-12-05
A Pete Smith Specialty shorts series entry. Dave demonstrates a variety of household items and furni
Carry Harry
1942-09-03
After getting into a compromising situation with a woman and her angry boyfriend, Harry uses a fire
Boys of the City
1940-07-15
Street kids get sent to the country, where they get mixed up in murder and a haunted house.
That Gang of Mine
1940-09-23
A street kid has dreams of becoming a jockey. He gets his chance when he and his gang discover a poo
Search for Beauty
1934-02-02
Three con artists dupe two Olympians into serving as editors of a new health and beauty magazine whi
East Side Kids
1940-02-10
After living all his childhood in the street, a young boy rapidly notices that crime doesn't pay, le
Prisoner of Japan
1942-07-22
An American astronomer living on a Pacific island attempts to thwart the Japanese during WWII.
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge
1942-11-20
The East Side Kids find a young girl in the apartment of a man who has just been murdered. Believing
Ain't It Aggravatin'
1954-02-06
This comedic short looks at human foibles that lead to major aggravations.
Did'ja Know?
1950-05-06
This short looks at the following questions: How would you act as an expectant father? How many gree
The Rangers Take Over
1942-12-25
Jim Steele spots Pete Dawson taking horses over the Mexico-Texas border, but Dawson has an alibi. A
The Gunman From Bodie
1941-09-19
The Rough Riders are after a gang of rustlers. Marshal Roberts is posing as a wanted outlaw, McCall
Rough Riding Rhythm
1937-08-14
When Jim and Scrubby arrive to see Scrubby's sister, they find her murdered and suspect it was her n
The Cowboy from Sundown
1940-09-05
The drought-plagued ranchers of Sundown have to market their cattle at a loss in order to meet mortg
Student Tour
1934-10-05
A philosophy professor accompanies his school's rowing team on a worldwide tour.
Tomorrow's Children
1934-07-02
Young Alice Mason wishes to start a family, but because her own has been deemed "defective" by the s
Sitting Pretty
1933-11-23
Jack Oakie and Jack Haley are songwriters are enroute from New York to Hollywood to make their fame
Gift of Gab
1934-09-01
Conceited radio announcer irritates everyone else at the station.
College Coach
1933-11-04
Ruthless Coach Gore creates turmoil at a college by hiring players and alienating students. Along th
Son of the Navy
1940-03-30
A runaway boy pretends to be the son of a Navy man, only to turn both their lives upside down.
Isle Of Destiny
1940-03-08
A pretty socialite / pilot runs into gun smugglers when she lands her plane on a Pacific island.
Movie Pests
1944-07-08
This Pete Smith Specialty short takes a humorous look at the inconsiderate pests whose annoying habi
The Fall Guy
1955-06-04
In this final entry in the Pete Smith Specialty series, Smith pays tribute to actor and stuntman Dav
Sure Cures
1946-11-02
This comedic Pete Smith Specialty short examines the folly of using "home remedies" for various ills
I Love My Husband, But!
1946-12-07
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, a wife endures the trials of being married to a husband with tra
Hold That Woman!
1940-06-28
A skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from people who've purchased appliances, etc., or
Equestrian Quiz: What's Your I.Q.? No. 11
1946-05-18
A series of questions testing one's knowledge of fun facts about horses and equestrian in general ar
Murder at the Vanities
1934-05-18
Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vaniti
We're Rich Again
1934-07-13
A polo-playing grandmother and her broke brood get back in the money with a Wall Street bet.
Doubting Thomas
1935-07-10
A husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local produc
Is My Face Red?
1932-06-17
William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and everyo
Pick-up
1933-03-24
The scheme of a pair of married con artists goes awry when their victim dies, and they are both caug
The Girl on the Front Page
1936-09-26
The heiress to a powerful newspaper owner gets a job at the paper under an assumed name and helps br
The Deadly Game
1941-08-08
A pre-World War II saber-rattler that finds a munitions inventor kidnapped, a federal agent killed a
Border Buckaroos
1943-06-15
Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele, and Panhandle Perkins are en route to Boulder City to investigate the
Boss of Rawhide
1943-11-20
Texas Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins are sent to the district of Rawhide to inv
The Spider Returns
1941-05-09
The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spi
Billy the Kid's Smoking Guns
1942-05-01
Knowing the Army is arriving to establish a post. Doc Hagan and his gang and the crooked Sheriff are
Studio Visit
1946-05-11
This humorous Pete Smith Specialty short looks around various studios on a film lot.
Sheriff of Sage Valley
1942-09-02
Billy and his pals, on the run from the law again, travel to Sage Valley where Billy is made Sheriff
Billy the Kid in Santa Fe
1941-07-11
Falsely accused of murder, Billy is able to escape thanks to his pals. Once in Santa Fe, he meets on
Gun Code
1940-08-03
This low-budget western stars Tim McCoy as federal agent Tim Hammond, who follows a gang of big-city
Fighting Valley
1943-08-08
Someone has been stealing ore from a valuable smelting mine. One of the independent mine-owners vict
The Return of the Rangers
1943-10-26
The Texas Rangers round up rustlers by masquerading as the same. Trouble ensues when while in disgui
West of Texas
1943-05-10
Rangers Tex Wyatt and Jim Steele arrive in Gabe's Crossing, NM, to capture Bent Yeager, a rancher ac
Brand of the Devil
1944-07-30
Jolley is the leader of the Devil's Brand gang of rustlers. When Molly Dawson sends for the Texas Ra
Dead or Alive
1944-11-09
The Rangers are after Yackey and his gang. Posing as an outlaw, Dave arrives as Panhandle's prisoner
Outlaw Roundup
1944-02-10
Ranger Tex Wyatt introduces himself as the notorious bandit Spade Norton. Crooked saloon owner Red H
Marked for Murder
1945-02-08
In this western, the Texas Rangers must stop a range war between sheepherders and cattle ranchers fr
Gunsmoke Mesa
1944-09-01
Spook Town
1944-06-03
Dry Gulch Trading Post owner Kurt Fabian advances money on mortgages to the local settlers to financ
Three in the Saddle
1945-07-26
Peggy Barlou is a young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John
Flaming Bullets
1945-10-14
Bullets fly as the Texas rangers fight an outlaw gang.
Starlight Over Texas
1938-09-06
Tex has been sent to investigate the theft of government provisions along the border. Kildare is the
The Desperados Are in Town
1956-11-01
In this western, a young man tries to walk the straight and narrow, but he is impeded by his past. T
Murder by Invitation
1941-06-30
The relatives of a rich old woman unsuccessfully try to have her declared insane, so they can divide
Lightnin' Crandall
1937-03-24
Cowboy with a reputation as the fastest gun in Texas heads to Arizona to leave his past behind, but
The Dawn Patrol
1930-07-10
World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is promote
I Love My Wife BUT!
1947-04-05
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, a husband endures the trials of being married to a wife with irr
A Wife's Life
1950-09-01
In this comedic Pete Smith Specialty short, average housewife Mrs. George T. Hardnose's day is recal
I Love My Mother-In-Law But...
1948-02-07
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, a series of vignettes illustrate some ways that mothers-in-law i
Cash Stashers
1953-08-29
This Pete Smith Specialty short shows, humorously, the disastrous results when people save their mon
I Love Children, But!
1952-12-27
A Pete Smith specialty.
Just What I Needed
1955-04-15
Harry Horseknuckle tries to figure out what to do with some strange and unwanted gifts.
The Man Around the House
1955-01-01
A humorous look at some typical housework troubles that may arise. A Pete Smith Specialty short.
Rasputin and the Empress
1932-12-23
The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russ
Wrong Way Butch
1950-09-02
This Pete Smith Specialty short was produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor. Using
You Can't Win
1948-05-29
In this comedic Pete Smith Specialty short film, a homeowner experiences a series of mishaps while t
Do Someone a Favor!
1954-04-10
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, a friendly do-gooder's good deeds backfire.
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time includi
Just Suppose
1948-07-17
An off-camera narrator takes us through various scenarios of "just suppose". First we watch what wou
Reducing
1952-03-22
Pete Smith does his usual mocking observations while the overweight Maxine Gates goes through the tr
Have You Ever Wondered?
1947-12-13
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, answers are sought regarding some things people may have wondere
Victory Quiz
1942-05-09
A short film where viewers are given 10 or 15 seconds to answer questions about the United States an
Calling All Pa's
1942-10-24
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, a new father experiences the trials and tribulations of fatherho
Safety Sleuth
1944-11-25
Demonstrates how accidents happen when proper safety devices are neglected.
King of the Stallions
1942-09-18
Both Indians and cowboys are after a beautiful stallion, the leader of a pack of wild horses.
Treasures from Trash
1946-06-08
This short film presents an unusual Beverly Hills store called the Patio Shop, where trash is turned
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964-09-02
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
70,000 Witnesses
1932-09-09
College football player is asked to dope a star teammate by his crooked gambler brother. He refuses,
Ship Cafe
1935-11-09
The singing stoker and the vamp.
Seventh Column
1943-07-31
This humorous short film shows how carelessness and accidents can harm the war effort, and steps on
Kiss Me Kate
1953-11-26
A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of
Wanted - A Master
1936-12-26
A dog living in a junkyard learns that all stray dogs will be exterminated by 3 o'clock that afterno
No More Ladies
1935-06-14
A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous.
Sportsman's Memories
1944-04-22
Filmmaker Pete Smith is very protective of the trophies and other mementos associated with his films
Tennessee Champ
1954-03-03
A boxer desperate for money falls in with a shady promoter.
The Yanks Are Coming
1942-11-09
A popular band joins the army with the idea of putting on shows for troops overseas. During rehearsa
She Married Her Boss
1935-09-19
A super-efficient secretary at a department store falls for and marries her boss, but finds out that
Madam Satan
1930-09-20
A socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband during a costum
What About Daddy?
1942-02-28
The trials and tribulations of a husband as his pregnant wife gets closer to the delivery date.
Devil and the Deep
1932-08-12
Naval commander Charles Sturm has made life miserable for his wife Diana due to his insane jealousy
Music in the Air
1934-12-13
A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead rol
The World Changes
1933-11-25
Generational saga tracing the events in the lives of the midwest pioneering Nordholm family, as seen