Biography: Born in Rochester, New York, actor Hugh O'Brian had 50s "beefcake" written all over him, but chose to avoid the obvious typecast when setting up his career. Hugh moved from place to place growing up while showing off his athletic prowess quite early. By the time he graduated from high school he had lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track. He enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 18, th ... show all Born in Rochester, New York, actor Hugh O'Brian had 50s "beefcake" written all over him, but chose to avoid the obvious typecast when setting up his career. Hugh moved from place to place growing up while showing off his athletic prowess quite early. By the time he graduated from high school he had lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track. He enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 18, then ended up in Los Angeles upon his discharge. He joined a little theater group and a Santa Barbara stock company where he developed his acting chops and slowly built up his résumé. He was discovered for TV by director/actress Ida Lupino which opened the door to his signing with Universal Studios for films. Hugh's lean, rugged physique and exceptionally photographic mug had the modest, brown-eyed, curly-haired looker all over the movie magazines, but he rebelled against the image for the most part. As a result, his years with Universal were not as fruitful as they could have been. For the duration, he was pretty much confined as a secondary player to mediocre action pictures such as "Red Ball Express (1952)", "Son of Ali Baba (1952)" and "Seminole (1953)". It was Rock Hudson who earned all the Universal glamour guy roles and the out-and-out stardom that could have been Hugh's. In 1954, Hugh left Universal to freelance but did not fare any better until offered the starring role in _"Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The" (1955)_ on TV a year later. It became a mainstay hit and Hugh an `overnight' star. During his six-year run on the western classic, he managed to show off his singing talents on variety shows and appeared on Broadway. The handsome bachelor remained a durable talent throughout the 60s and 70s with plentiful work on the summer stock stage and on TV, including the series "Search" (1972)", but never got the one role to earn the critical attention he merited. A sports enthusiast, his hobbies have included sailing, tennis, swimming and long-distance bicycling and his many philanthropic efforts have not gone unrecognized. hide |
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