Actress Eileen O'Neill

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EILEEN O'NEILL - ACTRESS

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Header text	Header text
Born	Eileen T O'Neill, Friday 3rd July 1939
Nationality	US Citizen
Occupations	Model, TV and Film actress, Performer, Writer, Charity Fund Raiser
Active Years in Show-business	1958-1973
Activities	Early career - Beauty contestant, Product endorsement modelling: Show-business career - TV and Film Actress: Later career - Real estate, Writer, Charity Fundraiser
Spouses	William D Holmes 1961-1964: Richard J. Barich 1973-1997
Children/ Step-Children/ Adopted Children	unknown

Extracts of interviews from the stated source materials made in this article are only for continuity of events and dates. They are not intended to infringe or breach author copyright/s which are fully acknowledged.

EARLY LIFE

Born in Philadelphia on 3rd July 1939 to parents Mary and Harry O’Neill, with sister Dolores. Her mother was a former product publicity model and her father a city bus driver. The family lived in the city suburbs. Three year old Eileen's first 'public appearance' was when she was picked up by the police in a shopping centre having become lost. The amounts of war-time ice cream and candy she received that day while being looked after (by a technical child vagrancy charge), may well have started her attraction to stardom. She was drawn to the film and entertainment worlds at an early age when taken to the movies by her mother. “My mother was a huge movie fan and took me to practically every movie that was ever made” she later said. “I would sit there from the time when I couldn’t even see over the seats and started to project myself up there on the screen”. During her high school years (1953-57) she enrolled in the Philadelphia School of Modelling and Charm, and they began entering her into the beauty contest pageant circuit. She then pursued an opening which led to her first appearance on a locally televised TV programme, The Joe Pyne Show. Pyne, an advocate of the genre of confrontational TV presenters was noted for his argumentative and abrasive manners to both invited guests, and studio audience members. On occasion this escalated to guests being thrown off his show or ejected from the audiences. As the programme aired, the show’s home audiences could call in with their comments or questions, and it was fledgling presenter Eileen O’Neill’s job to note the calls and then select some to read on-air. This job lasted for about a year at which point she decided to move to California in 1959 to pursue an acting career. Her only problem with this plan was that she hadn’t told her parents or obtained their permission, as she intended to make the move permanent. Thus, at 20, the (legally under-aged) beauty contestant, model, and aspiring actress arrived in California without parental permission and began looking for work. Her first TV commercial allowed her to enrol for acting lessons and begin her career. She also attended Columbia Pictures drama school.

MODELLING AND ADVERTISING CAREER

In her early show-business years Eileen O’Neill maintained both beauty contest and modelling careers when regular television and film work was intermittent. Within her first week of arriving in California in 1959 she was chosen for a Pepsi commercial primarily aimed at the new emerging youth culture, while in April of that year she was chosen as the State of Pennsylvania’s “Miss Rally Round the Flag Boys” to open that year’s State Bond campaign. In April 1960 she came second in the Miss Los Angeles Press Photographers Contest. (The winner was 19 year old Darlene Tompkins, future Hollywood actress only entered onto the beauty contest circuits by her mother to help overcome her shyness.) In one contest Eileen O’Neill apparently won the title ‘Miss 512th Troop Carrier Wing’ - such was the beauty contest circuit. Obtaining minor television parts, she then made appearances in three TV series;- The Roaring Twenties, 77 Sunset Strip, and Guestward Ho! in 1961. Having made those appearances she then decided to take time off to study full time with a drama coach, saying that she knew she wasn’t ready then to take on any main roles. Following this she went to India for two months to work on a documentary film on tiger hunting, and newly married to her first husband. In January 1963 she attended dance classes hosted by entertainer Eartha Kitt. Other attendees included Joi Lansing, Karen Dolin, Jeannie Said, Bobbie Adair, Marge Meade, and Barbara Wiener. Class proceeds were donated to Syanon House, a non-profit organization in nearby Santa Monica, dedicated to the drug addicts rehabilitation. Travelling onto New York, she was then selected as one of the 6 finalists in the 1963 Miss Rheingold contest. Sponsored by the New York State beer manufacturer of the same name, this national contest was a major event on the beauty pageant circuit. Here she met and became close friends with fellow contestant, future actress and later Vietnam Veterans’ campaigner Chris Noel;- a friendship which survives to this day. By the end of that year, together with 1962’s reigning Rheingold Queen and future actress Kathy Kersh, all three girls roomed together in New York. In 1964 Eileen O’Neill relocated back to Beverly Hills rent-sharing a neoclassical house with Chris Noel and two other actresses (unidentified) and continued her modelling and product endorsement work. Her range of adverts included such diverse consumer products as garden furniture and wall shelving, weight gain supplements, through to ladies wigs, and high end cosmetics. This last category included one advertising campaign which, at the time, was considered the most costly and time consuming to date. In utilising the 1960’s boom of spy genre popularity for their 1966 product launch, international cosmetics brand Max Factor marketed their 005 Sheer Genius makeup range. The campaign ran individual advert scenes based on a chase and pursuit story of a suave female using the product harried by enemy agents attempting to steal its secrets. By necessity, TV adverts are produced as rapidly as possible for product release dates and marketing budgets, however 1966’s Max Factor 005 Sheer Genius TV campaign consumed many days of shooting. In the storyline Eileen O’Neill’s character is pursued in high speed luxury car chases, in and around exclusive properties, exotic locations, utilising luxury themes with the product’s tag line covering each scenario. Depending on how the basis of inflation is calculated, this campaign might still hold the record for time and money resources.(citation needed).

FILM, TELEVISION AND SITCOM APPEARANCES

In 1961 Eileen O’Neill made her screen debut in the Warner Bros. Mervyn LeRoy directed film, A Majority of One starring Rosalind Russell. This debut was quickly followed by a minor role in the United Artists teenage oriented film Teenage Millionaire, playing the role of the socially superior and disdainful Desidieria in counterpart to Barbara ‘Bambi’ Price (Diane Jergens’) role. The film doubled as a performance platform for a number of 1960’s emerging and established US pop singers. Filming of the regular musical interludes was presented in a hued colour process called Musicolor;- effectively presenting the performances in shades of a single coloured hue, contrasting with the film’s black and white storyline. 1963 provided Eileen O’Neill with a minor appearance in the Warner Bros, Robert Aldrich directed film, 4 for Texas with Frank Sinatra. It was also the year she landed her best remembered and recurring TV role as Sgt. Gloria Ames, in the Aaron Spelling created and produced Burke’s Law, for Four Star Television. The show ran for two seasons spanning September 1963 to August 1965. Filmed in black and white the series centred on the cases and adventures of Capt. Amos Burke (Gene Barry) as a millionaire detective in the Los Angeles Police Force who, with his small recurring team solves homicide cases, with each episode showcasing invited guests as the suspects. The reported story on how Spelling selected Eileen O’Neill for her role relates that he first saw her walking across a production set and said to his crew ‘Whoever she is I’ve found my Sgt. Ames’. While possible, no tangible data can be traced. However, it is noteworthy and very telling that Eileen O’Neill had to audition, repeatedly, for her part to satisfy Spelling who then replaced the original actress following the episode titled 'Who killed Holly Howard?' Despite a storyline with two scenes of minor spoken dialogue that actress was not credited, which in the more unionised and ridged conventions of end-credits of the era was strikingly unusual. IMDb continues noting the Holly Howard episode with the text “Eileen O’Neill … Sgt. Gloria Ames … (uncredited)” in its cast schedule. These circumstances tend to support a view that Spelling wanted fill the Sgt. Ames character with a talented actress having movie training who could develop her role in the series without using extensive dialogue at the expense of the invited guest stars in the available showtime. Of her role and the series itself she later commented “My character was the only female on the show. I had to audition and audition to get this role.” and later “I could learn from so many seasoned actors who had years and years of experience. I felt I was having additional acting schooling in my environment of work”. According to a 1964 interview with Pageant magazine her charms worked in real life too when she managed to talk her way out a parking ticket from a Beverly Hills Patrolman. Following it’s second series, Burke’s Law was reformulated for a wider international background of storylines, with its star Gene Barry transformed into Amos Burke Secret Agent, attempting to capture the popularity of the spy genre of the time. This reformatting was not the fully hoped for success and lasted only one series, with Gene Barry reuniting with her for an episode titled 'Or No Tomorrow' (1965). Because of her developed deftness in general entertainment and especially comedic roles, Eileen O’Neill made regular guest appearances in television and sitcom shows of the time. These included Bewitched, 1965. The Beverly Hillbillies, 1965. Wendy and Me, 1965. The Smothers Brothers Show, 1966. My Favourite Martian, 1966. Get Smart, 1966. The Munsters, 1966. Batman, 1966. and I Dream of Jeannie, 1967. For many, her two appearances as moll gang member ‘Millie Second’ in the 1966 TV Batman episodes wearing clock-faced earrings remain a firm memory of her comedic talents. Maintaining her acting development she honed her skills further while working with the highly experienced European actor, Walter Slezak, in his guest-role of Clock-King;- saying that they had extensive conversations on acting, and that she appreciated the knowledge you can soak up like a sponge when you have the opportunity to talk to people who are good at what they do. Then followed Operation Entertainment as a regular series member from May 1968 to January 1969. Additionally there were regular guest appearances on The Steve Allen Show, The Tonight Show, and The Red Skelton Hour. Her performing skills and talents gained show-business recognition when she was voted as one of the “Most Promising Personalities of 1966” by casting directors of the five major studios. Operation Entertainment was a TV show aimed at US services personnel and performed at various services venues by different hosts. The show's regulars included a number of musical groups with four core female performers known as The Operation Entertainment Girls;- Eileen O'Neill, Darien Daniels, Marina Gahne and Sivi Alberg. In the era of increasing US domestic strife over the nation’s escalating entanglement in Vietnam this programme with similar shows, and Christmas Specials, brought entertainment to US services personnel providing many with their much wanted reminders of home. One particular show was held aboard the USS Constellation, which had just returned from its tour of duty off the coast of Vietnam, in which Eileen O’Neill noted her audience was particularly enthusiastic. Other film appearances included her role as a doting showgirl in the 1964 Billy Wilder directed Kiss me, Stupid starring Dean Martin. Then in 1965 The Third Day, directed by Jack Smight and starring George Peppard as a temporary amnesiac. The subtle interwoven sub-plots maintain this film’s suspense levels until its final scenes, with Eileen O’Neill playing a side role as Tony Bullit, a socially driven taunting scandal monger on the trail of events. Later that year came a minor background role in Director Tony Richardson’s parody of the US funeral industry in The Loved One, based on the Evelyn Waugh short story. In 1967 Eileen O’Neill featured in the spy parody A Man Called Dagger, directed by Richard Rush, playing the role of Erica opposite secret agent Dick Dagger (Paul Mantee) with co-stars Terry Moore, Jan Murray and Sue Ane Langdon. Some critic reviews over the years were not kind , failing to see Rush’s injected lampooning and irony on the levels to which the mainstream James Bond brand of improbable espionage sagas had by then reached;- per Casino Royale of the same year. Rush’s movie was low-budget and watched carefully some scenery does quiver and expensive external action sequences are limited. “All expense was spared on this epic!” later quipped Sue Ane Langdon. Agent Dick Dagger is therefore limited to only two gadgets, his watch and cigarette case, while O’Neill’s surname was cut to a single ‘l’ by the film credits though correctly noted by publicity materials. Similarly, though one of the main performers, she only appears midway in the film’s credits, oddities she philosophically put down to budget and marketing judgements. Richard Kiel, the future ‘Jaws’ of two later James Bond sagas played the memorable role of the film’s heavy, Otto. In 1970 she made her final film appearance in the Irvin Kershner directed movie Loving, as Cindy, one of the bemused and then shocked party-goers watching the end results of the intoxicated sexual antics of George Segal’s character, Brooks Wilson. The rise of TV competition, and the weakening of the Hollywood studio contract system by the mid 1960’s gave rise to a number of issues including screen nudity. Additionally, new independent film makers, directors, and producers appeared with increasing box-office successes. Performers faced the decision of whether to stay with Agents obtaining their work from a diminishing pool of scope, especially for female artists, or to become totally freelance. The era of censorship which had previously dictated not only performers’ roles but personal lives too, had ended. With the liberalised 1960’s in full throttle the issue of nudity now confronted female performers at all levels. In 1970 Eileen O’Neill was offered a part for the Joseph L. Mankiewicz produced and directed Warner Bros film, There was a Crooked Man, with Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda. The script, as presented to her, included her prison missionary character being ravaged and then stripped by a group of prison inmates, and subsequently running naked into an open floodlit area. A personal moral boundary had been reached and she turned the part down in her stance that she didn’t advocate nudity on film. She commented later “This role was mine and if I had done it things probably would have gone in a different direction for me.” By the time of shooting the role had been amended to that of a schoolteacher left partially clothed, (played by Barbara Rhoades). By today’s standards her decision would not seem one of major concern, but viewed through the prism of that era’s mores and pressures it was very brave. The potential impact for future work essentially placed female performers of the time between the proverbial rock and hard places. The rock being the very real consequences of possibly being labelled ‘difficult’ over the contents of offers, intense competition from perhaps less concerned rivals, plus the ever present media and industry gossip machines, while the hard place was the chronic problem of the reduced roles available to actresses over 30, which still exists.

POST SHOW-BUSINESS YEARS

Following her second marriage in 1973 Eileen O’Neill retired from show business and concentrated on helping her husband with his real estate business. Of her decision she later commented “Sixties actresses were raised in a period of time where a woman’s place was really in the home. That was instilled in us as children”. She progressed with her personal interests in art, clothes design, writing, ceramics, fund-raising, and her consuming passion, international travel. In later years she commented, perhaps prophetically after recent events “It's sad that travel has become as complicated as it has due to world strife and cultural divides.” She has written or contributed to numerous articles about those in the media, sports, and political limelight, including Sir Antony Hopkins, Vidal Sassoon, and California Politician Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. In March 1999 she completed the full 26.2 miles of the Los Angeles Marathon, commenting that “(and) I completed the 26.2 miles and lived to tell the tale. It proves once again what can be achieved when the mind and, in this case, the body becomes properly focused. It's such a basic life lesson. It's not always easy, but perseverance consistently pays off." A prodigious fund raiser as a board and leading committee member of Thalians, an organisation whose celebrity members give their time and effort in supporting worthy causes, particularly mental health, she maintained a special interest in the plight of disturbed children. In honour of her work and financial contributions she received a star on the Thalians Walk of Stars" in 2007 in her correct surname, while their website still records it as O’Neil.

PERSONAL LIFE

When 22, Eileen O’Neill met and subsequently married her first husband William D. Holmes, in September 1961. Holmes, then 35 was a film producer and keen game hunter. Their marriage was annulled in January 1964. In 1973 when 34 she met and married 50 year old attorney and real estate developer Richard John Barich. He died in 1997. Regarded as one of US show businesses’ most pleasant and non-egotistical personalities of the era with twinkling eyes and quiet humour, it was reported some years ago that Eileen O’Neill considered a return to show business with a new agent. However no data on this can be found, and other than appearances at celebrity autograph events and the like, further details are unknown. Web based data from non verifiable source/s being unreliable, the final section is left open for contributors’ verified updates.

FILMOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION

Films: 1961 A Majority of One: Teenage Millionaire 1963 4 for Texas 1964 Kiss Me Stupid 1965 The Third Day: The Loved One 1967 A Man Called Dagger 1970 Loving

Television 34 traced guest appearances in network TV sitcom series during the period April 1961 to January 1974, with additional guest appearances in various TV talk and entertainment broadcasts.

References

With acknowledgements to;- Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema by Tom Lisanti (2010) ISBN 978-0-7864-6101-1: Film Fatales by Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul (2002) ISBN 978-1-4766-6797-3: The Desert Sun, January 1964: Pageant Magazine November 1964: Madera Tribune March 1968:

LINKS

IMDb. glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com; Celeb Life Magazine;

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