Hugh O'Brian

'Hugh O'Brian' (qv) had the term "beefcake" written about him during his nascent film years in the early 1950s, but he chose to avoid the obvious typecast as he set up his career.O'Brian was born Hugh Charles Krampe on April 19, 1925, in Rochester, New York, to Ohio-born parents Edith Lillian (Marks) and Hugh John Krampe, a United States Marine Corps officer. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants, while his mother was of half German Jewish and half English/Scottish descent. O'Brian first attended school at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, then Kemper Military School in Booneville, Missouri. Moving from place to place growing up, he managed to show off his athletic prowess quite early. By the time he graduated from high school, he had lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track. Originally pursuing law, he dropped out of the University of Cincinnati in 1942 (age 19) and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Upon his discharge he ended up in Los Angeles. Hugh 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' (qv), which opened the door to his signing with Universal Studios for films.Hugh's gentlemanly ruggedness, similar to a 'James Garner' (qv) or a 'Gene Barry' (qv), was ideal for pictures, and his lean physique and exceptionally photographic mug had the modest, brown-eyed, curly-haired looker plastered all over the movie magazines. He rebelled against the image for the most part and, 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 standard action pictures such as _The Return of Jesse James (1950)_ (qv), _The Cimarron Kid (1952)_ (qv), _The Battle at Apache Pass (1952)_ (qv), _Red Ball Express (1952)_ (qv), _Son of Ali Baba (1952)_ (qv), _The Lawless Breed (1952)_ (qv), _Seminole (1953)_ (qv), _Saskatchewan (1954)_ (qv) and _Drums Across the River (1954)_ (qv). It was 'Rock Hudson' (qv) who earned all of the Universal glamour guy roles and the out-and-out stardom that could easily have been Hugh's. In 1954, he left Universal to freelance but did not fare any better with more serviceable roles in _White Feather (1955)_ (qv) and _The Twinkle in God's Eye (1955)_ (qv).Hugh finally earned top status in the "B" action adventure _The Brass Legend (1956)_ (qv) but it did little to advance his film career. Offered the starring role in _The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955)_ (qv) 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, replacing 'Andy Griffith' (qv) for a week in the musical "Destry Rides Again" in January of 1960.The hirsutely handsome bachelor remained a durable talent throughout the 60s and 70s with plentiful work on the big screen, including _Come Fly with Me (1963)_ (qv), _Love Has Many Faces (1965)_ (qv), _Ten Little Indians (1965)_ (qv), _Ambush Bay (1966)_ (qv), _Africa: Texas Style (1967)_ (qv), _Strategy of Terror (1969)_ (qv), 'John Wayne' (qv)'s last film _The Shootist (1976)_ (qv), and 'Bruce Lee' (qv)'s last film _Game of Death (1978)_ (qv), as well as with the TV-movies _Wild Women (1970)_ (qv), _Harpy (1971)_ (qv), _Murder on Flight 502 (1975)_ (qv), _Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977)_ (qv), _Murder at the World Series (1977)_ (qv), _Cruise Into Terror (1978)_ (qv). He also starred in the crime adventure series _Search (1972)_ (qv), but never got the one role to earn the critical attention he merited. In addition, he kept busy on the summer stock circuit.In later years, he appeared in the 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' (qv)/'Danny DeVito' (qv) comedy _Night Friend (1988)_ (qv); returned as "Wyatt Earp" in the TV movies _The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991)_ (qv) and _Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994)_ (qv); and made guest appearances on such TV shows as "Fantasy Island," "The Love Boat," "Matt Houston," "Murder, She Wrote," "L.A. Law" and made his last on-camera appearance on the series "Call of the Wild" in 2000.A sports enthusiast, his hobbies included sailing, tennis, swimming and long-distance bicycling, and his many philanthropic efforts did not go unrecognized. His proudest achievement was the 'Hugh O'Brian' (qv) Youth Leadership (HOBY), which he founded in 1958 after spending considerable time with Dr. 'Albert Schweitzer' (qv) and his clinic in Africa. Struck by the impassioned work being done by Schweitzer, O'Brian set up his own program to help develop young people into future leaders. O'Brian was awarded honorary degrees by several prestigious institutions of higher learning. The perennial bachelor finally "settled down" and tied the knot at age 81 with longtime companion Virginia Barber, who was close to three decades his junior. They lived in his Benedict Canyon home.Hugh died on September 5, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California, of natural causes.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net