Jack O'Brian
Jack O'Brian | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Dennis Patrick O'Brian August 16, 1914 |
| Died | November 5, 2000 (aged 86) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist for Buffalo Courier-Express, Associated Press, New York Journal American, WOR |
John Dennis Patrick O'Brian (August 16, 1914 – November 5, 2000) was an American entertainment journalist best known for his longtime role as a television critic for New York Journal American.[1]
Career
A supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy, O'Brian wrote a series of red-baiting attacks on CBS News and WCBS TV reporter Don Hollenbeck, accusing him of having Communist sympathies. These attacks were a major factor in Hollenbeck's eventual suicide in 1954, and are referenced in the 1986 film Murrow as well as in the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck and its Broadway adaptation.[2][3]
After the death in November 1965 of Dorothy Kilgallen, his colleague at the Journal American, O'Brian took over her Voice of Broadway column at the paper.[4]
Personal life and death
O'Brian was married to Yvonne Johnston, who died in 1996. They had two daughters, Bridget and Kate O'Brian, who was president of Al Jazeera America.[5]
References
- ^ Ortega, Tony (April 11, 2008). "Steve Allen on Jack O'Brian". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ CBS's Don Hollenbeck : an honest reporter in the age of McCarthyism. 2008.
- ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (17 October 2008). "Remembering a Forgotten Newsman". The New York Times.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (November 8, 2000). "Jack O'Brian, 86, Columnist Of the Entertainment World". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ "It's Summertime". New York Social Diary. July 24, 2013. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
External links
- *"The Man with the Popular Mind". Time. November 20, 1964. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
- Finding aid to the Jack O’Brian papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.