I am saddened to learn that the lovely, sophisticated Joan O’Brien passed away on May 5. She was one of the first actresses I ever interviewed and is included in my book, Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema. Joan was part of that cadre of Joan’s (the others being Joan Blackman, Joan Freeman, and Joan Staley) who graced both the big and small screens throughout the 1960s. All four were romanced by Elvis Presley and two of them clowned around with Jerry Lewis while the other two with Don Knotts. O’Brien, though, stood out because she had a charm and vivaciousness and when combined with her beauty and talent, always brightened up any scene she appeared in.
Joan began her career as a vocalist singing with bands, which led to her becoming a regular on Bob Crosby’s daytime variety music program in the mid-1950s. Joan’s beauty and poise caught the attention of Hollywood. She made her film debut in a small MGM programmer Handle with Care (1958) with Dean Jones.
Luck found her way after Tina Louise turned down a lead role opposite Cary Grant in the critically acclaimed, hit military service comedy, Operation Petticoat (1959) also starring Tony Curtis and Dina Merrill. Allegedly, Louise was bothered by the boob jokes, as her busty character had problems passing the seamen in the cramped corridors of a submarine. Joan jumped at the chance and remarked in my book. “I can’t even imagine a young actress at the stage of her career or mine at that particular time refusing a role opposite Cary Grant. First of all, I’ve never seen a bad Cary Grant film. The man had impeccable taste. Second, I was not concerned with the humor or the so-called ‘boob jokes’ in the film because it was all tastefully done. There was nothing vulgar about it and in fact the writers went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for their screenplay.”
Joan is quite amusing as the befuddled nurse causing all sorts of mayhem. New York Magazine described Joan as “luscious” while Variety commented, “O’Brien offers solid support.” On top of her fine notices, the film went on to become the second highest grossing movie of 1959 behind Ben-Hur.
Joan followed up in yet another huge, box office hit, John Wayne’s epic, all-star western The Alamo (1960), which he also directed. She had one of only two major female roles (the other played by Linda Cristal) in this male dominated action flick and, as the mother of a little girl played by John Wayne’s daughter Aissa, was one of the few survivors of the massacre. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture and winning one Oscar for Best Sound.
Commenting on John Wayne, the director, Joan said, “John Wayne was just getting his feet wet … He knew how to stage scenes and what to do with the camera, the lighting, and positioning his actors. But he wasn’t very good getting an emotional draw from an actor. Which is unusual because when an actor directs, they usually handle other actors extremely well. I didn’t feel any frustration with him because I felt that my character was truly defined. He also seemed at times somewhat abrupt and impatient with some individuals. I think one of the reasons for that was The Alamo was a project of enormous magnitude. He not only starred in it but also produced and directed it. He had a lot riding on this film. And when you also have money invested in it sometimes it is very difficult to be charming. However, Wayne was never rude with me.”
Aissa liked Joan so much that she asked her father to cast her again as her mother in his very popular western The Comancheros (1961) co-starring Stuart Whitman and Ina Balin. This was Joan’s third huge box office hit in a row. Joan was also very active on TV during this period as well. Very versatile, she could be seen on westerns (Bronco, The Deputy, Bat Masterson, Wagon Train), dramas (M Squad, Markham, The Islanders, Adventures in Paradise, Surfside Six, Bus Stop), and sitcoms (Bringing Up Buddy, Bachelor Father, The Dick Van Dyke Show).
Back on the silver screen, she had a very busy 1962 appearing in the Philippines-set adventure film Samar with George Montgomery and Gilbert Roland; the western Six Black Horses with Audie Murphy and Dan Duryea; and the British comedy We Joined the Navy with Kenneth More.
She ended the year as Jerry Lewis’s leading lady in one of his better received comedies, It’s Only Money. She played a nurse to rich matron Mae Questal trying to help Jerry’s inept detective look for her missing heir. Guess who that turns out to be? Joan fondly recalled, “Jerry Lewis was totally off the wall and we had a lot of fun working on this film. He had me laughing so hard and so long during some scenes we had to stop and start over. We wasted a lot of time and money just cutting up and laughing. He was such a practical joker and had all of us including our director, Frank Tashlin, in stitches. You never knew what Jerry was going to do next.”
In 1963, she once again was cast as a gorgeous nurse who plays hard to get in the hit Elvis Presley musical, It Happened at the World’s Fair. She was the second Joan, after Joan Blackman twice, to be chosen as Elvis’s leading lady. Pilot Elvis loves a challenge and pursues Joan while babysitting a friend’s young daughter at the Fair.
Joan was immediately introduced to Elvis Mania and explained, “When I arrived at the World’s Fair, I saw Elvis whom I had never met before over the heads of all these people. You talk about crowds! It was unbelievable. People everywhere! After we finished the first morning’s sequences, they had an electric car for Elvis and me to use. They had to set up barricades and use hundreds of policemen to hold back the crowds just to get us out of there. We then went for lunch to some building that had this huge empty exhibition hall. They dropped us off, locked the door, and posted more policemen outside.” Joan got to know Elvis very well during the film’s shoot. He told her all about his stint in the service and his experiences in Europe. And he was still at the point where he hadn’t become disenchanted making movies.
Joan’s big screen career then ended abruptly after playing a hip professor who teaches her coeds (Mary Ann Mobley, Nancy Sinatra, and Chris Noel) the art of the Wah-Watusi in the teenage musical comedy, Get Yourself a College Girl (1964). Joan purposely slowed down after that. Four tumultuous marriages that produced two children, a suicide attempt, and other stresses took its toll. After making a few more TV appearances (The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Perry Mason, Valentine’s Day), O’Brien retired from acting to concentrate on her singing career and went back to touring with the Harry James Orchestra.
Soon after, she gave that up as well and went into hotel management. She remarried a fifth time in 1979 and that proved to be a charm, as she was with her husband until his passing in 2004.