William Joseph Patrick "Pat" O'Brien (November 11, 1899 – October 15, 1983) was an
American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played
Irish and
Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in
Knute Rockne, All American (1940),
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and
Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with
Hollywood legend
James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.