J. Pat O'Malley Movies
The background of Irish-born comic actor J. Pat O'Malley has frequently been misreported in source books because his credits have been confused with those of silent film star Pat O'Malley. J. Pat started out in the British musical halls, then came to the U.S. at the outbreak of WWII. Achieving radio fame for his versatile voicework, O'Malley carried over this talent into the world of animated cartoons, providing a multitude of vocal characterizations in such Disney cartoon features as Alice in Wonderland (1951) and 101 Dalmatians (1961), among others. The portly, leprechaunish O'Malley essayed on-camera character parts in films like Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Mary Poppins (1965). He was a near-habitual TV guest star, with appearances in several fondly remembered Twilight Zone episodes; he also worked extensively on Broadway. J. Pat O'Malley had regular roles on the TV sitcoms Wendy and Me (1964) and A Touch of Grace (1973). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1982
In the first episode of Taxi's two-part season-four finale, Elaine (Marilu Henner) mulls over the opportunity to leave the Sunshine Cab Company for a job in Seattle. This inspires the other cabbies to recall the pivotal moments in their own lives. Louie (Danny DeVito) remembers his ascension from driver to dispatcher; Tony (Tony Danza) recollects the moment that he was offered big bucks to take a dive; and Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) harks back to his days of cogency -- and cleanliness -- as a Harvard undergrad (Jim's druggie roomate is played by none other than Tom Hanks). ~ All Movie Guide
- 1981
After a particularly bitter argument with her divorced mother, teenager Libby Bellow (Mare Winningham) runs away from home. Eventually, she links up with a traveling carnival and takes on a variety of responsibilities, in so doing coming to the realization that her life at home might not have been so bad after all. In addition to serving as an early showcase for actress Mare Winningham, this made-for-TV film also features a number of original songs by Janis Ian. Freedom was originally telecast by ABC on May 18, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This fact-based made-for-television drama tells the story of nurse Joy Ufemal and her invaluable work with those dying of incurable diseases. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
A policeman masquerades as a homeless alcoholic and teams up with a bag lady, who is really a college professor, to bring a drug lord's assassin to justice in this memorable made-for-television drama. Along the way, the two disparate partners find themselves falling in love. The story is based upon Richard Barth's novel The Rag Bag Clan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1980
A group of old-time bootleggers called the Ridge Raiders regroup after forty years to prevent Boss Hogg from financially depleting a senior-citizens center in order to build a nudie bar called the "Play Pen." Level-headed Jesse Duke (Denver Pyle) advises the gun- and bomb-happy Ridge Raiders to fight Boss with the Law rather than with violence, but old habits die hard. James Hampton appears as temporary sheriff Buster Moon, the last in a long line of replacements for regular sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (actor James Best was still "sitting out" the series, protesting working conditions). This episode was written by Si Rose and directed by Hollingworth Morse, who had previously collaborated on the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Quincy (Jack Klugman) receives an urgent call from his friend Rosey Grier (playing himself), who is currently running Giant Step, a city-funded remedial program for delinquents. One of Grier's charges, troubled teenager Victor Garn (Todd Davis), has been accused of murdering an old man, and the program is in danger of being closed down. Rosey hopes that Quincy can prove the boy's innocence: trouble is, Quincy has already signed off on the case and established the boy's guilt. The challenge now is to establish that Victor is not a murderer, but instead acted in self-defense. This episode was originally scheduled to air on December 23, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Hired by Dr. Eric Albach (Larry Linville) to find the doctor's missing wife Tracy (Corinne Michaels), Jim is confused by Albach's seeming lack of concern over whether Tracy is brought back dead or alive--or at all. In fact, the farther Jim gets away from solving the woman's disappearance, the more money Albach lavishes upon him. It turns out that Albach is using Jim as the unwitting guinea pig in an elaborate behavioral experiment...and by the time Jim figures this out, a murder has been committed and an aging movie star (J. Pat O'Malley) has been sucked into the intrigue! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Just before they end their shift, the Rampart emergency team is summoned to an apartment house which has been struck by a jet liner. Elsewhere, nurse Dixie (Julie London) administers some T.L.C. on the worried husband (J. Pat O'Malley) of an elderly patient (Florence Lake); another man suffers multiple cardiac arrests within a disturbingly short space of time; and Roy (Kevin Tighe) and John (Randolph Mantooth) try to separate the brawlers in a bar fight. And in a chucklesome subplot, Chet (Tim Donnelly) refuses to rest until he has rid the station house of a pesky rodent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Victimized by one of Chet's (Tim Donnelly) practical jokes, John (Randolph Mantooth) maps out a sweet revenge. The rest of the Rampart team is kept busy with Old Bill, a chronic "faker" who continually figures out ways to get checked into the hospital in order to entertain the kiddie patients--and who has suffered a real medical crisis at home. Also, a child swallows ant poison; another youngster is trapped in a treehouse by a fire; and a woman's efforts to keep her husband quiet end in disaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Banacek was the two-hour pilot film for the 1972-74 detective series starring George Peppard. The cigar-smoking, aphorism-spouting Peppard plays T. Banacek, Polish/American investigator for a major Boston insurance company. Independently wealthy, Banacek will only accept cases that have been deemed "unsolvable" by all previous investigators. In this pilot episode, Banacek tackles the case of a Brink's-truck hijacking in the middle of a Texas roadway. The truck and its costly cargo has seemingly vanished into thin air, and the cops are stymied. But with Banacek on the case, we learn that the whole affair was an elaborately orchestrated inside job. The subsequent Banacek series was a component of The NBC Wednesday Movie. The pilot film has been reissued to TV as Detour to Nowhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, Christine Belford, (more)
- 1972
Sharon Gless makes one of her first TV appearances as Sheila Thomas, an undercover police deputy investigating a series of thefts at Ramparts. Assisting Sheila in her inquiries is paramedic John Gage (Randolph Mantooth, who is quite smitten by the lady. Elsewhere, an old man (Paul Fix) suffering from dementia is trapped in a burning house; a grandfather (J. Pat O'Malley) is injured while showing his grandson how to operate a model rocket; and a boat thief is trapped on a drilling-platform mechanism. Finally, the station mascot "Boots" reappears just as mysteriously as he'd disappeared a few episodes back--and the dog apparently has a new agenda. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside (Raymond Burr) works in concert with attorney Ken Klaven (Cameron Mitchell) to secure the release of Walter Booth (William Campbell), whom the Chief had sent to prison on a manslaughter charge seven years before. Though now convinced of Booth's innocence, Ironside encounters a great deal of trouble persuading the DA's office. The Chief's only hope is to force a young woman to come forward with testimony she'd withheld during the original trial--but there are mysterious forces who are determined to silence both Ironside and his witness for keeps! Prominent in the supporting cast is Geraldine Brooks, who had played the sniper responsible for the Chief's confinement to a wheelchair in the original 1967 Ironside pilot film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In the first half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Ironside (Raymond Burr) begins to question his judgment in a manslaughter case which occurred seven years ago. At the time, the Chief rammed through the conviction of chief suspect Walter Booth (William Campbell). Now armed with new evidence, Ironside works hand and glove with Booth's attorney Ken Klaven (Cameron Mitchell) to secure the man's release--despite the formidable opposition of the DA's office, which is determined to keep Booth behind bars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Londoners Leslie and Gillian Harwood (Daniel Massey and Jill Haworth) arrive in Nevada to take charge of a ranch on behalf of a British investment firm-and immediately mistake the Ponderosa for the ranch in question. Thus, the Cartwrights become involved in the couple's travails, attempting to find out why the property managed by the Harwoods is regularly losing cattle and profits. In the course of events, the veddy British Leslie slowly but surely evolves into a true-blue westerner. Written by Stanley Roberts, "The Reluctant American" originally aired on February 14, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, (more)
- 1971
Racial prejudice plays an ironic role in this episode, as Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) answer a number of day-watch calls. Among the miscreants facing arrest at the hands of the two cops are an elusive armed-robbery suspect and a female hitchhiker who specialize in blackmailing unwary male motorists. Also, Jim and Pete have their hands full with a wino suffering from grotesque hallucinations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Skin Game was historically significant as the 2000th film produced by Warner Bros. studios. The film is a comedy western starring James Garner and Louis Gossett Jr. as a pair of clever Antebellum con men. Garner regularly "sells" the black Gossett into slavery for an exalted price, then "liberates" Gossett so that they can move on to the next sucker. Unfortunately, they outsmart themselves, and before long Gossett seems doomed to a lifetime of forced servitude. They are rescued by pretty pickpocket Susan Clark, who has a few surprises in store for them. Skin Game was supposed to be spun off into a TV series, but the project never got any farther than the 1974 pilot film Sidekicks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Once again pulling holiday duty at Christmastime, mobile officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) have a great deal of difficulty locating any sort of Yuletide cheer on the streets of LA. For starters, the two cops are summoned to a robbery scene, where they find that the victim is an old duffer in a Santa Claus suit (resulting in the arrest of another ersatz Santa). Elsewhere, Pete and Jim conduct an extensive search for a small East Indian boy (Tom Nasheboo) who has vanished--a crisis that bears a marked resemblance to one of the most famous Christmas episodes of Adam-12's "sister" series Dragnet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Officers Reed (Kent McCord) and Malloy (Martin Milner) have their hands full with a boisterous female alcoholic named Mae Pilaf (Norma Crane). After breaking up a barroom brawl in which Mae is involved, the two cops are summoned to an apartment where a shooting has occurred--and run into old Mae all over again. Can she be rehabilitated, or should Reed and Malloy just give Mae up as a bad job and move on to the next call? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Involved in a very minor traffic accident, Tony ends up in court, facing a lawsuit from the other driver (Kay E. Kuter), who is faking a variety of serious injuries in hopes of winning an enormous settlement. Despite a hostile judge (J. Pat O'Malley) and an incompetent defense attorney (a pre-Bewitched Dick Sargent), Tony insists that he does not need Jeannie's help in winning the case. This, of course, doesn't stop Jeannie (Barbara Eden) from pulling a spell or two from her voluminous bag of tricks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The seventh and final season of Petticoat Junction begins as Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning), her husband Steve (Mike Minor) and their infant daughter Kathy Jo move back into the Shady Rest Hotel while looking for a new home of their own. The Bradley girls' pet dog (played by Higgins of "Benjy" fame), accustomed to having plenty of attention lavished upon him, doesn't like playing second fiddle to a baby girl. In fact, he dislikes it so much that he runs away and goes "on the bum" with an elderly vagabond (J. Pat O'Malley). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Returning from their Hooterville holiday, Granny and Elly May arrive in Beverly Hills to discover that both Mr. Drysdale -- and Elly's pet bear -- are nowhere to be found. It seems that Drysdale, with bear in tow, had set out for Hooterville to meet the Clampett ladies, unaware that his car carried a generous supply of Granny's white lightning. And now, the bemused banker is languishing in a rustic jail, arrested for vagrancy and bootlegging. "Drysdale and Friend" originally aired on January 1, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
J. Pat O'Malley plays Captain Barnaby, a self-styled "ancient mariner" who boldly embarks upon a 1000-mile sea voyage. There's only one slight problem: The Captain has never been on the ocean in his life! Sr. Bertrille tags along to make certain that Barnaby's secret remains a secret-and to insure his safe return. Written by Bernard Slade, "The Sister and the Old Salt" was first networkcast on February 8, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In the opening episode of I Dream of Jeannie's fourth season, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) stows away when Tony (Larry Hagman) and Roger (Bill Daily) are assigned to test a top-secret NASA spacecraft, which is shaped like a saucer. Alas, the craft crashlands in hillbilly country, whereupon a couple of gun-totin' rubes (Kathleen Freeman, J. Pat O'Malley) capture Tony, Roger and Jeannie, intending to collect a huge reward for bagging some genuine "Martians". But wait, there's more: Jeannie is unconscious, and can't use her magic to rescue herself or the others! The part of hillbilly gal Daisy Lou is played by Lisa Gaye, who previously costarred with Barbara Eden in the 1950s sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
This episode of Green Acres was cunningly timed to air just before the 1968 presidential elections. Upset over the do-nothing record of incumbent state representative Ben Hanks (J. Pat O'Malley), Oliver (Eddie Albert) angrily declares that there is more to being a good politician than handing out gifts, slapping backs and kissing babies. The result: Oliver ends up running against Hanks on the "reform" ticket. Skip Young, best known as the goofy Wally on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, is here cast as an equally goofy campaign worker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Foulk, J. Pat O'Malley, (more)
- 1968
Bea Benaderet(Kate Bradley) does not appear in this episode, in which budding singer Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae) cuts her first record album. Billie's new agent Ted Swift (Del Moore) aggressively promotes the album with a gaudy--and fraudulent--publicity campaign centering on the girl's home town of Hooterville--whereupon the townsfolk enter into the spirit of things by inflating and misrepresenting the town's role in American history. Meredith MacRae sings "Good-bye Love". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
