EUGENE O'BRIEN

Eugene O'Brien was born Louis O'Brien in 1880 and tried many professions before getting into stage acting in 1902. He did not achieve stardom until 1909, and was championed by Charles Frohman, who gave him the lead in many plays. He started making movies in 1915, and was quickly in demand as the male co-star for the top female actresses, including Mary Pickford. He made 11 films with Norma Talmadge, and it was strongly rumored that this was because her husband, Joseph Schenck, who owned her studio, was insanely jealous, and he wanted O'Brien for her co-star because O'Brien was a closeted homosexual, but that was never proven. O'Brien kept acting until 1928, and he then retired, at the age of 47. He lived a very reclusive life in Hollywood, never marrying. He passed away in 1966 at the age of 85, and he was buried next to his parents and his brothers in Boulder, Colorado.