Patrick O'Neal (1927)

 Early life

O'Neal was born in Ocala, Florida to Martha and Coke Wisdom O'Neal. He was a graduate of the University of Florida in Gainesville. During World War II, he directed short training films while in the Air Force. After his military stint, he moved to New York and studied at the Actor's Studio and Neighborhood Playhouse.

 Career

O'Neal was seen mostly as a guest star on US television throughout four decades, beginning in the 1950s. In the early 1960s he received critical praise for his leading role on Broadway in Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana but lost the starring role for the 1964 film version to Richard Burton. O'Neal appeared in several films of the mid-1960s and, in 1969, had a leading role in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter.

With his wife and his brother Michael, O'Neal co-owned a number of successful restaurants, including the Ginger Man (later O'Neal's Restaurant) and the Landmark Tavern, both in Manhattan.

 Personal life

O'Neal married actress Cynthia Baxter in 1956. They had two sons, Maximilian and Fitzjohn. Suffering from cancer and tuberculosis, O'Neal died on September 9, 1994 of respiratory failure at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in New York City. He was 66 years old.

Maximilian currently resides in Key West, Florida, and Fitzjohn is the owner of a restoration company in Boulder, Colorado.