Oh, Hugh

Born April 19, 1923 in Rochester, New York, Hugh O’Brian’s lean, rugged physique and exceptionally photogenic face garnered the brown-eyed, curly-haired actor placement in all the movie magazines of the 50s and 60s.

Hugh O'Brian was once a soda-jerk at Schwab's drug store on Sunset Boulevard and developed his interest in acting while dancing with movie starlets at the Hollywood Canteen during his wartime Marine days. It is said that Hugh, at the age of seventeen, was the youngest Drill Instructor in Marine Corps history.

One of the first celebrities to go on frontline tours of Vietnam at the request of the State Department, Hugh once staged and directed a company of "Guys and Dolls" which toured Vietnam, Thailand and Japan for the troops.

He made his first film, "Never Fear", in 1950. Hugh O'Brian is best remembered for playing the title role in "The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" (ABC, 1955-61), which was more a serialized drama than a standard Western. He later reprised the role in the 1991 NBC miniseries "Luck of the Draw: The Gambler Returns" and in "Wyatt Earp Returns to Tombstone" (CBS, 1994).

Voted the most promising male newcomer of 1953 by the Hollywood Foreign Press, O'Brian moved to more substantial roles like the lyricist who wins Mitzi Gaynor's heart in "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954) and the antagonist of Native Americans in "White Feather" (1955). He turned to comedy, playing off his good looks in "Come Fly With Me" (1963) as the object of a flight attendant's glances on a transatlantic flight. O'Brian was a cowboy hired to create a ranch in Africa in "Africa—Texas Style!" (1967) and more recently, had a supporting role in "Doing Time on Planet Earth" (1988).

For his contribution to the television industry, Hugh O'Brian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1992, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

On June 25, 2006, O'Brian, at the age of 83, married for the first time. His wife is the former Virginia Barber. The ceremony was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, with the Reverend Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, officiating. The couple was serenaded by close friend Debbie Reynolds.

I have embedded a video clip of Hugh in the 1965 film, “Love Has Many Faces”. It’s a story set in Acapulco, among the jet-set, a wealthy millionairess and her goldigging husband try to find some excitement in a world swirling with love affairs. He's sleazy, but oh so sexy!

Ladies, you’re going to thank me profusely and you will KNOW EXACTLY why I titled this article “Oh, Hugh.” Enjoy.

Oh, and RSM, Hugh gives your Speedo pic a run for its money.