Patrick O’Neal

Patrick O'Neal was an American actor and a successful New York restaurateur. Ricocheting between supporting and leading roles, the attractively gravel-voiced O'Neal is given to playing characters that are simultaneously macho and urbane, often with a sly or unctuous streak. On TV he played a recurring role on "The Doris Day Show" (1968-73) as Day's beau, a foreign correspondent. O'Neal landed TV roles in many series, varying from "The Moneychangers" (1976) to "Maigret" (1988). Attempts in the mid-1960s to establish O'Neal as a popular leading man didn't quite come off, but he was enjoyably suave as a spy in "Matchless" and as a potential killer in the enjoyably hokey "Chamber of Horrors" (both 1966).

Other film work has included "A Fine Madness" (1966), "The Way We Were" (1973) and "Q & A" (1989). In "Alice" (1990), he played Alice's father and in "New York Stories" (1989) he played an ominous art dealer, parts that called for O'Neal's signature sophisticated toughness. He has also worked on Broadway, appearing opposite Bette Davis in a production of "Night of the Iguana," but his leading role for some years has been as the proprietor of O'Neal's restaurants in Manhattan and Beverly Hills.