Stars & Players · Biography
Dennis O'Keefe
1908–1968 · Actor
Biography
Dennis O'Keefe (March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor. He was the son of Irish vaudevillians working in the United States. As a small child he joined his parents' act and later wrote skits for the stage.
O'Keefe started in films as an extra in the early 1930s. After a small but impressive role in Saratoga, Clark Gable recommended O'Keefe to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which signed him to a contract in 1937. His film roles were bigger after that, starting with The Bad Man of Brimstone and Burn 'Em Up O'Connor.
O'Keefe left MGM around 1940 but continued to work in mostly lower budget productions. In the 1950s he did some directing, wrote mystery stories and by the mid-1950s found work on television shows such as Justice, The Martha Raye Show, The Ford Show as well as his own series The Dennis O'Keefe Show.
Notable Noir Roles
Two U.S. Treasury ("T-men") agents go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt to break a U.S. currency counterfeiting ring.
Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming tha…
A Los Angeles newspaperman seeks a woman's sister and finds a black-market baby ring.
Frank Johnson, a sole witness to a gangland murder, goes into hiding and is trailed by Police Inspector Ferris, on the theory that Frank is trying to escape from possible retaliation. Frank's wife, El…
