Darcy O'Brien
American writer
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Darcy O'Brien (July 16, 1939 – March 2, 1998) was an American author of fiction and literary criticism, most well known for his work in the genre of true crime. His first novel, A Way of Life, Like Any Other,[1] was a fictionalized account of his childhood in Hollywood. In 1985, he wrote a book about the Hillside Stranglers entitled Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers,[2] which was adapted into a made-for-television film called The Case of the Hillside Stranglers, starring Richard Crenna.[3]
- Author
- literary critic
- professor at the University of Tulsa
Darcy O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 16, 1939 Los Angeles, California |
| Died | March 2, 1998 (aged 58) |
| Alma mater | Princeton University University of Cambridge University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupations |
|
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | George O'Brien Marguerite Churchill |
| Relatives | Orin O'Brien (sister) |
Biography
Darcy O'Brien was born in Los Angeles, the son of Hollywood silent film actor George O'Brien and actress Marguerite Churchill, a frequent co-star of John Wayne.[4] He attended Princeton University and University of Cambridge, and received a master's degree and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. From 1965 to 1978 he was a professor of English at Pomona College. In 1978 he moved to Tulsa, and taught at the University of Tulsa until 1995.[5][6]
O'Brien was married three times and had one daughter named Molly O'Brien. His sister is Orin O'Brien, a double bassist and member of the New York Philharmonic.
O'Brien died of a heart attack[7] in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 2, 1998, aged 58.
Awards
- 1978: Ernest Hemingway Award for best first novel, A Way of Life, Like Any Other
- 1997: Edgar Allan Poe Award, Power to Hurt
O'Brien was inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame in 1997.[8]
Selected works
- A Way of Life, Like Any Other (1977 & 2001). New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0393087987. OCLC 3203215[4][3]
- Moment by Moment, novelization of screenplay by Jane Wagner (1979)[9]
- The Silver Spooner (1981)
- Two of a Kind: The Story of the Hillside Stranglers (1985)[3]
- Murder in Little Egypt (1989)
- Margaret in Hollywood (1991)
- A Dark and Bloody Ground (1993)
- Power to Hurt (1996)
- The Hidden Pope (1998)[8]
- The Conscience of James Joyce (2016)