BRYAN O’BYRNE

February 6, 1931

Bryan O’Byrne was born on February 6, 1931 in Plattsburgh, New York.  He attended St. Peter’s Elementary School and Plattsburgh High School, and received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. 

He served in the United States Army before becoming an elementary school teacher.  

He studied acting under Stella Adler and dance with Martha Graham. He later starred on Broadway opposite Vivien Leigh in Duel of Angels during the late 1950s. The run was cut short after five weeks due to the first actors’ strike in forty years.

He made his screen debut in 1958 in an episode of “Maverick” doing a second episode in 1961, both times uncredited. 

In 1963, he did an episode of the Desilu crime drama “The Untouchables”. 

O’Bryne did two episodes of “My Three Sons” filmed at Desilu Studios, the first in 1962 with William Frawley, and a second in 1965. 

He made his one and only appearance with Lucille Ball in “Lucy and John Wayne” (TLS S5;E10) on November 21, 1966.  He played the Assistant Director of Wayne’s film. Lucy Carmichael has been invited to the set to observe, and naturally drives everyone crazy. When the Assistant Director shouts “Scene 856, Take One!” Lucy corrects him under hear breath: “Take Four!” Lucy is right, but it is hard to determine if this was Lucy Carmichael or Lucille Ball talking!  

After being a day player on many shows, O’Bryne finally landed a regular character on “Occasional Wife” (1966-67): The story of Peter, an unmarried junior executive whose company favors married men for promotions. Peter  makes an arrangement with his friend Greta, to serve as his “occasional wife.” 

He puts her on salary and gets her an apartment two floors above his own. Hilarity ensues as then run up and down the fire escape to act as husband and wife. This all happens to the bemusement of a man residing on the floor in-between. That man was played by Bryan O’Byrne, who had no character name and no speaking lines, but became the hit of the show. In early 1967, a nationwide contest was held to give the “Man in the Middle” an actual name. Much attention was heaped on O’Byrne, but the show survived only one season.

Byrne continued acting on television and doing over 200 commercials until his final appearance in 1991 when he retired from acting in the 1990s to care for his sister, who was in declining health. 

A noted L.A. based acting teacher and coach in later years, his students included Nick Nolte, Forest Whitaker, Jimmy Smits, Lou Diamond Phillips, Pam Dawber, Christopher McDonald and Bonnie Bedelia. 

His only son, Sean Kevin O’Byrne, died young.

He died on December 4, 2009 at age 78.