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Cubby O'Brien

Born Carl Patrick O'Brien
July 14, 1946 (1946-07-14) (age 61)
Burbank, California
Years active 1955 - today
Spouse(s) Marilyn Miller (1967-1976)
1 child
Terry Wilemon (1978-1999)
Holly ? (2002-today)

Carl Patrick O'Brien (born July 14, 1946), who generally goes by the nickname of "Cubby", is a professional American drummer, and a former child actor, who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer. Events 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philip II of France. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County California, United States. The year 1955 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1955. Events 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philip II of France. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A drummer is a Musician who plays a Drum or drums particularly a Drum kit ("drum set" or "trap set" Marching percussion The term child actor is generally applied to a Child Acting in motion pictures or Television, but also to an Adult

Contents

Early life

O'Brien was the third son of musician Haskell "Hack" O'Brien, a well-known drummer for several big band era ensembles. A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late When he was an infant, his mother thought he resembled a bear cub, and tagged him with his lifelong nickname. He has two older brothers, Haskell O'Brien, Jr. , a trumpet player, and Warren O'Brien, also a drummer. [1]

Although born in Burbank, O'Brien grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Sun Valley. Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County California, United States. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. Sun Valley is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles California. He began studying music at the Carl Babcock School of Music from age five, and later performed with the Roger Babcock Dixieland Band at charity events and for local television. He would eventually graduate in 1962 from Hollywood Professional School, where he was president of his class. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hollywood Professional School (also known as Hollywood Conservatory of Music and Arts was a private school in Hollywood, California for children working in Show

Career

O'Brien, like Annette Funicello, was personally selected to audition for The Mickey Mouse Club by Walt Disney, in the spring of 1955. Annette Joanne Funicello (born October 22, 1942) is an American Singer and Actress. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Disney had been alerted to him by a staff member, who caught his live performance at a charity gala. [2]

Though he had little prior experience in singing or dancing, O'Brien was placed on The Mickey Mouse Club's first-string "Red Team" right from the start. He quickly picked up enough dance skills to perform in musical numbers, though his solo performances remained centered around his drums. He remained with the show for all three seasons (1955-1958) of original programming, and after filming stopped, went on live-performance tours with other Mouseketeers to Australia in 1959 and 1960. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.

Following Disney, he joined the Lawrence Welk organization for two years, having performed with the "Little Band", doing guest bits on the maestro's show, as well as other television series. Lawrence Welk ( March 11, 1903 &ndash May 17, 1992) was a Musician, Accordionist Bandleader, and Television The Lawrence Welk Show is a musical Variety show hosted by former Big band leader Lawrence Welk. After graduating from high school, Cubby started touring with Spike Jones, playing show tunes and dance music with the formerly manic bandleader's final group. Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones ( December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was a popular musician and bandleader specializing in performing He then played for Ann Margaret in her live performances, and in the late sixties returned to television as the sometime on-camera drummer for CBS's The Carol Burnett Show. Ann-Margret (born April 28 1941 is a Swedish -born American actress singer CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. The Carol Burnett Show is a Sketch comedy Television show starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman,

O'Brien also acted as Music Director for LA touring companies of the Broadway hits Hair and Oh, Calcutta! in the early seventies, and often fulfilled the same role for other engagements where his primary responsibility was drumming. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Hair The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a Rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt Oh! Calcutta! was a long-running Avant-garde theatrical Revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan.

Beginning in 1973, O'Brien played drums for The Carpenters during tours, through the early eighties. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo consisting of Siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. Karen Carpenter usually played them herself on recordings, but for live performances sometimes needed a substitute, so she could sing. Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2 1950 &ndash February 4 1983 was a highly successful American Singer and Drummer. The two drummers became quite close, in a platonic, professional sense, with O'Brien introducing Karen Carpenter to drumming-legend Buddy Rich. Bernard "Buddy" Rich ( September 30 1917 &ndash April 2 1987) was an American jazz drummer and Bandleader [3]

In 1980, O'Brien reunited with his fellow Mouseketeers for a television special, in which he sang and danced, and, of course, played drums. He also joined some of these same Mouseketeers for live shows on fall weekends at Disneyland during the early 1980s.

Since the eighties, O'Brien's career has predominated around performing for Broadway productions, as well as for live shows by performers like Bernadette Peters. Bernadette Peters (born February 28 1948 is an American Actress and Singer from New York City. He based himself out of New York City instead of the West Coast for many years, though he has since moved back. The City of New York The " West Coast " " Western Seaboard " or " Pacific Seaboard " are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States

Personal life

O'Brien has been married three times, and has one adult daughter. His first wife, Marilyn Miller, was a vocalist with the Good Time Singers, whom he met while touring together with Spike Jones. Their daughter, Alicia O'Brien, was born in 1971. The couple divorced in 1976. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage.

Two years later, O'Brien married Terry Wilemon, whom he met in Las Vegas while touring with the Carpenters. The Las Vegas metropolitan area includes the Las Vegas Valley a 600-square-mile (1600 km² basin and surrounding areas that is part of Clark County in southern [4] He relocated from New York City to her hometown of Dallas, but after twenty years together, they parted in 1999. The City of New York

O'Brien and his current wife, Holly, have been together since 2002. They recently moved from New York City to the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean

Filmography

Television credits

Broadway credits

References

  1. ^ Walt Disney's Magazine, Vol II No 6, October 1957, pg 9
  2. ^ Forever Hold Your Banner High, by Jerry Bowles, 1976, pg 96 ISBN 0-385-11622-5
  3. ^ Modern Drummer, May 1983, "Karen Carpenter: A Drummer Who Sang" by Rod Fogarty
  4. ^ The Dallas Observer, October 31, 1996, Music Section, "Not So Mickey Mouse" by Laurel Ornish

External links

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