PAT O'BRIEN

Pat O'Brien -- the actor, not sportscaster -- was a film legend with a gentle Irish brogue whose career spanned five decades. He excelled in roles as beneficent men but could also give convincing performances as wise guys or con artists. He played Father Flanegan, founder of Boy's Town; Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach; the priest and sympathetic childhood friend who escorted James Cagney to the electric chair; and more cops, pops and best pals than you could shake a shillelagh at. 
     In the '70s when he was in his mid-70s, Pat was touring the country in a dinner theater comedy with his wife, Eloise, and Dallas was one of the stops. My then-wife was doing PR for the theater and was asked to host the O'Briens while they were in town. So we showed them the sights, had them over to our home several times, and drove them to and from the theater every night. And in the course of it, we fell in love with this aging, though amazingly energetic and delightful, acting couple. 
     One night we took them to a popular restaurant, and I was amused that Pat's Irish lilt instantly became far more prominent when a fan (especially a female one) asked for an autograph. At those times he momentarily looked younger, too. The day after the O'Briens left town, a small, potted tree was delivered to our home with a handwritten note thanking us for our hospitality. We planted it in the front yard that day. Decades later, when I was visiting Dallas and drove past that house, the O'Brien tree was the tallest and leafiest on the block.