Maria O’Brien, a film and television actress and acting coach, has died. She was 75.
The daughter of an acting family, her father was Oscar-winner Edmund O’Brien, and her mother was musical comedy star Olga San Juan.
Born on August 14, 1950, O’Brien’s first film credit was in 1975’s Smile as Maria. She would take on film roles in other films like Shell Game (1975), The Choirboys (1977), Prime Time (1977), PSI Factor (1980), and The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1980). In 1984, she was part of the cast of Protocol, starring alongside Goldie Hawn, Richard Romanus, Jean Smart, and more.
Over the years, O’Brien appeared alongside actors such as Melanie Griffith, Lily Tomlin, Angela Lansbury, Tom Selleck, and many others.
Throughout her more than 5-year career, O’Brien made guest appearances in television shows like Murder, She Wrote, Magnum P.I., Good Morning, Miss Bliss, The Love Boat, LA Law, CHiPs, Matlock, Nash Bridges, Suddenly Susan, Jack & Jill, For the People and dozens of episodes of the soap-spoofing web series Ave 43.
In the late ’90s, O’Brien was hired as an acting coach on daytime dramas, Sunset Beach and Passions, which led to a 15-year position as acting coach on Days of our Lives, a job she held until her retirement in 2022.
O’Brien’s father was one of the first celebrities to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and in 1983, she testified before Congress about the devastation of the disease. She was instrumental in securing government funding for Alzheimer’s research.
In 1990, she won a Drama-Logue award for The Maids by Jean Genet, performed at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
O’Brien was preceded in death by her brother, actor Brendan O’Brien, and is survived by three children, Thomas Anderson, Danica Anderson, and Sean Anderson, and her sister Bridget O’Brien Adelman.
She will be remembered for her vivacious personality, her passion for acting, and her exceptional talent as an artist and teacher.