Peter O'Brian (actor)
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[edit] Origins
Peter Horatio Ellis Montgomery Cleethorpes O'Brian III was born in Missouri, USA (12.7.50). He had a troubled upbringing to say the least; his father was an alcoholic with anger management issues, whilst his mother ran a local brothel and was known to girls in the town where they lived as the woman to go to should they get into "trouble". Peter's father had inherited a large amount of money from his Uncle, but had drank most of it away before Peter was in his teens. Peter was often taunted and bullied in school because of his parents' reputation. His life changed when he started doing odd jobs for an elderly Japanese martial arts expert who imparted on O'Brian all that he knew. Leaving school with no qualifications, Peter, with his obvious good looks and personal charm, went into modelling, before a painful and degrading fall into prostitution and drug addiction. He got clean in his late twenties and, on a tip off from a friend who was buzzing about how the movie industry was exploding in Indonesia, and following an 'incident' involving a Policeman, a Priest and a public toilet, he fled to Jakarta in the late 70's. He quickly became involved with the Punjabi Brothers, who were well known local gansters within the criminal underworld at the time. It was whilst running errands and being employed as an enforcer for the P.B. that he met screenwriter Deddy Armand and director Jopi Burnama. Together, they formed Parkitt Films. There first movie, The Stabilizer, was Peter's breakthrough role, as Jewish American cop Peter Goldson. Jopi directed the movie under his pseudonym Arizal. It was a huge success in Indonesia and almost overnight Peter was sensation, with his every move reported slavishly by the Jakarta film press.
[edit] Filmography
- The Stabilizer (1984)
- The Intruder (1986)
- American Hunter (1988)
- Jungle Heat (1988)
- Double Crosser (1990)
- Triple Cross aka Angel of Fury (1991)
[edit] Acting Style
Mainly doing action Movies, O'Brian became famous in Indonesia from The Stabilzer and The Intruder, he also collaborated with martial artist actor Cynthia Rothrock on Triple Cross. O'Brian is famous for his 'eye' acting, he has the ability to show a range of emotions just through his eye expressions. His combat style evolves and improves throughout his films but he appears to utilise a mix martial arts technique. Throughout his career his main forté has most probably been the elevated arm grab. Surprisingly, the cross armed block - debuted in The Intruder (1986 film), did not return in later films. The Game (1998)
[edit] Hiatus
O'Brian took a break from acting after Triple Cross in 1992 and hasn't returned since, however speculation amongst his fans is still there as to whether he will return one more time to our screens.
[edit] Personal life
Although he is a quiet figure, it is known he lives in Indonesia still but his whereabouts aren't public knowledge. Peter did make a come back in 1998 starring in his 8th film called The Game. Now Peter Wilson knowing as Movie name Peter O Brian teaching english in Jakarta. But I think he will do one more movie. Today Peter ages is 51 years old, still in ok shape. But 3 months in the Gym Peter could get in top shape again. Maybe the next movie will be called The Stabilizer 2 starring Peter and his son Joshua
[edit] Following
Fans of Peter O'Brian tend to be dedicated and extremely loyal, spending years searching the internet and flea market stalls for his movies, which are increasingly rare to get hold of. There was the much reported "teaser" version of The Intruder on VHS in the mid 80's which contained only half the movie, causing scene's of outrage and protest amongst O'Brien's legions. They continue to encourage Peter to make one final return to film, and he has come close on a few occasions, most notably the Rambu sequel and One Way Road, a project about the decline of the Indonesian movie industry in the face of Hollywood homogenisation, which Peter has championed for decades and hopes to direct when he gets a sufficient budget. He is also rumoured to be developing a film about his late brother Casey, which he also apparently has ambitions to direct himself. In a recent interview, Jopi Burnama, Peter's favoured director and acknowledged Godfather of the Indonesian film community, said "its truly tragic that an actor/artist of Peter's calibre feels he no longer wishes to share his God given talent with us. Its up to him at the end of the day, but the fact is despite the best efforts of all involved, The Intruder 2: Fatal Intrusion (a.k.a. The Intruder 2: Intrude Harder - US title) wasn't the movie it could've been had Peter returned to the roll of Alex Tarambuan. Craig Fairbrass did his best as Alex's long lost brother, Gareth, but you can't beat the real thing!".
[edit] Trivia
- Peter O'Brian is known as P'OB to his fans
- O'Brian once had a huge falling out with Jopi Burnama, the director of The Intruder (1986 film) over the opening scene in which an old lady, played by infamous and controversial spiritual leader Bu Yadi in a significant opening scene cameo, was knocked over by an out of control car during a stunt. Peter's grasp on reality, always tenuous at best, snapped as he came to the conclusion the crew actually planned to murder the old lady. Legend has it that it took a whole days shotting time to explain the situation to Peter in a way he could comprehend, which allegedly involved intervention from Yadi herself.
- O'Brian has only played a villain once, as the terrorist who had a tendency to strike like the proverbial lightning, Bolt, in the vapid, listless commercial train wreck Triple Cross
O'Brians most eloquent and interesting character is Jewish cop Peter Goldson in The Stabilizer. O'Brian expertly juxtaposes the character's tendency toward arrogance with moments of half hearted tenderness as in the scene where Peter finds his fiance raped and murdered by his arch nemesis.
- Peter O'Brian despises scum, who intimidate the weak. It is a theme of his movie work, as well as his political and social activities.
- Peter O'Brian affectionately refers to his close friend Craig Gavin as Ass-face, referring to a now infamous scene within The Stabilizer where Craig Gavin is revealed in a flashback without his trademark beard.
- Peter O'Brian has a big following amongst Hedworth-Fellgate area fans
- When filming the Intruder, Peter O'Brian actually took a severe blow to the sternum during a fight scene. When asked if he was in pain and whether he required medical attention, he responded "why?! It seems wherever i go, the 24 hour A & E is closed for me". Peter O'Brian had a brief cameo as a churlish strongarm in the he-man movie appearing briefly onscreen alongside Dolph Lundgren and a young, uncredited Matthew Lillard.
- Peter O'Brian and Harry Capri were Michael Mann's original choices to play Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett and Det. Ricardo 'Rico' Tubbs in the original TV Series of Miami Vice (1984-1989). However, due to Visa restrictions and 'an incident' involving Peter whilst he lived in America during the late 70's, both were forced to pull out of negotiations. The roles were eventually filled by Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas.
- O'Brian is a member of the controversial Church of the Sacred Lizard formely led by his one time co star Bu Yadi, before her death in 1997. The general thrust of the faith is that through evolution reptiles will one day inherit the earth. It has been speculated by some theologians that the son of the ancient crocodile God Ma Bu, the basis of the faith, was born to the Earth many millenias ago, and currently resides in Tenerife, masquerading in the form of tacky holiday resort country and western singer Tom Keenan. Former BBC pundit and one time Son of God David Icke has written extensively on the subject. Keenan has always refused to comment, but remains a moderate draw in the Playa de las Americas resort.
- Peter in 2005 came out against his former lover Harry Capri's kiss and tell expose Inside Rambu: The cruel and terrible world of Peter O'Brian. Capri's depiction of O'Brian was both affectionate and damning - he claimed as a lover Peter was "like a thousand H bombs going off all at once, unconcerned with the nuclear fallout" but slammed O'Brian for his preening self regard, jealousy, wayward fashion sense and what he called Peter's "self destructive bull in a china shop approach to every aspect of his life. Take the attempted Coup d'état for example; attending a protest march is one thing, but organising with miltia's is quite another...", before adding controversially, "I blame Rothrock, that tubby Victoria Wood lookalike bitch!". Peter countered that these were lies and distortions, saying "i don't know why Harry did this. I suppose i never realised what a bitchy Lucinda he really was".
- There are many in jokes in his movies. Certainly the brave casting of Bu Yadi in The Intruder is one. Others are more irreverant. In The Stabilizer, Captain Johnny's partner is called Debbie Parkhurst, whilst Peter's is Sylvia Nash. "Debbie & Sylvia" were Peter & Harry's pet names for each other.
