Former chorus boy who would become a star in "B" westerns, and later a successful comedy writer (under the name David Barclay) and TV director. O'Brien is notable as one of the relatively few success stories to emerge out of the drek of poverty row, where he blissfully worked for nearly a decade before landing work in the hypo-nasal Pete Smith 's series of novelty shorts at MGM. In the mid-50's he gravitated toward comedy writing working on the Red Skelton Show, striking up a longtime friendship with series co-writer Sherwood Schwartz .

Accomplished stuntmanAn all-round jack-of-all-trades in the entertainment business, Dave started off as a dancer and chorus boy in Warner Bros. musicals ( 42nd Street (1933), among others). He was also a stuntman and villain in westerns, although he did star in a series as a Texas Ranger. He was also a stalwart hero of cliffhangers and rugged adventure ( Captain Midnight (1942), The Rangers Take Over (1942)). In addition, he composed songs for some of his western programmers and wrote, directed (as David Barclay) and starred in a popular and long-running series of comedy shorts made by producer Pete Smith at MGM. As if that weren't enough, he turned to TV as a writer for Red Skelton and won an Emmy.First wife Dorothy Short was a "B" actress in westerns and appeared with Dave in the cult classic Tell Your Children (1936) (AKA Reefer Madness), the serial Captain Midnight (1942) and the Pete Smith shorts, among others. They had two children but divorced in the early 1950s, reportedly because of Dave's complete devotion to yachting, sailing and his love of the sea. He subsequently remarried and had three more children.Had extremely thinning hair and wore a hairpiece. He incorporated this amusingly into a couple of his Pete Smith shorts.Was a TV writer from 1955 on using the alias 'Dave Barclay.'The owner of a 60-footing racing sloop "The White Cloud," Dave collapsed and died on board while competing in a Marina del Rey-to-Catalina yachting race off California.Will forever be enshrined in the memories of bad-movie lovers everywhere for his role as the marijuana-crazed, wild-eyed dope fiend screaming "Faster! Play it faster!" at his equally marijuana-fried female piano-playing companion in the cult classic Tell Your Children (1936) AKA Reefer Madness.In 1954 he made a TV pilot called "Meet the O'Briens'", in which he played a bumbling young husband whose in-laws live with him and his wife. It wasn't picked up.