By ABC Television (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Hugh O'Brian was born on April 19, 1925 with the name of Hugh Charles Krampe. His father was Hugh John Krampe, a captain in the Horse Marines during WWI, and his mother was Edith Lillian Krampe.

O'Brian finished High School and started attending the University of Cincinnati, but soon dropped out and enlisted in the Marines Corps. "I just felt that I should enlist," he said. "I tried to enlist when I was sixteen, but you had to have your parents permission and my dad wouldn't sign the papers." His dad finally relented when O'Brian was seventeen, and he served from 1943 - '49. When he obtained his honorable discharge, he held the rank of corporal.

Fresh out of boot camp and at the age of 17, O'Brian was made a drill instructor. "Let me tell you," he said, "some of those guys were tough as nails, and I was the one who had to whip 'em into shape."

"I think it's a tremendous experience to belong to the Marine Corps. Once a Marine, always a Marine and all that stuff." Also, Hugh's brother was a Marine and was wounded in the Korean War.

On January 30, 1966, after touring Vietnam, Hugh appeared on the game show, What's My Line?, as the mystery guest. When John Daly questions Hugh about Vietnam, he replies, "Well . . . it was the greatest experience of my life. I spent two weeks there just before Christmas. I went alone and was able to visit areas where civilians have never been before, because I did go alone. . . . And I . . I just wish that there were some way that the public could possibly get there themselves, or be better informed to what our men are doing, besides fighting the war, because the thing that really touched me, and the thing that I'm very excited about as a citizen is the civilian work that they're doing in the communities that they do pacify.

"These people that they are working with over there have never known what it was to have the next meal to look forward to, much less a government they could count upon. And our boys, when they've gone into an area, have done such a fantastic good in the civil actions work that they've done, not only working with the people as far as giving them first aid and health treatment, but also teaching them and helping them to establish local governments, and giving them a sense of pride in themselves and the government which the majority of them are behind at this point. And it was a great experience, and one which I am deeply grateful as a citizen to have been part of."

O'Brian's expression of pride in the American troops could easily have been unpopular at that time, but when he finished speaking, applause rose from the TV studio crowd.

O'Brian valued the lessons he learned from the Marines about teamwork and working hard, and this professionalism followed him throughout his life as an actor and humanitarian.

He passed away on September 5, 2016, at the age of 91, in Beverly Hills, CA.

Sources:

Hugh O'Brian's Official Site

Together We Served

Wikipedia

What's My Line? January 30, 1966

Emmy TV Legends, Hugh O'Brian Interview

Hugh O'Brian
Born: April 19, 1925 (as Hugh Charles Krampe) (in Rochester, NY)
Died: September 5, 2016
Spouse(s) Name(s): Virginia Barber (married 2006 - 2016, his death)
Child(ren): Hugh Donald Etkes (born circa 1952)
Parents: Hugh John Krampe, Edith Lilian Marks Krampe
Movies:
1948
Kidnapped (uncredited)
1949
Never Fear
1950
The Return of Jesse James
Beyond the Purple Hills
Rocketship X-M
D.O.A. (uncredited)
1951
Cave of Outlaws
On the Loose
Little Big Horn
Fighting Coast Guard
Buckaroo Sheriff of Texas
Vengeance Valley
1952
The Raiders
Yankee Buccaneer (voice, uncredited)
Son of Ali Baba
Sally and Saint Anne
Red Ball Express
The Battle at Apache Pass
The Cimarron Kid
The Lawless Breed
1953
Back to God's Country
The Stand at Apache River
The Man from the Alamo
Seminole
Meet Me at the Fair
1954
There's No Business Like Show Business
Broken Lance
Drums Across the River
Moby Dick
Fireman Save My Child
O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted
Taza, Son of Cochise (voice, uncredited)
1955
The Twinkle in God's Eye
White Feather
1956
The Brass Legend
1958
The Fiend Who Walked the West
1959
Alias Jesse James (cameo,uncredited)
1960
The Secret World of Eddie Hodges
1961
Feathertop
1963
Come Fly with Me
1965
Ten Little Indians
Assassination in Rome
In Harm's Way (uncredited)
Love Has Many Faces
1966
Ambush Bay
1967
Dial M for Murder
Africa: Texas Style
1968
A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer
1969
Strategy of Terror
1970
Swing Out, Sweet Land
Wild Women
1971
Harpy
1975
Murder on Flight 502
1976
The Shootist
The Diamond Mercenaries
1977
Murder at the World Series
Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover
1978
Game of Death
Cruise Into Terror
1982
Bush Doctor
1988
Twins
Doin' Time on Planet Earth
1990
Gunsmoke: The Last Apache
1991
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
1994
Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone
2002
Dobe and a Company of Heroes

TV Shows:
About Faces
- Episode #1.17 (1960)
- Episode dated April 19 (1960)
Alcoa Premiere
- The Rules of the Game (1962)
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
- Ride the Nightmare (1962)
Allen Ludden's Gallery
- Episode #1.26 (1969)

The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show
- Episode #1.4 (1968)

The Bell Telephone Hour
- The Music of the West (1966)
The Big Record
- Episode #1.25 (1958)
Biography
- Jane Russell: Body and Soul (1997)
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
- Runaway (1964)
- Exit from a Plane in Flight (1965)
Call of the Wild
- Pilot Part 1 (2000)
- Pilot Part 2 (2000)

Celebrity Bowling
- Episode dated August 4 (1974)
- Episode dated July 29 (1975)

Celebrity Playhouse
- A Very Big Man (1955)
Charlie's Angels
- Lady Killer (1976)
The Christophers
- As You Make It (1957)
Damon Runyon Theater
- A Light in France (1955)
Dateline: Hollywood
- Episode dated May 19 (1967)

Date with the Angels
- Star Struck (1957)

The David Frost Show
- Episode #2.46 (1969)

The Dean Martin Show
- Episode #8.5 (1972)

The Dick Powell Theatre
- Up Jumped the Devil (1961)

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
- Episode #1.8 (1957)
- Episode #2.8 (1957)
The Ed Sullivan Show
- Episode #10.22 (1957)
- Episode #11.37 (1958)
E! True Hollywood Story
- Rock Hudson (1999)
Fantasy Island
- Pilot (1977)
- Cowboy/Substitute Wife (1979)
- PlayGirl/Smith's Valhalla (1980)
- Crescendo/Three Feathers (1980)
- House of Dolls/Wuthering Heights (1982)
Fireside Theatre
- Miggles (1950)
- Going Home (1951)
- Shifting Sands (1951)
- The Eleventh Hour (1951)
The Ford Television Theatre
- Ringside Seat (1957)
Frances Langford Presents
- (1959)
General Electric Theater
- The Graduation Dress (1960)
Good Heavens
- A Night with Brockton (1976)
Greatest Heroes of the Bible
- David & Goliath (1978)
The Greatest Show on Earth
- Garve (1963)
Guns of Paradise
- A Gathering of Guns (1989)
- Home Again (1989)

Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour
- Episode #1.27 (1973)

Here's Hollywood
- Episode #2.33 (1961)
- Episode #2.102 (1962)
The Hollywood Palace
- Episode #1.3 (1964)
The Hollywood Squares
- Episode dated April 13 (1970)
- Episode dated January 18 (1971)
- Episode dated November 29 (1971)
- Episode dated March 13 (1972)
- Episode dated June 19 (1972)
- Episode dated June 20 (1972)
- Episode dated June 21 (1972)
- Episode dated June 22 (1972)
- Episode dated June 23 (1972)
- Episode dated November 13 (1972)
- Episode dated January 29 (1973)
- Episode dated June 11 (1973)
- Episode dated December 31 (1973)
I've Got a Secret
- Episode dated April 8 (1959)
- Episode dated October 28 (1959)
- Episode dated January 22 (1962)
- Episode dated June 3 (1963)
- Episode dated January 3 (1966)
- Episode dated May 23 (1966)
The Jackie Gleason Show
- All Star Circus Revue (1957)
The Jack Paar Tonight Show
- Episode #3.139 (1960)
The Joey Bishop Show
- Episode #1.85 (1967)

The John Davidson Show
- Episode dated March 25 (1982)

The Juke Box Jury
- Episode dated August 15 (1958)
- Episode dated December 5 (1958)
The Kraft Music Hall
- Comedy on Ice (1970)
Kraft Mystery Theater
- Circle of Evil (1962)
- The Rules of the Game (1963)
Kraft Suspense Theatre
- In Darkness, Waiting: Part 1 (1965)
- In Darkness, Waiting: Part 2 (1965)
L.A. Law
- Odor in the Court (1993)
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, regular
The Loretta Young Show
- Guest in the Night (1954)
- Double Trouble (1954)
- Three Minutes Too Late (1954)
- Feeling No Pain (1955)

The Love Boat
- April in Boston/Saving Grace/Breaks of Life (1982)

Make Room for Daddy
- Wyatt Earp Visits the Williamses (1956)

The Match Game
- Deborah Bryant & Hugh O'Brian (1966)
- Episode #4.96 (1966)
- Episode #4.97 (1966)
- Episode #4.98 (1966)
- Episode #4.99 (1966)
- Liza Minnelli & Hugh O'Brian (1967)
- Episode #5.155 (1967)
- Episode #5.156 (1967)
- Episode #5.157 (1967)
- Episode #5.158 (1967)
- Joanne Carson & Hugh O'Brian (1969) .
- Episode #7.90 (1969)
- Episode #7.91 (1969)
- Episode #7.92 (1969)
- Episode #7.93 (1969)
Matinee Theatre
- Tall, Dark Stranger (1956)
Matt Houston
- The Kidnapping (1982)

The Merv Griffin Show
- Episode dated August 5 (1966)
- Episode dated May 18 (1967)
- Episode dated April 6 (1970)
The Mike Douglas Show
- Episode #11.106 (1972)
- Episode #11.142 (1972)
- Episode #11.236 (1972)
- Episode dated March 20 (1974)
- Episode #14.197 (1976)
- Episode #16.74 (1977)

The Millionaire
- The Luke Fortune Story (1955)

The Movie Game
- Episode dated July 5 (1971)

Murder, She Wrote
- A Body to Die For (1990)
Name Droppers
- Episode dated February 1 (1970)

The Nat King Cole Show
- Episode #3.6 (1957)
New American Bandstand 1965
- Episode #1.63 (1957)
The New Truth and Consequences
- Episode dated December 15 (1967)
Oboler Comedy Theatre
- Dog's Eye View (1949)

One on One with John Tesh
- Episode #1.114 (1992)

Password All-Stars
- Carol Channing vs. Hugh O'Brian (1963)
- Barbara Rush vs. Hugh O' Brian (1963)
- Phyllis Newman vs. Hugh O'Brian (1964)
- Florence Henderson vs. Hugh O'Brian (1964)
- Juliet Prowse vs. Hugh O' Brian (1965)
The Pat Sajak Show
- Episode #1.161 (1989)
Perry Mason
- The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-bout (1963)
Person to Person
- Episode dated May 20 (1960)
Personality
- Episode dated August 21 (1968)
- Episode dated November 18 (1968)
Playboy After Dark
- Episode #2.10 (1970)
Playhouse 90
- Invitation to a Gunfighter (1957)
- Reunion (1958)
Play of the Week
- The Wingless Victory (1961)
Police Story
- Collision Course (1973)
- Open City (1976)
- Spitfire (1977)
Preview Tonight
- Great Bible Adventures: Seven Rich Years and Seven Lean (1966)
The Price Is Right
- Episode dated January 31 (1964)
The Real Tom Kennedy Show
- Episode #1.13 (1970)
- Episode dated September 16 (1970)
The Red Skelton Hour
- Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie (1965)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- Episode #6.6 (1972)
Search, regular
The Seekers
- Episode #1.1 (1979)
- Episode #1.2 (1979)
Shindig!
- Episode #2.10 (1965)
Stage 7
- Billy and the Bride (1955)
Stand Up and Cheer
- Episode #2.16 (1973)
The Star and the Story
- Arab Duel (1956)
Studio 57
- Storm Signal (1954)
- The Engagement Ring (1955)
Stump the Stars
- Hugh O'Brian vs. Dolores Gray (1963)
Sunday Showcase
- Our American Heritage: The Secret Rebel (1961)
Talent Scouts
- Episode dated July 2 (1963)
That Regis Philbin Show
- Episode #1.51 (1965)
Theatre '62
- Spellbound (1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- Episode #10.141 (1971)
- Episode #11.18 (1972)
- Episode #11.83 (1972)
Vacation Playhouse
- The Graduation Dress (1964)
Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium
- Episode #4.14 (1958)
- Episode #6.23 (1961)
Vicki!
- Episode dated April 8 (1994)
The Virginian
- The Executioners (1962)

The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters
- Episode #1.8 (1972)

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
- The Desilu Revue (1959)
- Chain of Command (1959)
- Circle of Evil (1960)
What's My Line?
- Episode dated October 8 (1961) (as panel member)
- Episode dated December 24 (1961) (as panel member)
- Episode dated January 30 (1966) (as mystery guest)
- Episode #17.48 (1967)) (as mystery guest)

Other film work:
1953
Surprising Suzie (Short)
The 25th Annual Academy Awards (TV Special)
1955
The 27th Annual Academy Awards (TV Special)
1962
The 16th Annual Tony Awards (TV Special)
1967
First Annual All-Star Celebrity Baseball Game (TV Special)
1969
The 41st Annual Academy Awards (TV Special)
1971
The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World (TV Movie documentary)
1978
ABC's Silver Anniversary Celebration (TV Special)
1979
Homage for The Duke (TV Movie documentary)
1984
Bruce Lee, the Legend (Documentary)
1987
The 59th Annual Academy Awards (TV Special)
1989
The 34th Annual Thalians Ball (TV Movie)
1999
Television: The First Fifty Years (Video documentary)
2001
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On (Video documentary short)
2003
ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration (TV Special documentary)
2010
National Memorial Day Parade (TV Movie documentary)

Regular shows:

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (Sept. 1955 - Jun, 1961, 229 episodes)

Considered the first ever "adult" Western television show, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (ABC) premiered four days before Gunsmoke (CBS), and although its run was short compared to the other show, Wyatt Earp was popular and it did well for nearly six years. Hugh O'Brian took the title role, and helped create a highly romanticized version of a historical character. Mason Alan Dinehart played Bat Masterson in 34 episodes; Douglas Fowley played Doc Holliday in 49 episodes (Myron Healey played Doc in ten episodes).
In the first part of the first season, one episode picks up where another left off, and after that, the show still kept up at least some continuity while Wyatt moves from Ellsworth, to Wichita, to Dodge City, to Tombstone. Paul Brinegar, Don Haggerty, Jimmy Noel, as well as many others, had roles that lasted 20 episodes or more.
The show is called an adult western, and this means that the storyline outweighed the action, and an attempt was made to give characters more of a psychological background. Wyatt Earp didn't drink, kill anyone, or womanize, and so the series still bears resemblance to the kiddie westerns of the day.

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp on DVD:

Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp Complete Series

Search (Sept. 1972 - Aug. 1973, 23 episodes)

Search was a science-fiction/detective show, revolving around a private investigation company using miniature cameras (and other novel et cetera's) for their work. The agents, called Probes, were played by Hugh O'Brian, Tony Franciosa, and Doug McClure. Others in the cast were Burgess Meredith, Tom Hallick, Angel Tompkins, Albert Popwell, Byron Chung, Amy Farrell, Ginny Golden, and Ron Castro. Each episode starred one of the three Probes.

Hugh O'Brian's episodes:
The Murrow Disappearance (1972)
Moonrock (1972)
The Adonis File (1972)
Flight to Nowhere (1972)
The Gold Machine (1972)
Countdown to Panic (1973)
Suffer My Child (1973)

Search on DVD:

Search: The Complete Series

Probe (the pilot)

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Hugh wrote his autobiography in 2014: Hugh O'Brian, Or What's Left of Him

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Movie/TV credit information is taken from Internet Movie Database, unless otherwise noted, and is updated and corrected if needed.