
Darcy O’Brien (1939 – 1998) was a scholar of Irish literature, and also the author of several best-selling works in the true-crime genre. “Two of a Kind: The Hillside Strangler” (1985) was adapted into the television film, “The Case of the Hillside Stranglers” starring Richard Crenna.
“Murder in Little Egypt,” (1989) is about a small-town Illinois doctor whose bizarre often violent behavior was overlooked by his neighbors for years, until the doctor was unmasked as a ghastly abuser and murderer of his own children.
Just before he tragically passed away from a heart attack at the age of 59, O’Brien completed work on “The Hidden Pope,” a book about the little-known friendship between Pope John Paul II and a Jewish schoolmate in Poland that helped bring about Vatican recognition of Israel in 1994.
O’Brien was also a Hollywood prince, son of silent star George O’Brien, who appeared in several John Ford films. His mother was Marguerite Churchill, a beautiful and talented actress who, along with other numerous credits, was also a Ford player.
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