O.Z. WHITEHEAD
O.Z. Whitehead
- © Twentieth Century-Fox
- (O.Z. Whitehead in The Grapes of Wrath, 1940)
Biography
BIO
O.Z. Whitehead was born Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead in New York City, in 1911. His father was a banker. Whitehead attended Harvard University and majored in the dramatic arts.
He became, first and foremost, a stage actor, making his Broadway debut in 1933, at the age of 22. He went on to appear in 11 more Broadway productions over the next 6 years.
Whitehead appeared in his first film in 1935 for Hecht-MacArthur Productions. However, he did not pursue a film career until his role in The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) with Henry Fonda.
He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television. Whitehead appeared in more than 35 feature films through 1994.
He became very involved in the Bahá'í faith, publishing three books on the subject.
Later in life, he battled cancer and died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, where he had lived for many years. He was 87 years old.
Additional Broadway stage history is available at: 
Additional biographical information is available at: 
