The Papers of Film Producer Denis O’Brien Join the Ransom Center’s Collections

The Ransom Center is delighted to be the home of the papers of film producer Denis O’Brien, which were recently donated to the Center.

Denis O’Brien (1941–2021) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Northwestern University and the Washington University School of Law. After working for the Coudert Frères/Coudert Brothers law firm and later the Rothschild banking group, he became the manager for actor Peter Sellers (1925–1980) in 1974.  At about that time, Sellers introduced O’Brien to former Beatles guitarist George Harrison (1943–2001), who was looking for new management.

In 1978, Harrison and O’Brien founded HandMade Films to finance Monte Python’s Life of Brian (1979) after the original backers pulled out. O’Brien ran HandMade Films and served as Executive Producer on the company’s productions, including Time Bandits (1981) and Withnail and I (1987), many of which are regarded as among the most celebrated British films of the post-WWII era.

The Denis O’Brien Papers include scripts, correspondence, business papers, behind-the-scenes photographs, and film stills from many of Sellers’s and HandMade Films’ productions. The collection complements the Ransom Center’s strong holdings in British film—including the papers of noted art directors Edward Carrick and Alfred Junge—and will be invaluable to the study of British film of the 1980s. The Denis O’Brien Papers and all of the Center’s film holdings are accessible for research in the Ransom Center’s reading room.

This collection was a gift to the Ransom Center from Kristen and Laura O’Brien in honor of their father, Denis O’Brien.