Conan O’Brien’s parents pass away days apart from each other

Conan O’Brien’s parents, Dr Thomas O’Brien and his wife Ruth Reardon O’Brien, passed away within three days of each other.

The comedian’s father, Dr Thomas O’Brien, passed away last Monday (December 9) at his home in Boston, aged 95. According to local news source the Boston Globe, his death followed a period of declining health.

Days later, on Thursday (December 12), his wife of 66 years, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, also passed away at the age of 92. She died “peacefully” according to an obituary shared by the Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The couple were married for 66 years and had six children, including Conan, 61. The comedian attributes his love for stand-up to his father, who introduced the family to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Jack Benny.

Speaking to the newspaper about his father, O’Brien recalled: “My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything — absolutely everything.”

He also said: “The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theatre watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie.

“[My dad] was often the funniest guy in the room. And when he would laugh, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself.”

Thomas O’Brien was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1929. He attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in classics. There he befriended two classmates who happened to be Ruth’s brothers. He met Ruth during a visit to their family home, and the two married in 1958.

He then attended Harvard Medical School and later worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, becoming the institution’s first director of the infectious diseases division.

Ruth O’Brien had a successful law career. A student at both Vassar College and then Yale Law School, she was one of only four women in her law school class.

She worked as a law clerk for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court before becoming a real estate attorney at the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray. In 1978, she made history as the firm’s second-ever female partner.

Earlier this year Conan O’Brien released his HBO travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go, itself a spinoff from his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. The former writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons concluded his run of late-night talk shows in 2021 after 28 years.

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