James Olson (October 8, 1930 – April 17, 2022) was an American actor.

Life and career

Olson was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, on October 8, 1930, and he was a graduate of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. From 1952 until 1954, he was a military policeman in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He performed

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

work in and around Chicago before his 1956 film debut in ''

The Sharkfighters ''The Sharkfighters'' is a 1956 American adventure film about U.S. Navy scientists working to invent a shark repellent to protect military personnel down at sea. Directed by Jerry Hopper, it stars Victor Mature, James Olson, and Claude Akins. ...

''. His Broadway credits include ''Of Love Remembered'' (1967), ''Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), ''The Three Sisters'' (1964), ''The Chinese Prime Minister'' (1964), ''Romulus'' (1962), ''J.B.'' (1958), ''The Sin of Pat Muldoon'' (1957), and ''The Young and Beautiful'' (1955). He starred alongside

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

in the Academy Award nominee for Best Picture ''

Rachel, Rachel ''Rachel, Rachel'' is a 1968 American technicolor drama film produced and directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the title role and co-starring Estelle Parsons and James Olson. The screenplay, by Stewart Stern based ...

'' in 1968. He made numerous stage, feature film, and TV appearances from the mid-1950s until 1990, when he retired. On television, Olson portrayed

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

in ''The Life of Mickey Mantle''. His other TV appearances included guest roles on scores of shows, including episodes of '' Kraft Television Theatre; Ironside; Murder, She Wrote;

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the American Midwest (Wisconsin, Kansas, ...

;

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

; Battlestar Galactica;

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

;

The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...

;

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

; Mannix; Bonanza; Have Gun-Will Travel;

Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...

; Police Woman;

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was o ...

;

The New Land ''The New Land'' ( sv, Nybyggarna) is a 1972 Swedish film directed and co-written by Jan Troell and starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, and Pierre Lindstedt. It and its 1971 predecessor, ''The Emi ...

; Columbo''; '' Maude; The Virginian''; ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ...

; and ''

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

Personal life and death

Olson died at his home in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

on April 17, 2022, at the age of 91. He was survived by two nieces, Susan Baker and Robin Olson, a nephew, David James Olson, and three grandnephews.

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1956) as Ens. Harold Duncan *''

The Strange One ''The Strange One'' is a 1957 American film noir about students faced with an ethical dilemma in a Military academy, military college in the Southern United States. It was directed by Jack Garfein, produced by Sam Spiegel, and was adapted from a ...

'' (1957) as Roger Gatt *'' The Three Sisters'' (1966) as Baron Tuzenbach *''

'' (1968) as Nick Kazlik *''

The Stalking Moon ''The Stalking Moon'' is a 1968 American Western film in Technicolor directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. It is based on the novel of the same name by T.V. Olsen. Plot U.S. Army soldiers round up a grou ...

'' (1968) as Cavalry Officer (uncredited) *''

Moon Zero Two ''Moon Zero Two'' is a 1969 British science fiction film from Hammer Films, directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring James Olson, Catherine Schell, Warren Mitchell, and Adrienne Corri. The film takes place on the Moon in the year 2021. A for ...

'' (1969) as Kemp *''

Crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...

'' (1970) as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman *''

The Andromeda Strain ''The Andromeda Strain'' is a 1969 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his first novel under his own name and his sixth novel overall. It is written as a report documenting the efforts of a team of scientists investigating the outbreak o ...

'' (1971) as Dr. Mark Hall *''

Wild Rovers ''Wild Rovers'' is a 1971 American Western film directed by Blake Edwards and starring William Holden and Ryan O'Neal. Originally intended as a three-hour epic, it was heavily edited by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer without Edwards' knowledge, including ...

'' (1971) as Joe Billings *'' Paper Man'' (1971) as Art Fletcher *''Columbo: Etude in Black'' (1972, TV movie) as Paul Rifkin *''

The Groundstar Conspiracy ''The Groundstar Conspiracy'' is a 1972 American neo noir crime film directed by Lamont Johnson. It stars George Peppard and Michael Sarrazin. Douglas Heyes' screenplay (written under his frequent pseudonym, Matthew Howard) was adapted very fr ...

'' (1972) as Sen. Stanton *''

The Missiles of October ''The Missiles of October'' is a 1974 docudrama made-for-television play about the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The title evokes the 1962 book ''The Guns of August'' by Barbara Tuchman about the missteps amongst the great powers and the ...

'' (1974, TV movie) as McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs *'' The Spell'' (1977) as Glenn *''

The Mafu Cage ''The Mafu Cage'' (also released as ''My Sister, My Love'', ''Deviation'' and ''Don't Ring the Doorbell'') is a 1978 American psychological horror film directed by Karen Arthur, and starring Carol Kane and Lee Grant. Its plot follows two siste ...

'' (1978) as David *''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

'' (1981) as Father *'' Amityville II: The Possession'' (1982) as Father Adamsky *''

Cave-In! ''Cave-In!'' (sometimes listed as ''Cave In!'') is a 1983 American made-for-television action disaster film starring Dennis Cole, Leslie Nielsen and James Olson. The movie was produced by Irwin Allen in 1979 in association with Warner Bros ...

'' (1983) as Tom Arlen *''

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'' (1985) as Major General Franklin Kirby *''

Rachel River ''Rachel River'' is a 1987 comedy-drama film about a young journalist who returns to her Minnesota hometown to reexamine her life. The film was directed by Sandy Smolan, and stars Pamela Reed, Viveca Lindfors, Željko Ivanek, James Olson, and ...

'' (1987) as Jack Canon

References

External links

* * *
James Olson
at

Internet Off-Broadway Database The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway. The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundatio ...

James Olson
at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

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Actors Studio audio collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, James 1930 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Military personnel from Illinois Northwestern University alumni Male actors from Evanston, Illinois Western (genre) television actors