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 service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

. He performed stage 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. T ...

''. 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 ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chees ...

; Ironside;

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The seri ...

;

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;

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

;

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;

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, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

;

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...

;

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

; 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;

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC fr ...

''; '' 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 college in the Southern United States. It was directed by Jack Garfein, produced by Sam Spiegel, and was adapted from a novel and stage p ...

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

'' (1968) as Nick Kazlik *'' The Stalking Moon'' (1968) as Cavalry Officer (uncredited) *'' Moon Zero Two'' (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'' (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'' (1974, TV movie) as McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs *'' The Spell'' (1977) as Glenn *'' The Mafu Cage'' (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 *''

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'' (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
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 Stat ...

'
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