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James Olson

Actor

James Olson

Born October 8, 1930 in Evanston, Illinois, USADied April 17, 202236 films

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

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From 1952 until 1954, he was a military policeman in the United States Army. He performed stage work in and around Chicago before his 1956 film debut in The Sharkfighters.

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 in the Academy Award nominee for Best Picture Rachel, Rachel 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 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; Hawaii Five-O; Battlestar Galactica; Lou Grant; The Bionic Woman; Wonder Woman; Mannix; Bonanza; Have Gun-Will Travel; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Police Woman; Barnaby Jones; The New Land; Columbo; Maude; The Virginian; The Streets of San Francisco; and Cannon. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Olson (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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The best way into James Olson's work
The Andromeda Strain posterFirst watchThe Andromeda Strain19717.1as Dr. Mark HallWhen virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach

Filmography

36 films as actor
  1. 1989Rachel RiverJack Canon
  2. 1986One Police PlazaWhitney Zangline
  3. 1985North Beach and RawhideBill Cassidy
  4. 1985CommandoMajor General Franklin Kirby
  5. 1984The ParadeAndy Janacek
  6. 1983Cave-In!Tom Arlen
  7. 1982Amityville II: The PossessionFather Adamsky
  8. 1981RagtimeFather
  9. 1980The Silent LoversVictor Seastrom
  10. 1979Visions of Christmas Past
  11. 1978No Prince for My CinderellaBurt Williams
  12. 1978The Mafu CageDavid
  13. 1977The Court-Martial of George Armstrong CusterGen. George Armstrong Custer
  14. 1977The SpellGlenn
  15. 1976Law and OrderInsp. Ed Shea
  16. 1975Strange New WorldSurgeon
  17. 1975Man on the OutsideGerald Griffin
  18. 1975Someone I TouchedSam Hyatt
  19. 1975The Family Nobody WantedCarl Doss
  20. 1974The Sex SymbolCalvin Bernard
  21. 1974A Tree Grows in BrooklynMcShane
  22. 1974ManhunterWalt Hovis
  23. 1973Legend in GraniteMas McGee
  24. 1973Incident on a Dark StreetJoe Dubbs
  25. 1972The Groundstar ConspiracySenator Stanton
  26. 1971Paper ManArt Fletcher
  27. 1971Wild RoversJoe Billings
  28. 1971The Andromeda StrainDr. Mark Hall
  29. 1970CrescendoGeorges Ryman / Jacques Ryman
  30. 1969Moon Zero TwoCapt. William H. Kemp
  31. 1968The Stalking MoonCavalry Officer (uncredited)
  32. 1968Rachel, RachelNick Kazlik
  33. 1966An Enemy of the People
  34. 1966The Three SistersBaron Tuzenbach
  35. 1957The Strange OneRoger Gatt
  36. 1956The SharkfightersEns. Harold Duncan