James Olson

James Olson

Deceased · Born: Oct 8, 1930 · Died: Apr 17, 2022

Personal Details

Born Oct 8, 1930 Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Parents
  • LeRoy Olson
  • Florence M. Nelson
Relatives
  • LeRoy Raymond Olson Jr. (Sibling)

Biography

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

Career

1988
Rachel River
Rachel River as Jack Canon
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1986
One Police Plaza
One Police Plaza as Whitney Zangline
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1985
Commando
Commando as Major General Franklin Kirby
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1984
The Parade
The Parade as Andy Janacek
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1982
Amityville II: The Possession
Amityville II: The Possession as Father Adamsky
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1981
Ragtime
Ragtime as Father
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1980
The Silent Lovers
The Silent Lovers as Victor Seastrom
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Cave in!
Cave in! as Tom Arlen
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1978
The Mafu Cage
The Mafu Cage as David
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1977
The Spell
The Spell as Glen
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The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
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Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame as General George A. Custer
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1976
Law and Order
Law and Order as Insp. Ed Shea
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1975
The Family Nobody Wanted
The Family Nobody Wanted as Carl Doss
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Strange New World
Strange New World as Surgeon
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Someone I Touched
Someone I Touched as Sam Hyatt
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Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman as Wotan
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Maude
Maude
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1974
The Sex Symbol
The Sex Symbol as Calvin Bernard
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Manhunter
Manhunter as Walt Hovis
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as McShane
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1973
Legend in Granite
Legend in Granite as Mas McGee
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Incident on a Dark Street
Incident on a Dark Street as Joe Dubbs
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Ironside
Ironside
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1972
The Groundstar Conspiracy
The Groundstar Conspiracy as Senator Stanton
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The Streets of San Francisco
Columbo
Columbo as Paul Rifkin
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Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke as Bede Stalcup
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1971
Paper Man
Paper Man as Art Fletcher
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Wild Rovers
Wild Rovers as Joe Billings
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The Andromeda Strain
The Andromeda Strain as Dr. Mark Hall
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Cannon
Cannon
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Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O as Mariss
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1970
Crescendo
Crescendo as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman
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1969
Moon Zero Two
Moon Zero Two as Capt. William H. Kemp
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1968
Rachel, Rachel
Rachel, Rachel as Nick Kazlik
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1966
NET Playhouse
NET Playhouse as Hovstad
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The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters as Baron Tuzenbach
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1957
The Strange One
The Strange One as Roger Gatt
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Have Gun - Will Travel
1956
The Sharkfighters
The Sharkfighters as Ens. Harold Duncan
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