Portrait of James Olson

James Olson

Acting

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.

Born: October 8, 1930

Place of Birth: Evanston, Illinois, USA

Filmography

1989
Rachel River

as Jack Canon

1986
One Police Plaza

as Whitney Zangline

1985
1985
Commando

as Major General Franklin Kirby

1984
Murder, She Wrote

as Clarence La Rue

1984
The Parade

as Andy Janacek

1983
Cave-In!

as Tom Arlen

1982
1981
Ragtime

as Father

1980
The Silent Lovers

as Victor Seastrom

1978
1978
1977
The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer

as Gen. George Armstrong Custer

1977
The Spell

as Glenn

1976
Law and Order

as Insp. Ed Shea

1975
Wonder Woman

as Wotan

1975
1975
Man on the Outside

as Gerald Griffin

1975
Someone I Touched

as Sam Hyatt

1975
1974
The Sex Symbol

as Calvin Bernard

1974
Manhunter

as Walt Hovis

1973
Barnaby Jones

as Randall Stone

1972
Kung Fu

as Damion

1972
1972
1972
The Groundstar Conspiracy

as Senator Stanton

1971
Paper Man

as Art Fletcher

1971
McMillan & Wife

as W.T. Knox

1971
Columbo

as Paul Rifkin

1971
1971
Wild Rovers

as Joe Billings

1971
The Andromeda Strain

as Dr. Mark Hall

1970
San Francisco International Airport

as Professor Theodore Tragis

1970
Crescendo

as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman

1969
Moon Zero Two

as Capt. William H. Kemp

1969
Medical Center

as Dave Toland

1968
The Stalking Moon

as Cavalry Officer (uncredited)

1968
1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Mariss

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Stoner

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Bernie Brown

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Travis Marshall

1968
Hawaii Five-O

as Dr. Kenneth Ames

1968
Rachel, Rachel

as Nick Kazlik

1967
1967
Mannix

as Donald Jordan

1967
Ironside

as Marvin Bosner

1966
The Three Sisters

as Baron Tuzenbach

1965
The F.B.I.

as Sheriff Bill Temple

1965
The F.B.I.

as George Breen

1965
The F.B.I.

as Carl Slovich

1959
Bonanza

as Vance

1957
The Strange One

as Roger Gatt

1956
The Sharkfighters

as Ens. Harold Duncan

1955
Gunsmoke

as Bede Stalcup

1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as General George A. Custer

1950