James Olson (actor)

James Olson (born October 8, 1930) is an American actor.

Life and career

Olson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Northwestern University. He performed stage work in and around Chicago before his 1956 film debut in The Sharkfighters. He starred alongside Joanne Woodward in Academy Award-nominated best picture Rachel, Rachel in 1966. Olson made numerous stage, feature film and TV appearances from the mid-1950s until the early 1990s.

Olson's television appearances include guest roles on scores of shows, including episodes of Kraft Television Theatre, 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, and Maude.

Filmography

• The Sharkfighters (1956)
• The Three Sisters (1966)
• Rachel, Rachel (1968)
• Moon Zero Two (1969)
• The Andromeda Strain (1971)
• Paper Man (1971)
• The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972)
• The Streets of San Francisco (TV series, 1972 guest appearance).
• Columbo (TV series, 1972 guest appearance)
• Manhunter (1974 TV movie pilot to The Manhunter)
• The Missiles of October (1974 TV movie)
• Law and Order (1976 TV-movie)
• Ragtime (1981)
• Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
• Commando (1985)
• Rachel River (1987)

External links

• James Olson at the Internet Movie Database
• James Olson at the Internet Broadway Database
• James Olson at Internet Off-Broadway Database
• James Olson at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection