{{Short description|American actor (1930–2022)}} {{Infobox person | name = James Olson | image = James Olson Reverend Jacob Danforth Little House on the Prairie 1969.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Olson in ''Little House on the Prairie'', 1979 | birth_name = James Olson | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|10|08}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|4|17|1930|10|08}} | death_place = Malibu, California, U.S. | birth_place = Evanston, Illinois, U.S. | years_active = 1956–2001 | occupation = Actor | spouse = | children = | alma_mater = Northwestern University }}
'''James Olson''' (October 8, 1930 – April 17, 2022)<ref name="ibdb">{{cite web |title=("James Olson" search results) |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/james-olson-96234 |website=Internet Broadway Database |access-date= August 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809013731/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/james-olson-96234 |archive-date=August 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name=malibu>{{cite news |title=Obituary: James R. Olson |newspaper=The Malibu Times |url=https://malibutimes.com/obituary-james-r-olson |access-date=2022-05-01 |date=2022-04-28 |language=en-US |df=mdy-all}}</ref> was an American actor.
==Early life== Olson was born in Evanston, Illinois,<ref name=ibdb/> on October 8, 1930, and he was a graduate of Northwestern University.<ref name=ci>{{cite magazine |date=July 2022 |page=44 |title=James Olson, 91 |magazine=Classic Images}}</ref> From 1952 until 1954, he was a military policeman in the United States Army.<ref name="bg">{{cite news |title=James Olson, 'Promising' Young Actor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34705374/james_olson/ |access-date= August 9, 2019 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 17, 1957 |page=48 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Career== He performed stage work in and around Chicago before his 1956 film debut in ''The Sharkfighters''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b76a6b374|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229010233/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b76a6b374 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 29, 2017 |title=The Shark Fighters (1956) |website=British Film Institute |access-date=January 17, 2025}}</ref>
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).<ref name=ibdb/>
He starred alongside Joanne Woodward in the Academy Award nominee for Best Picture ''Rachel, Rachel''<ref>{{cite news |title=James Olson Enjoys Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34706518/james_olson/ |access-date= August 9, 2019 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=November 26, 1969 |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> 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''.<ref name=bg/> 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-as Owen Deaver S1 E32 (1958); Marcus Welby, M.D.; Police Woman; Barnaby Jones; The New Land; Columbo''; ''Maude; The Virginian''; ''The Streets of San Francisco''; and ''Cannon''.
==Death== Olson died at his home in Malibu, California 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.<ref name=malibu/>
==Selected filmography== *''The Sharkfighters'' (1956) as Ens. Harold Duncan *''The Strange One'' (1957) as Roger Gatt *''The Three Sisters'' (1966) as Baron Tuzenbach *''Rachel, Rachel'' (1968) as Nick Kazlik *''The Stalking Moon'' (1968) as Cavalry Officer (uncredited) *''Moon Zero Two'' (1969) as Kemp *''Crescendo'' (1970) as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman *''The Andromeda Strain'' (1971) as Dr. Mark Hall *''Wild Rovers'' (1971) as Joe Billings *''Paper Man'' (1971) as Art Fletcher *''Columbo: Etude in Black'' (1972, TV movie) as Paul Rifkin *''The Groundstar Conspiracy'' (1972) as Sen. Stanton *''The Rookies'' (1973) as Steve Wainz *''Incident on a Dark Street'' (1973) as Joe Dubbs *''The Missiles of October'' (1974, TV movie) as McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs *''Strange New World'' (1975, TV movie) as Surgeon *''The Spell'' (1977) as Glenn *''The Mafu Cage'' (1978) as David *''Hawaii Five-O'' (1978) as Stoner *''Ragtime'' (1981) as Father *''Amityville II: The Possession'' (1982) as Father Adamsky *''Cave-In!'' (1983) as Tom Arlen *''Commando'' (1985) as Major General Franklin Kirby *''Rachel River'' (1987) as Jack Canon
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|id=0647921|name=James Olson}} * {{tcmdb name}} * {{IBDB name}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121006014125/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&keyword=name&first=James&last=Olson&middle= James Olson] at Internet Off-Broadway Database * [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;type=simple;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;q1=James%20Olson;view=reslist;subview=detail;sort=freq;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a James Olson] at the University of Wisconsin's [https://web.archive.org/web/20140502211533/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a Actors Studio audio collection]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, James}} Category:1930 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:Military personnel from Illinois Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:Male actors from Evanston, Illinois Category:Western (genre) television actors