James Olson

Born on October 8, 1930, in Evanston, Illinois, tall (6'3"), reedy, sensitively-looking blond 'James Olson' (qv) was the son of LeRoy Olson, an engineer. He made his stage debut at age 12 as "Hans Brinker" in the Evanston Children's Theatre production of "Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates." He received a BS degree in Speech from Northwestern University before serving in the U.S. Army as a military policeman in 1952 for a two-year stint.A Chicago-based stage actor before moving to New York, James studied with 'Lee Strasberg' (qv) and made his Broadway debut in "The Young and Beautiful." Throughout the late 50's and 60's he continued to find poignant Broadway roles in "J.B." (1958), "Romulus" (1962), "The Chinese Prime Minister" (1964), "The Three Sisters" (1964) and "Of Love Remembered" (1967). The 1966 musical misfire "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (aka "Holly Golightly"), which starred 'Mary Tyler Moore' (qv) and 'Richard Chamberlain' (qv) and featured James in a secondary role, closed just before it reached Broadway.Making a strong TV debut playing baseball legend Mickey Mantle on a 1956 "Kraft Theatre" production, James' film career began with the forgettable action drama _The Sharkfighters (1956)_ (qv), and appeared in better roles in the film noir drama _The Strange One (1957)_ (qv) and the Chekhov classic _The Three Sisters (1966)_ (qv) (as Baron Tuzbach, his Broadway stage role). Better yet, he showed an understated power in his performance as 'Joanne Woodward' (qv)'s suitor in the Oscar-nominated picture _Rachel, Rachel (1968)_ (qv), which gained him the best reviews of his cinematic career. This was followed by a prime scientist role in the classic sci-fi thriller _The Andromeda Strain (1971)_ (qv).It appeared James had finally earned his stripes with these critically-applauded movie roles, but his taciturn personality kept audiences at bay. He continued on impressively with stage roles in "The Glass Menagerie," "The Crucible," "A Safe Place," "Twelve Dreams" and "Winterplay." Despite numerous TV-movie roles in _Paper Man (1971)_ (qv), _Incident on a Dark Street (1973)_ (qv), _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974)_ (qv), _The Sex Symbol (1974)_ (qv), _The Missiles of October (1974)_ (qv), _The Family Nobody Wanted (1975)_ (qv), _Someone I Touched (1975)_ (qv), _Strange New World (1975)_ (qv), _Law and Order (1976)_ (qv) and _The Spell (1977)_ (qv), and regular dramatic guest appearances on such popular TV series as "Medical Center," "The Bold Ones," "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "Police Story," "The F.B.I.," "Mannix," "Harry O," "Maude," "Lou Grant," "Hawaii Five-0" and "Battlestar Galactica," major stardom proved elusive.Olson wrapped up his on-camera career with the films _Ragtime (1981)_ (qv), _Amityville II: The Possession (1982)_ (qv), _Commando (1985)_ (qv) and _Rachel River (1987)_ (qv) and 1990 TV appearances on "The Family Man" and "Murder, She Wrote."::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net