James Olson

Actor Oct 8 (died age 91) Evanston, Illinois, USA 1950–1990 (40 year career)

6.0 avg rating

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 alongs…

Known For

Film

Commando

Major General Franklin Kirby

Film

The Andromeda Strain

Dr. Mark Hall

Film

Ragtime

Father

Film

Amityville II: The Possession

Father Adamsky

Film

Rachel, Rachel

Nick Kazlik

Film

The Stalking Moon

Cavalry Officer (uncredited)

Film

Wild Rovers

Joe Billings

Film

The Strange One

Roger Gatt

Filmography

Acting (71)

Movies (36)

Rachel River

1989

as Jack Canon

7.0

One Police Plaza

1986

as Whitney Zangline

Commando

1985

as Major General Franklin Kirby

6.7

North Beach and Rawhide

1985

as Bill Cassidy

The Parade

as Andy Janacek

Cave-In!

as Tom Arlen

Amityville II: The Possession

as Father Adamsky

Ragtime

as Father

The Silent Lovers

as Victor Seastrom

Visions of Christmas Past

1979

The Mafu Cage

1978

as David

5.9

No Prince for My Cinderella

1978

as Burt Williams

The Spell

1977

as Glenn

4.9

The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer

1977

as Gen. George Armstrong Custer

2.0

Law and Order

1976

as Insp. Ed Shea

Strange New World

1975

as Surgeon

3.9

Man on the Outside

1975

as Gerald Griffin

Someone I Touched

1975

as Sam Hyatt

4.9

The Family Nobody Wanted

as Carl Doss

Manhunter

as Walt Hovis

The Sex Symbol

as Calvin Bernard

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

1974

as McShane

Incident on a Dark Street

1973

as Joe Dubbs

5.0

Legend in Granite

1973

as Mas McGee

The Groundstar Conspiracy

as Senator Stanton

The Andromeda Strain

as Dr. Mark Hall

Wild Rovers

as Joe Billings

Paper Man

as Art Fletcher

Crescendo

as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman

5.0

Moon Zero Two

1969

as Capt. William H. Kemp

Rachel, Rachel

as Nick Kazlik

The Stalking Moon

as Cavalry Officer (uncredited)

5.9

An Enemy of the People

1966

The Three Sisters

1966

as Baron Tuzenbach

The Strange One

1957

as Roger Gatt

6.4

The Sharkfighters

1956

as Ens. Harold Duncan

5.3

Television (35)

The Family Man

Jake and the Fatman

Murder, She Wrote

as Clarence La Rue

Matt Houston

Battlestar Galactica

as Thane

Project U.F.O.

The Runaways

The Bionic Woman

Wonder Woman

as Wotan

Police Woman

Harry O

The New Land

Barnaby Jones

as Randall Stone

Police Story

The Streets of San Francisco

as Dr. Jonas Rabb

Maude

as Sen. Bob Myers

The Rookies

Kung Fu

as Damion

Columbo

as Paul Rifkin

Cannon

McMillan & Wife

as W.T. Knox

McCloud

San Francisco International Airport

1970

as Professor Theodore Tragis

Medical Center

as Dave Toland

Hawaii Five-O

as Mariss

Lancer

Ironside

as Marvin Bosner

Mannix

as Donald Jordan

The F.B.I.

as Sheriff Bill Temple

Route 66

Bonanza

as Vance

Have Gun, Will Travel

Gunsmoke

as Bede Stalcup

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as General George A. Custer

8.6

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

as Capt. Dicer

5.6