--- name: "James Olson" canonical: "https://film.one/person/james-olson" roles: ["Actor"] born: "8 October 1930" died: "17 April 2022" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-20T05:06:11.781851+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # James Olson Actor. Born 8 October 1930 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. Died 17 April 2022. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 8 October 1930, Evanston, Illinois, USA - **Died:** 17 April 2022 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Olson_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1680915, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0647921/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/65508 ## Biography James Olson (8 October 1930 – 17 April 2022) was an American actor. Born in Evanston, Illinois, he graduated from Northwestern University and served as a military policeman in the United States Army from 1952 to 1954. Olson began with stage work in Chicago and made his Broadway debut in *The Young and Beautiful* (1955). His credits included *J.B.* (1958), *Romulus* (1962), *The Three Sisters* (1964) and *Of Love Remembered* (1967). His film debut came in *The Sharkfighters* (1956). He played Nick Kazlik opposite Joanne Woodward in the 1968 film *Rachel, Rachel*. Olson appeared in films including *The Andromeda Strain* (1971), *Wild Rovers* (1971), *Amityville II: The Possession* (1982) and *Commando* (1985). He was a frequent guest star on television series such as *Bonanza*, *Columbo*, *Little House on the Prairie*, *The Bionic Woman*, *Battlestar Galactica*, *Wonder Woman* and *Murder, She Wrote*. He retired in the early 1990s. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com, deadline.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Rachel, Rachel* (1968), Fi1m 73, as Nick Kazlik — [page](https://film.one/film/rachel-rachel.md) ## Complete filmography (73) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Family Man* (1990), series, Actor - *Rachel River* (1989), as Jack Canon - *Jake and the Fatman* (1987), series, Actor - *One Police Plaza* (1986), as Whitney Zangline - *North Beach and Rawhide* (1985), as Bill Cassidy - *Commando* (1985), as Major General Franklin Kirby - *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Clarence La Rue - *The Parade* (1984), as Andy Janacek - *Cave-In!* (1983), as Tom Arlen - *Matt Houston* (1982), series, Actor - *Amityville II: The Possession* (1982), as Father Adamsky - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Jack Canon - *Ragtime* (1981), as Father - *The Silent Lovers* (1980), as Victor Seastrom - *Visions of Christmas Past* (1979), Actor - *Battlestar Galactica* (1978), series, as Thane - *The Runaways* (1978), series, Actor - *No Prince for My Cinderella* (1978), as Burt Williams - *The Mafu Cage* (1978), as David - *Project U.F.O.* (1978), series, Actor - *The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer* (1977), as Gen. George Armstrong Custer - *The Spell* (1977), as Glenn - *Law and Order* (1976), as Insp. Ed Shea - *The Bionic Woman* (1976), series, Actor - *Wonder Woman* (1975), series, as Wotan - *Strange New World* (1975), as Surgeon - *Man on the Outside* (1975), as Gerald Griffin - *Someone I Touched* (1975), as Sam Hyatt - *The Family Nobody Wanted* (1975), as Carl Doss - *The Sex Symbol* (1974), as Calvin Bernard - *The New Land* (1974), series, Actor - *Police Woman* (1974), series, Actor - *Harry O* (1974), series, Actor - *Little House on the Prairie* (1974), series, as Reverend Jacob Danforth - *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* (1974), as McShane - *Manhunter* (1974), as Walt Hovis - *Legend in Granite* (1973), as Mas McGee - *Police Story* (1973), series, Actor - *Barnaby Jones* (1973), series, as Randall Stone - *Incident on a Dark Street* (1973), as Joe Dubbs - *Kung Fu* (1972), series, as Damion - *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, as Dr. Jonas Rabb - *Maude* (1972), series, as Sen. Bob Myers - *The Rookies* (1972), series, Actor - *The Groundstar Conspiracy* (1972), as Senator Stanton - *Paper Man* (1971), as Art Fletcher - *McMillan & Wife* (1971), series, as W.T. Knox - *Columbo* (1971), series, as Paul Rifkin — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/columbo.md) - *Cannon* (1971), series, Actor - *Wild Rovers* (1971), as Joe Billings - *The Andromeda Strain* (1971), as Dr. Mark Hall - *San Francisco International Airport* (1970), series, as Professor Theodore Tragis - *Crescendo* (1970), as Georges Ryman / Jacques Ryman - *McCloud* (1970), series, Actor - *Moon Zero Two* (1969), as Capt. William H. Kemp - *Medical Center* (1969), series, as Dave Toland - *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Mariss, Stoner, Bernie Brown, Travis Marshall, Dr. Kenneth Ames - *The Stalking Moon* (1968), as Cavalry Officer (uncredited) - *Lancer* (1968), series, Actor - *Rachel, Rachel* (1968), as Nick Kazlik — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/rachel-rachel.md) - *Mannix* (1967), series, as Donald Jordan - *Ironside* (1967), series, as Marvin Bosner - *An Enemy of the People* (1966), Actor - *The Three Sisters* (1966), as Baron Tuzenbach - *The F.B.I.* (1965), series, as Sheriff Bill Temple, George Breen, Carl Slovich - *Route 66* (1960), series, Actor - *Bonanza* (1959), series, as Vance - *Have Gun, Will Travel* (1957), series, Actor - *The Strange One* (1957), as Roger Gatt - *The Sharkfighters* (1956), as Ens. Harold Duncan - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Bede Stalcup - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as General George A. Custer - *Robert Montgomery Presents* (1950), series, as Capt. Dicer ## Gallery - ![James Olson](https://film.one/media/person/1243372/gallery-ab1b446d5807.jpg) James Olson — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/James_Olson_Reverend_Jacob_Danforth_Little_House_on_the_Prairie_1969.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![James Olson](https://film.one/media/person/1243372/gallery-dc9d3c22ec87.jpg) James Olson — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/james-olson