Nelson Olmsted | |
---|---|
Olmsted and his two children in 1947. | |
Born | Leroy Nelson Olmsted Jr. January 28, 1914 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Died | April 8, 1992 78) Torrance, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1937–1978 |
Nelson Olmsted (January 28, 1914, Minneapolis, Minnesota – April 8, 1992, Torrance, California [1] ) was an actor in films and recordings, and on radio and television, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Sometimes billed as Nelson Olmstead, he was best known for an unusual NBC radio series, Sleep No More (1956–57), in which he narrated his own adaptations of terror tales and science-fantasy stories.
After study at the University of Texas, Olmsted began in radio in the late 1930s as an announcer for WBAP in Fort Worth, Texas. When he launched Black Night (1937–1939), a late-night 30-minute horror series, it was only a local program, but it created a sensation, with mail arriving at WBAP from ten states. A review in Radio News took note of the chilling music (by Gene Baugh) and horrific sound effects (by A.M. Woodford). Produced by Ken Douglass, the series began November 5, 1937, with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and then continued on with original scripts by Virginia Wiltten. Olmsted starred and was heard in a variety of different roles.
Within a year, the impact of Black Night catapulted Olmsted to New York, where he was immediately established as NBC's resident storyteller, a position he held for over a decade, beginning with The World's Greatest Short Stories (1939, 1944, 1947) and Dramas by Olmsted (1940–41).
Today, Olmsted is best remembered for his spoken word recordings released by the Vanguard Recording Society. One of these was the LP version of Sleep No More! The album's back cover featured a box in which Olmsted delivered a capsule summary of his life:
At one point, Olmsted lived in Flower Hill, New York, at 243 Mason Drive. [3] [4] A small green space on Mason Drive just north of his former home is named Nelson Olmsted Green in honor of Olmsted. [5]
Olmsted's appearances during the era of live television began in 1950 with The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre and Lights Out , followed by Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1951). The Philco Television Playhouse (1951–52), Kraft Television Theatre (1951–52), Tales of Tomorrow (1952), Hallmark Hall of Fame (1952), Goodyear Television Playhouse (1953), Robert Montgomery Presents (1953–54), Studio One (1954–55), The Phil Silvers Show (1955-59) and NBC Sunday Showcase (1959).
In October 1952, Olmsted replaced Robert Waldrop as the narrator and star of the regional Ohio Story radio and television series. The series, sponsored by Ohio Bell, written by Frank Siedel and produced by Stuart Buchanan, ran for 15 years. At the time the series was the longest-running regional scripted program in the nation.
When the series came to an end in 1961, 1,309 radio and 175 television episodes had been produced. Olmsted narrated and starred in almost all of the television episodes and approximately 300 of the radio episodes. Ray Culley of Cinécraft Productions directed the television episodes. [6] [7]
Olmsted made guest appearances on the CBS court drama series Perry Mason , including the role of murderer Arthur Colemar in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee." He guest-starred in the Fess Parker Daniel Boone series, Season 5 episode 19 as Thaddeus King from Bourbon County, Kentucky. He also guest-starred in a 1961 episode, "A Doctor Comes to Town," of the series Window on Main Street . He continued in television until the mid-1970s.
His film roles included Middle of the Night (1959), That Touch of Mink (1962), Diary of a Madman (1963), Fitzwilly (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). His last movie was Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell (1977).
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | Middle of the Night | Erskine | |
1961 | The Outsider | Radio Announcer | Uncredited |
1961 | Lover Come Back | District Attorney Wesson | Uncredited |
1962 | Moon Pilot | Police Officer Dennis | Uncredited |
1962 | Lad, A Dog | Dog Show Judge | Uncredited |
1962 | That Touch of Mink | Paul Hackett | Uncredited |
1963 | Diary of a Madman | Dr. Borman | |
1964 | Quick Before It Melts | Scientist | |
1964 | Dear Heart | Herb | |
1965 | Hazel - Noblesse Oblige | Mr. Prichard | |
1967 | In Like Flint | Captain | Uncredited |
1967 | The Reluctant Astronaut | Dr. Lowe | Uncredited |
1967 | Fitzwilly | Simmons | |
1969 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Photographer | |
1977 | Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell | Judge |
Raymond William Stacy Burr was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
X Minus One is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, X Minus One has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium.
William Conrad was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he starred in the detective series Cannon.
Lux Radio Theatre, sometimes spelled Lux Radio Theater, a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) ; CBS Radio network (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand.
Mason Adams was an American actor. From the late 1940s until the early 1970s, he was heard in numerous radio programs and voiceovers for countless television commercials, the latter of which he resumed in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 1970s, he moved into acting and from 1977 to 1983 held perhaps his best-known role, that of Managing Editor Charlie Hume on Lou Grant. He also acted in numerous other television and movie roles, most prominently Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and F/X (1986).
Eleanor Audley was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mom, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided two Disney animated classics with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent, the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.
Marvin Elliott Miller was an American actor. Possessing a deep baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor. He is remembered for voicing Robby the Robot in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet (1956), a role he reprised in the lesser-known The Invisible Boy (1957).
WBAP is an AM news/talk radio station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. WBAP is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts with 50,000 watts from a transmitter site in the northwest corner of Mansfield. Its programming is also simulcast on WBAP-FM (93.3) in Haltom City.
Lux Video Theatre is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Stuart Buchanan was an American voice actor, announcer, radio and TV producer, and educator. He is known for his work at The Walt Disney Company as a casting director and voicing the Huntsman in the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and voicing Goofy in The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air (1938).
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.
The Railroad Hour was a radio series of musical dramas and comedies broadcast from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s.
Wide Wide World is a 1955–1958 90-minute documentary series telecast live on NBC on Sunday afternoons at 4pm Eastern. Conceived by network head Pat Weaver and hosted by Dave Garroway, Wide Wide World was introduced on the Producers' Showcase series on June 27, 1955. The premiere episode, featuring entertainment from the US, Canada and Mexico, was the first international North American telecast in the history of the medium.
Author's Playhouse is an anthology radio drama series created by Wynn Wright, that aired on Mutual in 1940–1941, and on the NBC Blue Network from March 5, 1941, until October 1941. It then moved to the NBC Red Network where it was heard until June 4, 1945. Philip Morris was the sponsor between 1942 and 1943.
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on the Columbia Broadcasting System between 1958 and 1960. Three of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
Four Star Playhouse is a radio dramatic anthology series in the United States. The 30-minute program was broadcast on NBC beginning in July 1949 and was sustaining. It lasted only three months. Four Star Playhouse was one of "at least 10" new programs developed for that summer by NBC's [West] Coast programming department. A story in the July 2, 1949, issue of The Billboard reported that NBC "is now keyed to the recent programming drive, launched to offset Columbia Broadcasting System's (CBS) talent raids, and is anxious to use summer hiatus periods to develop shows worthy of fall bankrolling. Hence, the new raft of airers will not be treated as fill-in shows, but produced with an eye to long-term web tenancy." The trade publication Variety called Four Star Playhouse "NBC's answer to CBS' "Family Hour of Stars".
Del Sharbutt was an American radio announcer. The son of "a circuit-riding minister in the Texas Panhandle," he was born in Cleburne, Texas, and died in Palm Desert, California.
Bradbury 13 was a series of radio adaptations of Ray Bradbury stories. The series was created by Michael McDonough, who also adapted the stories, directed and produced the programs in 1983 and '84. Bradbury 13 aired nationally on NPR Playhouse on over 250 radio stations. Ray Bradbury introduced each episode, and Paul Frees acted as the announcer of each of the thirteen stories. Original music was composed by Roger Hoffman and Greg Hansen.
Hallmark Playhouse is an American old-time radio dramatic anthology series. It was broadcast on CBS from June 10, 1948 until February 1, 1953, and was described by one author as "a program that consistently produced the highest levels of production quality and value." Beginning on February 8, 1953, the program underwent changes of title, host, and format. It was broadcast as The Hallmark Hall of Fame until March 27, 1955, still on CBS.
Frank Siedel was an American writer, historian, educator, and broadcaster. Siedel wrote over 1,500 movie, radio, and television scripts and two historical novels - The Ohio Story and Out of The Midwest.