Merlin Olsen

Acting

Merlin Olsen

Born — Died

1940-09-15 — 2010-03-10

Place of birth

Logan, Utah, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

19 titles

Merlin Jay Olsen (September 15, 1940 – March 11, 2010) was an American professional football player, announcer, and actor. For his entire 15-year professional football career (1962 - 1976), he was a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl a then-record 14 times (surpassed only by Tom Brady). He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. As an actor, Olsen is best known for portraying farmer Jonathan Garvey on the fourth through seventh seasons of Little House on the Prairie (1977 - 1981). He went on to star as the title character in the Western series Father Murphy (1981 - 1983).

Known for

Film credits

1970s · 4 titles

One More Train to Rob poster
5.4

Harker Flet and compatriots Timothy X. Nolan and Katy, along with three other men, steal $40,000 in money and jewelry from a California train in the gold-mining country of the 1880's. The six split up and while they are hiding out awaiting the rendezvous to divide the loot, Hark is cornered, framed and sent to prison. He is released after two-and-a-half years and sets out to find Katy and Nolan and get his share of the loot.

One More Train to Rob

1971

A Fire in the Sky poster
5.8

Astronomers discover a comet that they believe will crash into Phoenix, Arizona. They attempt to warn officials, but without 100% certainty, the governor of Arizona is reticent to cause a panic. Even after a television news reporter discovers the truth and threatens to go live with it, the response is understated enough to doom some residents of Phoenix to certain death.

A Fire in the Sky

1978

Something Big poster
5.4

Joe Baker has a dream. He wants to do 'something big.' When he needs a Gatling gun to accomplish this, he seeks out a black marketeer. The price he wants for the gun? A woman! So Baker kidnaps a woman off of the stagecoach, only to find that she is the wife of the commandant of the local Cavalry detachment. Things get further complicated when a girl named Dover McBride shows up. She has come to force Baker to marry her and return east, as he promised to do four years earlier

Something Big

1971

Mitchell poster
3.3

A tough-guy cop pursues two drug runners across the city to bust a large syndicate. Very much an anti-hero, Mitchell often ignores the orders of his superiors and demonstrates disdain for by-the-book development work as well as normal social graces.

Mitchell

1975

Series credits

Little House on the Prairie poster
8.0

When the big woods of Wisconsin becomes a difficult spot for hunting, Charles Ingalls reluctantly decides to move his family, pioneering west. Their life on the farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s is full of adventure, tragedy, and triumph. Based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Little House on the Prairie

1974

Petticoat Junction poster
5.9

The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.

Petticoat Junction

1963

Monday Night Football poster
NR

Howard Cosell hosted the first instalment of Monday Night Football.

Monday Night Football

1970

Monday Night Football poster
NR

Howard Cosell hosted the first instalment of Monday Night Football.

Monday Night Football

1970

Monday Night Football poster
NR

Howard Cosell hosted the first instalment of Monday Night Football.

Monday Night Football

1970

Shindig! poster
6.4

Shindig! is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz. The original pilot was rejected by ABC and David Sontag, then Executive Producer of ABC, redeveloped and completely redesigned the show. A new pilot with a new cast of artists was shot starring Sam Cooke. That pilot aired as the premiere episode.

Shindig!

1964

Father Murphy poster
8.1

A good-hearted frontiersman poses as a priest to start an orphanage for a group of kids whose homes have been destroyed by an evil mining manager.

Father Murphy

1981

The Brian Keith Show poster
6.2

The Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.

The Brian Keith Show

1972

No artwork available
7.0

Aaron's Way is a 1988 American family drama series that aired on NBC. The series stars Merlin Olsen as Aaron Miller, the husband and father of an Amish family that moves to California. The series follows the attempts of family members to adapt to California culture while retaining their personal values. Also appearing on the series were Samantha Mathis and Belinda Montgomery.

Aaron's Way

1988

Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure poster
8.6

Montana's first hand account of his career from the earliest days to national champion at Notre Dame and becoming a four-time Super Bowl winner and a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure

2022

Fathers and Sons poster
7.5

Fathers and Sons is an American sitcom that aired from April 6 until May 4, 1986.

Fathers and Sons

1986

Kung Fu poster
7.7

The adventures of a Shaolin Monk as he wanders the American West armed only with his skill in Kung Fu.

Kung Fu

1972