Ken Olin
Birthday: Born in 1954-07-30 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Deathday: Alive
His dark, sincere good looks were steadily put to use on the small screen during the 80s, but, in retrospect, actor Ken Olin will probably be considered more of a major force behind the camera. Born in Chicago, Ken went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and headed for Hollywood in the late 70s. After the typical route of bit parts, he started moving up in leaps and bounds on TV's top shows. A couple of strong, single season regular parts on both Hill Street Blues (1981)and Falcon Crest (1981) ultimately led to his casting as the introspective and quietly sexy Michael Steadman on Thirtysomething (1987), which ran for four seasons and nabbed numerous awards for its liberal writing and sensitive content. Ken co-starred with wife Patricia Wettig on the show, but the multi-Emmy winner Wettig did not play Ken's wife (actress Mel Harris did) and the public was often confused as to who Ken's wife really was. Ken also earned the chance to direct occasionally on Thirtysomething (1987) and this would have a significant impact as to the direction of his career in the years to come. Following Thirtysomething (1987), Ken pursued acting work in mini-movies as both hero ( Police Story: Cop Killer (1988) ) and villain ( Dead by Sunset (1995) ), but almost always seemed on the verge of leaving acting altogether. It was his burgeoning interest in directing that took over, and he has since found steady helming duties on such popular shows as Felicity (1998) and The West Wing (1999). His TV drama Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992)was nominated for three Emmys.
TV Credits
Murder, She Wrote
Character: Perry Revere
An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases....
Brothers and Sisters
Character: David Caplan
The close-knit Walker family deals with struggles and triumphs....
thirtysomething
Character: Michael Steadman
Thirtysomething is an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick for MGM/UA Television Group and The Bedford Falls Company, and aired on ABC. It premiered in the U.S. on September 29, 1987. It lasted four seasons, with the last of its 85 episodes airing on May 28, 1991. The title of the show was designed as thirtysomething by Kathie Broyles, who combined the words of the original title, Thirty Something....
Alias
Character: David McNeil (uncredited)
Sydney Bristow, an agent who has been tricked to believe she is working for the U.S. government, is actually working for a criminal organization named the Alliance of Twelve. Upon learning this, Sydney becomes a double agent for the real CIA....
L.A. Doctors
Character: Dr. Roger Cattan
L.A. Doctors is an American medical drama television series set in a Los Angeles practice. It ran on CBS during the 1998-99 season....
Hotel
Character:
Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty. Based on Arthur Hailey's 1965 novel of the same name, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling and set in the elegant and fictitious St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco. Establishing shots of the hotel were filmed in front of The Fairmont San Francisco atop the Nob Hill neighborhood. Episodes followed the activities of passing guests, as well as the personal ...
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Character: Self - Guest
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Along with the celebrity interviews and musical numbers typical of late-night talk shows, this program make frequent use of odd walk-on characters and frequent "visits" from celebrity guests....
Bay City Blues
Character: Rocky Padillo
Bay City Blues is an American comedy-drama series that aired on NBC from October 1983 to November 1983. The series stars Michael Nouri, Dennis Franz, and Pat Corley, and was created and produced by Steven Bochco. Eight episodes were produced, but only four were aired prior to its cancellation....
EZ Streets
Character: Det. Cameron Quinn
EZ Streets is an American television drama series created by Paul Haggis. It premiered on CBS on October 27, 1996 with a two hour pilot telefilm. The series stars Ken Olin, Joe Pantoliano, and Jason Gedrick....
The Hitchhiker
Character: Steve
A young hitchhiker introduces characters who are about to experience a frightening and sometimes supernatural incident of some kind in this moody anthology series....
Breaking News
Character:
Breaking News is an American drama television series about the fictional Milwaukee-based 24-hour cable news television network I-24, with the motto 'Around the Clock, Around the World.' The series premiered July 17, 2002, on Bravo....
Zoo
Character: Professor Robert Oz
Set amidst a wave of violent animal attacks sweeping across the planet, a young renegade scientist is thrust into a race to unlock the mystery behind this pandemic before time runs out for animals and humans alike....
Hill Street Blues
Character: Harry Garibaldi
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station....
Dead by Sunset
Character:
A doctor meets a handsome, successful man and soon marries him--unaware that he cheated on his first wife, raped her, abused and tortured his children, and when his wife was about to leave him, murdered her....
I'll Take Manhattan
Character: Nat Lammerman
I'll Take Manhattan is a 1987 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's novel of the same name. Screened by CBS, it tells the story of the wealthy Amberville family, who run their own publishing company in New York. After Zachary Amberville, the patriarch of the family, dies, the company is taken over by his unscrupulous brother Cutter. Zachary's children, especially his energetic and intelligent daughter Maxi, begin a battle to regain control of the father's company. I'll Ta...
Stars in the House
Character: Self
In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and theatres across the world closing their curtains indefinitely, SiriusXM host Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley have created Stars in the House, a daily live streamed series to support The Actors Fund and its services....
Hill Street Blues
Character: Det. Harry Garibaldi
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station....
Golden Globe Awards
Character: Self - Audience Member
An annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association....
Falcon Crest
Character: Christopher Rossini
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane Wyman starred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following...
Golden Globe Awards
Character: Self - Presenter
An annual awards ceremony recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association....
Movie Credits
Queens Logic
Character: Ray
When childhood friends Al, Dennis and Eliot get together for Ray's wedding, which may or may not happen, they end up on a roller-coaster ride through reality. During one tumultuous, crazy weekend, they face adulthood and each other with new found maturity and discover what Queens Logic is all about. This comedy takes a look at friendship, loyalty, and love....
Telling Secrets
Character: Det. Jay Jensen
Through a series of elaborate schemes, a wealthy woman arranges for the murder of her husband's mistress and then takes steps so that the crime won't be traced back to her. The detective investigating the murder soon realizes her role in it, and sets out to find a way to pin the murder on her....
Y2K
Character: Nick Cromwell
It's millennium eve. At the stroke of midnight the Y2K computer bug kicks in, causing widespread chaos in the US....
Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston
Character: Charles Stuart
Dramatic recounting of the true story of Bostonians Charles and Carol Stuart and the events before and after October 23, 1989, the night of the latter's murder, supposedly, as the husband related to police, by a young black man out to rob them while they were spending a night on the town....
Nothing But the Truth
Character: Dr. Peter Clayman
A polygraph examiner has an affair with a murder suspect after her test clears him, but new evidence then suggests that he's guilty after all....
Evolution's Child
Character:
Dr. James Mydell is involved in an unfortunate incident of assisted reproduction. For one has to deal with extracting semen of a Bronze Age men recently found in a glacier. On the other, he have to help a couple of friends, the Cordell, solve their fertility problems. But carelessness causes an unexpected samples were confused and finally Elaine Cordell is inseminated with semen of prehistoric man....
The Advocate's Devil
Character: Abe Ringel
A charismatic basketball star (Holt McCallany) is accused of rape. A lawyer (Ken Olin) in need of a big win is brought in to get the star off. The lawyer wins the case, but along the way he discovers that the player may not be as innocent as he leads on to the public. Then things get worse when he discovers the player has led his teen-age daughter to a hotel room for a "special" birthday party for her....
There Must Be a Pony
Character: Jay Savage
Marguerite Sydney is a celebrated Hollywood star attempting a comeback after a stay in a mental hospital, as well as trying to re-establish a relationship with her teenage son, and risking a romance with a mysterious stranger....
A Stoning in Fulham County
Character: Jim Sandler
Religious beliefs clash with the law when an Amish infant is killed in a rural community....
Til There Was You
Character: Gregory
Two strangers, whose paths are always crossing, finally meet when fate steps in. It took them twenty years to fall in love at first sight....
The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie
Character: Ken Olin
After making it to the top of the charts, members of the Silver Boulders, a popular tween rock band, find themselves undermined by internal squabbling as the bandmates seek different creative directions....
Ghost Story
Character: Young Sears James
Four successful elderly gentlemen, members of the Chowder Society, share a gruesome, 50-year-old secret. When one of Edward Wanderley's twin sons dies in a bizarre accident, the group begins to see a pattern of frightening events developing....
Police Story: Cop Killer
Character: Officer Manny Mandell
The best friend and partner of a dedicated cop is killed by a pair of holdup men during a routine traffic check....
The Story of Soaps
Character: Self
This ABC/PEOPLE television special highlights the impact of the soap opera. In today's shifting television landscape, "The Story of Soaps" traces how female creators migrated from radio to television to become the dominant force in daytime for more than three decades. Today, the legacy of the soap opera continues all over prime time and reality t.v. An extensive look is taken at this iconic, impactful genre....
Women at West Point
Character: Board Member
A fictionalized drama about the first women to enter the U.S. Military Academy in 1976 and the reactions they faced....
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac
Character: David Frank
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac is a true story based on the crash of Air Florida flight 90 on January 13, 1982 in Washington D.C. This movie follows the main players throughout the day, with a lot of care taken to re-create what actually went wrong, who died, and who survived. There is a lot of actual footage from the day, as well as accurate representations of aircraft type and airline....