Nancy Olson
Highest Rated: 99% Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Lowest Rated: 14% Dumbbells (2014)
Birthday: Jul 14, 1928
Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Often playing good girl roles in feature films and on television, Nancy Olson rose from relative obscurity and became a Hollywood star, thanks to a scene-stealing performance in Billy Wilder's film noir masterpiece "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). The Wisconsin-born ingénue breathed liveliness into her character, a vivacious studio assistant and William Holden's love interest, providing a shining spot in an otherwise chilling and emotionally intense drama. Olson received an Academy Award nomination for her engaging performance in the film and landed several other starring roles opposite Holden because of it. Olson's career temporarily stalled in the late 1950s, but she reemerged the following decade with plum roles in Disney family films such as "The Absent-Minded Professor" (1961) and "Son of Flubber" (1963), opposite the likeable Fred MacMurray. Her sheer talent and dedication to her craft inspired other actors and actresses who followed in her footsteps, but it was Olson's breakout role in "Sunset Boulevard" that earned her a place amongst the most beloved stars of classic cinema.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14% | 59% | Dumbbells | Bianca (Character) | - | 2014 |
| 39% | 56% | Making Love | Christine (Character) | - | 1981 |
| 25% | 37% | Airport 1975 | Mrs. Abbott (Character) | - | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Now You See Me, Now You Don't | Louise Merrick (Character) | - | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | 60% | Snowball Express | Sue Baxter (Character) | - | 1972 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Beware of the Watchdog | Ann Latham (Character) | - | 1971 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Smith! | Unknown (Character) | - | 1969 |
| 88% | 47% | Son of Flubber | Elizabeth "Betsy" Brainard (Character) | - | 1963 |
| 83% | 62% | The Absent Minded Professor | Betsy Carlisle (Character) | - | 1961 |
| 86% | 79% | Pollyanna | Nancy Furman (Character) | - | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | 43% | Battle Cry | Mrs. Pat Rogers (Character) | - | 1955 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Boy From Oklahoma | Katie Brannigan (Character) | - | 1954 |
| No Score Yet | 67% | So Big | Dallas O'Mara (Character) | - | 1953 |
| No Score Yet | 42% | Big Jim McLain | Nancy Vallon (Character) | - | 1952 |
| No Score Yet | 30% | Submarine Command | Carol (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | 44% | Force of Arms | Lt. Eleanor MacKay (Character) | - | 1951 |
| No Score Yet | 65% | Union Station | Joyce Willecombe (Character) | - | 1950 |
| 99% | 95% | Sunset Blvd. | Betty Schaefer (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 43% | Mr. Music | Katherine Holbrook (Character) | - | 1950 |
| No Score Yet | 33% | Canadian Pacific | Cecille Gautier (Character) | - | 1949 |
TV
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Odyssey: Driving Around the World | Contestant | 2009 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paper Dolls | Marjorie Harper (Character) | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Barnaby Jones | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1977 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Streets of San Francisco | Jeannie Morris (Guest Star) | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Police Surgeon | Val (Guest Star) | 1975 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Banacek | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1974 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Love Story | Mrs. Ross (Character) | 1973 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gunsmoke | Henrietta Donavan (Guest Star) | 1972 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Name of the Game | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1971 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Big Valley | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1965 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Startime | Unknown (Character) | 1960 |
| No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Unknown (Character) | 1959 |
QUOTES FROM Nancy Olson CHARACTERS
Pollyanna says: Well, I suppose I could be glad because...
Nancy Furman says: Yes, go ahead, darling.
Pollyanna says: No! It was a silly game! I hate it! I'll never want to play it again! Leave me alone!
Nancy Furman says: What did we bring her today?
Pollyanna says: Umm, calf's foot jelly.
Nancy Furman says: You wait and see. She's bound to wish she had chicken, and if we brought her chicken, she'd want she had lamb broth. She's just cantankerous!
Nancy Furman says: Just this one, Mrs. Snow, and I wish this were over with.
Pollyanna says: What's wrong with her?
Nancy Furman says: She's just plain crabby that's what's wrong with her. You never met anyone so cantankerous. If it was Friday, she'd wish it was Tuesday.
Pollyanna says: I like your cousin, Fred, very much.
Nancy Furman says: Oh, he's alright, I guess.
Pollyanna says: He's very handsome and he has a nice smile, but there's something sort of, I don't know, funny about him.
Nancy Furman says: What do you mean "funny?"
Nancy Furman says: What do you mean 'funny?'
Nancy Furman says: What do you mean 'funny'?
Pollyanna says: I know what it is! It's his name. He doesn't look at all like a Fred.
Nancy Furman says: What?!
Pollyanna says: He looks more like a George, to me! [Pollyanna runs off]
Nancy Furman says: Pollyanna! [Nancy chases after her] Wait a minute!
Tillie Lagerlof says: Who's gonna marry her?!
Nancy Furman says: She means Doctor Chilton.
Angelica says: Ha! Fat chance. Who'd wanna marry old pickled-face Harrington?