Moroni Olsen (November 22, 1889November 22, 1954) was an American actor.

Early life and education

Olsen was born on November 22, 1889, in Ogden, Utah, to Latter-day Saint parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha ( Hoverholst) Olsen, who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. His father was Bishop of the Fourth Ward of Ogden.

In 1913 Olsen graduated from the Leland Powers School of Expression in Boston. Olsen studied at Weber Stake Academy, the predecessor of Weber State University. He then went to study at the University of Utah, where one of his teachers was Maud May Babcock. During World War I, he sold war bonds for the United States Navy. He also studied and performed in the eastern United States around this time.

After he had taught dramatic art at Ogden High School, Olsen spent 13 weeks on a Chautauqua tour of Montana, Oregon, and Washington. He and three other actors presented the three-act play Carson of the North Woods as a one-night program at each of the group's stops.

Career In 1920, he was teaching drama at the Cornish School (later Cornish College of the Arts) in Seattle, Washington.

In 1923, Olsen organized the Moroni Olsen Players, based in Ogden. They performed at both Ogden's Orpheum Theatre and at various other locations spread from Salt Lake City to Seattle.

After working on Broadway, he made his film debut in a 1935 adaptation of The Three Musketeers. He later played a different role in a 1939 comedy version of the story, starring Don Ameche as D'Artagnan and the Ritz Brothers as three dimwitted lackeys who are forced to substitute for the musketeers, who have drunk themselves into a stupor. He appeared in scores of films during his career.

His most famous role was the voice of the Slave in The Magic Mirror in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Olsen provided the voice of the senior angel in It's a Wonderful Life. His roles before the camera include a Secret Service officer in Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious and the father-in-law of Elizabeth Taylor in the film comedies Father of the Bride (1950) and Father's Little Dividend (1951).

Olsen was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, being a teacher of youth in the Hollywood Ward. He also was director of the Pilgrimage Play of Hollywood for several years.

Death Olsen died in his apartment in Los Angeleson November 22, 1954, of a heart attack at the age of 65. He is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Broadway roles

Mary of Scotland (1933) as John Knox

Selected filmography

The Three Musketeers (1935) as Porthos Annie Oakley (1935) as William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935) as Mayor Jim Cargan We're Only Human (1935) as Inspector J.R. Curran Yellow Dust (1936) as Missouri The Farmer in the Dell (1936) as Chester Hart Two in Revolt (1936) as Cyrus Benton The Witness Chair (1936) as Lieutenant Poole M'Liss (1936) as Jake Mary of Scotland (1936) as John Knox Grand Jury (1936) as Davis, Taylor's Bodyguard Mummy's Boys (1936) as Dr. Edward Sterling The Plough and the Stars (1936) as Irish Leader The Soldier and the Lady (1937) as Tartar Chief (voice, uncredited) The Life of Emile Zola (1937) as Capt. Guignet (uncredited) The Last Gangster (1937) as Detective Danny Shea (uncredited) Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937) as Jonathan (uncredited) Adventure's End (1937) as First Mate Rand Husk Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) as Magic Mirror (voice, uncredited) Gold Is Where You Find It (1938) as Senator Hearst Kidnapped (1938) as Douglas Marie Antoinette (1938) as Bearded Leader of the People (uncredited) That Certain Age (1938) as Fullerton's Associate (uncredited) There Goes My Heart (1938) as Fisherman (uncredited) Submarine Patrol (1938) as The Fleet Captain Kentucky (1938) as John Dillon – 1938 Homicide Bureau (1939) as Capt. Haines Off the Record (1939) as Juvenal Court Judge The Three Musketeers (1939) as Bailiff Rose of Washington Square (1939) as Major Buck Russell Sons of Liberty (1939, Short) as Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance (uncredited) Code of the Secret Service (1939) as The Friar Susannah of the Mounties (1939) as Supt. Andrew Standing Dust Be My Destiny (1939) as Slim Jones – Defense Attorney Allegheny Uprising (1939) as Calhoon That's Right—You're Wrong (1939) as Jonathan Forbes Barricade (1939) as Shanghai Managing Editor Invisible Stripes (1939) as The Warden Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) as Maj. Terry Virginia City (1940) as Dr. Robert Cameron If I Had My Way (1940) as Mr. Blair Brigham Young (1940) as Doc Richards East of the River (1940) as Judge R.D. Davis Life with Henry (1940) as Sylvanus Q. Sattherwaite Santa Fe Trail (1940) as Robert E. Lee Three Sons o' Guns (1941) as Philip Talbot Dive Bomber (1941) as Senior Surgeon at San Diego One Foot in Heaven (1941) as Dr. John Romer Dangerously They Live (1941) as Mr. Goodwin Nazi Agent (1942) as Brenner Sundown Jim (1942) as Andrew Barr Ship Ahoy (1942) as Inspector Davis (uncredited) My Favorite Spy (1942) as Major Allen The Glass Key (1942) as Ralph Henry Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942) as Dr. Olcott Reunion in France (1942) as Paul Grebeau Air Force (1943) as Col. Blake Mission to Moscow (1943) as Col. Faymonville We've Never Been Licked (1943) as Commandant Madame Curie (1943) as President of Businessman's Board (uncredited) The Song of Bernadette (1943) as Chaplain (uncredited) Buffalo Bill (1944) as Sen. Frederici Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944) as Caliph Hassan Cobra Woman (1944) as MacDonald Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944) as Riley Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) as General (uncredited) The Valley of Decision (1945) as Richard Kane (uncredited) Pride of the Marines (1945) as Capt. Burroughs Behind City Lights (1945) as Curtis Holbrook Mildred Pierce (1945) as Inspector Peterson Week-End at the Waldorf (1945) as House Detective Blake Don't Fence Me In (1945) as Henry Bennett, aka Harry Benson From This Day Forward (1946) as Tim Bagley (uncredited) Night in Paradise (1946) as High Priest The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) as Bishop Martin Boys' Ranch (1946) as Judge Henderson Notorious (1946) as Walter Beardsley The Strange Woman (1946) as Rev. Thatcher It's a Wonderful Life (1946) as Senior Angel (voice, uncredited) The Beginning or the End (1947) as Dr. Arthur H. Compton The Long Night (1947) as Chief of Police Bob McManus Possessed (1947) as Dr. Ames Life with Father (1947) as Dr. Humphries Black Gold (1947) as Don Toland That Hagen Girl (1947) as Trenton Gateley High Wall (1947) as Dr. Philip Dunlap Call Northside 777 (1948) as Parole Board Chairman Up in Central Park (1948) as Big Jim Fitts Command Decision (1948) as Congressman Stone The Fountainhead (1949) as Chairman Task Force (1949) as Adm. Ames Samson and Delilah (1949) as Targil Father of the Bride (1950) as Herbert Dunstan Payment on Demand (1951) as Arnold Barton (uncredited) Father's Little Dividend (1951) as Herbert Dunstan No Questions Asked (1951) as Henry Manston Submarine Command (1951) as Rear Adm. Joshua Rice Lone Star (1952) as Sam Houston At Sword's Point (1952) as Porthos Washington Story (1952) as Speaker of the House So This Is Love (1953) as Arnold Reuben (uncredited) Marry Me Again (1953) as Mr. Courtney The Long, Long Trailer (1954) as Mr. Tewitt Sign of the Pagan (1954) as Pope Leo I (posthumous release; final film role)

References

External links

Moroni Olsen at Turner Classic Movies