Ken Olfson


Ken Olfson was an American film, theater and television actor in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

Olfson was born on April 2, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts. He began acting at the age of ten and was active in Boston Children's Theatre until he was 18. He attended Syracuse University before studying at the American Theatre Wing. In 1967, he created the role of Dr. Schoenfeld in Bruce Jay Friedman's off-Broadway play, "Scuba Duba." He was cast as a standby for Charles Nelson Riley in Neil Simon's God's Favorite which was produced on Broadway in 1974.

Career

In 1976, he co-starred on The Nancy Walker Show as Terry Folson, the first gay principal character on American television. In 1978, he appeared on the short-lived series Flying High. Other series included: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, One Day at a Time, Happy Days, Charlie's Angels, Eight is Enough, Gimme a Break, Three's Company, Diff'rent Strokes, The Jeffersons, Murder She Wrote, Trapper John M.D, and Amazing Stories. His films included: Spaceballs, Mr. Mom, Odd Jobs, and . After many years of volunteering as a lay counselor at Southern California Counseling Center, he was given a staff position as the head of the Training Lay Counselors program, and asked to design it from scratch.

Personal life and death

In later life, he became a lay counselor at the Southern California Counseling Center and headed a group designed to help other lay counselors in organizations across the city. This group was well-attended and wildly popular. Ken had a twin, Lewy Olfson, who wrote children's books. Olfson died of a heart attack on December 31, 1997, in Los Angeles after a two-month illness. He was 60 years old.

Filmography

Film

Television