Olson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 14, 1928, and raised there, along with her brother, David.
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Her parents were Evelyn Bertha (née Bergstrom), who was of Swedish descent, and Henry John Olson, a physician.[2]
Union Station (1950)Olson in a 1956 Ford Star Jubilee TV special
Career
Olson was signed to a film contract by Paramount Pictures in 1948, and, after a few supporting roles, producers began to consider her for more prominent parts. She was up for the role of Delilah in Cecil B. DeMille's film Samson and Delilah (1949), for which Olson later said she was not suited. She was passed over in favor of Hedy Lamarr.
Her first big role came in Canadian Pacific (also 1949) with Randolph Scott, then Billy Wilder cast her for his upcoming project. In Sunset Boulevard[1] (1950), she played Betty Schaefer, for which she gained an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her pairing with William Holden was considered a success, and she appeared with him in three other films (Union Station, Force of Arms, and Submarine Command, the second and third released the following year), but none repeated their success in Sunset Boulevard.
Olson's success in "Sunset Boulevard" also led to her being cast in the 09/15/1950 episode of the radio program Dimension X, titled "Hello Tomorrow".
Other film credits include several films for Warner Bros. such as Big Jim McLain (1952), So Big (1953) and Battle Cry (1955).
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she did guest roles on television. Olson guest-starred on the Television series The Big Valley playing the mother of Ron Howard in the December 1, 1965, episode titled Night of the Wolf. Olson is the only female guest starring on The Big Valley to ever marry the character Nick Barkley.
Olson has been retired since the mid-1980s, although she made a brief, uncredited appearance in Flubber, the 1997 remake of The Absent-Minded Professor , and Dumbbells (2014).
Personal life
In 1950, Olson became the third wife of lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. They had two daughters, Liza and Jennifer.[3] They divorced in 1957.
^"Obstetrics Professor at UCLA Dies". Los Angeles Times. January 16, 1963. p. B15. ProQuest168285701. Dr. Henry J. Olson, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UCLA Medical School, died Tuesday at the age of 68. [...] He leaves his wife, Evelyn Gergstrom [sic]; a daughter, actress Nancy Olson; a son, David, and two grandchildren. See also:
"United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:K72M-65Y : Wed Jul 12 17:13:05 UTC 2023), Entry for Henry John Olson and Evelyn Olson, 1940.
"California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP6Q-J72 : 26 November 2014), Evelyn Bertha Olson, 25 Feb 1979; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
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