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Ken Olin

Ken Olin

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.

Personal information

Birthday

1954-07-30

Birth Place

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Movies and TV shows :

A Stoning in Fulham County

A Stoning in Fulham County

1988

5.3

Movie
poster

Alias

2001

6.7

TV
poster

Bay City Blues

1983

5.0

TV
poster

Breaking News

2002

5.0

TV
poster

Brothers and Sisters

2006

7.1

TV
poster

Dead by Sunset

1995

7.4

TV
Evolution's Child

Evolution's Child

1999

2.0

Movie
poster

EZ Streets

1996

6.4

TV
poster

Falcon Crest

1981

5.6

TV
Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac

Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac

1984

4.7

Movie
Ghost Story

Ghost Story

1981

6.0

Movie
poster

Golden Globe Awards

1944

6.8

TV
Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston

Goodnight Sweet Wife: A Murder in Boston

1990

5.0

Movie
poster

Hill Street Blues

1981

7.6

TV
poster

Hotel

1982

6.8

TV
poster

I'll Take Manhattan

1987

5.8

TV
poster

L.A. Doctors

1998

7.0

TV
poster

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

1993

7.1

TV
poster

Murder, She Wrote

1984

7.5

TV
Nothing But the Truth

Nothing But the Truth

1995

0.0

Movie
Police Story: Cop Killer

Police Story: Cop Killer

1988

3.0

Movie
Queens Logic

Queens Logic

1991

5.8

Movie
poster

Stars in the House

2020

0.0

TV
Telling Secrets

Telling Secrets

1993

4.6

Movie
The Advocate's Devil

The Advocate's Devil

1997

6.6

Movie
poster

The Hitchhiker

1983

6.1

TV
The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie

The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie

2005

5.1

Movie
The Story of Soaps

The Story of Soaps

2020

9.5

Movie
There Must Be a Pony

There Must Be a Pony

1986

6.2

Movie
poster

thirtysomething

1987

6.3

TV
Til There Was You

Til There Was You

1997

3.9

Movie
Tonight's the Night

Tonight's the Night

1987

1.0

Movie
Women at West Point

Women at West Point

1979

0.0

Movie
Y2K

Y2K

1999

4.1

Movie
poster

Zoo

2015

6.7

TV