# Ken Olfson

Ken Olfson (April 2, 1937 – December 31, 1997) was an American film, theater and television actor in the 1970s and 1980s.

## Early life

Olfson was born on April 2, 1937, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He began acting at the age of 10 and was active in Boston Children's Theatre until he was 18. He attended Syracuse University, then studied 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 Reilly in Neil Simon's God's Favorite, 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 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

## Personal life and death

After many years of volunteering as a lay counselor at the 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. This group was well-attended and wildly popular.
He had a twin, Lewy Olfson, who wrote children's books.
Ken Olfson died of a heart attack on December 31, 1997 in Los Angeles after a two-month illness. He was age 60.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1977 | You Light Up My Life | 1st Commercial Director | |
| 1977 | American Raspberry | Mr. Sloan | |
| 1978 | The One and Only | Mr. Arnold | |
| 1978 | House Calls | Make-Up man | |
| 1979 | H.O.T.S. | Dean Larry Chase | |
| 1983 | Mr. Mom | Exec. #3 | |
| 1984 | Angel | Mr. Saunders | |
| 1984 | Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo | Randall | |
| 1984 | Micki & Maude | Interior Decorator | |
| 1986 | Odd Jobs | Mayor Brady | Also known as Summer Jobs in the United States |
| 1986 | The Check Is in the Mail... | Assessor | |
| 1987 | Spaceballs | Head Usher | |
| 1988 | Kandyland | Cleaner Customer | |
| 1989 | Trust Me | Benjamin Greenberg | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | The Librarian | episode: "Episode 006" (S 1:Ep 6) |
| 1976 | One Day at a Time | Mr. Faraday | episode: "Fighting City Hall" (S 1:Ep 9) |
| 1976–1977 | The Nancy Walker Show | Terry Folson | |
| 1977 | Happy Days | Simpson | episode: "Fonz-How, Inc." (S 4:Ep 22) |
| 1977 | Charlie's Angels | Seth | episode:" Unidentified Flying Angels" (S 2:Ep 9) |
| 1978 | Flying High | Raymond Strickman | |
| 1978 | Starsky & Hutch | Big Ed | episode: "Cover Girl" (a.k.a. "No Deposit, No Return") (S 4:11) |
| 1978 | Match Game '78 | Himself | episodes: "MG78-47" (S 6:Ep 47) "MG78-48" (S 6:Ep 48) "MG78-49" (S 6:Ep 49) "MG78-50" (S 6:Ep 50) "MG78-51" (S 6:Ep 51) |
| 1982 | Madame's Place | Bernie of Culver City | Episode: "The Man is an Artist" |
| 1983 | The Jeffersons | Ben | episode: "My Maid...My Wife" (S 9:Ep 14) |
| 1983 | Three's Company | Patrick Townsend | episode: "Out On a Limb" |
| 1983 | Gimme a Break! | Jason Swinborn III | episode: "Grandpa Robs a Bank" (S 2:Ep 19) |
| 1983 | Small & Frye | Freddie the Fence | episode: "Fiddler on the Hoof (Pilot)" (S 1:Ep 1) |
| 1983 | Diff'rent Strokes | Mr. Cribbs | episode: "Drafted" (S 6:Ep 5) |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | TV Book Critic | episode: "The Murder Of Sherlock Holmes (Pilot)" (S 1:Ep 1) |
| 1985 | Remington Steele | Guest | episode: "Steele of Approval" (S 3:Ep 22) |
| 1986 | Cagney & Lacey | Lazaroff | episode: "Exit Stage Centre" (S 5:Ep 19) |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | Clifford Monroe | episode: "Hell Toupee" (S 1:Ep 21) |
| 1986 | It's Garry Shandling's Show | The Executive | episode: "The Graduate" (S 1:Ep 5) |
| 1988 | 21 Jump Street | Guest | episode: "Chapel of Love" (S 2:Ep 14) |