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.
1944 • TV
1944 • TV
1984 • TV
1993 • TV
1987 • Movie
1999 • Movie
as Henry Fox
as Martin Garano
as Ken Olin
as Young Sears James
as Gregory
as Charles Stuart
as Abe Ringel
as Nick Cromwell
as Ray
as Board Member
as Det. Jay Jensen
as David Frank
as Self
as Jim Sandler
as Dr. Peter Clayman
as Officer Manny Mandell
as Jay Savage
Director
Director
Director
Executive Producer
Director
Director
Executive Producer
Executive Producer
as Self - Audience Member
1 episodes
as Self - Presenter
1 episodes
as Perry Revere
1 episodes
as Self - Guest
1 episodes
as Christopher Rossini
17 episodes
as Harry Garibaldi
24 episodes
as Det. Harry Garibaldi
2 episodes
as David Caplan
30 episodes
1 episodes
as Professor Robert Oz
10 episodes
as Self
1 episodes
as Michael Steadman
85 episodes
as Steve
1 episodes
as Roger Cattan
24 episodes
1 episodes
as David McNeil (uncredited)
1 episodes
as Cameron Quinn
13 episodes
as Rocky Padillo
8 episodes
as Nat Lammerman
4 episodes
2 episodes
Director
Director
Producer
Director
Director
Director
Producer
Director
Director
Producer
