Loading amazing content...
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 26, 1889
Died
November 22, 1954
Place of Birth
Ogden, Utah, USA
Also Known As
- Maroni Olsen
- Moroni Olson
- John Willard
Moroni Olsen
0.4 Popularity
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889 – November 22, 1954) was an American actor. Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah, to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha Hoverholst, who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, but there appears to be no support for this claim. Olsen studied at Weber Stake Academy, the predecessor of Weber State University. He then went to study at the University of Utah, where one of his teachers was Maud May Babcock. During World War I, he sold war bonds for the United States Navy. He also studied and performed in the Eastern United States around this time. In 1923, Olsen organized the "Moroni Olsen Players" out of Ogden. They performed at both Ogden's Orpheum Theatre and at various other locations spread from Salt Lake City to Seattle. After having worked on Broadway, he made his film debut in a 1935 adaptation of The Three Musketeers. He later played a different role in a 1939 comedy version of the story, starring Don Ameche as D'Artagnan and the Ritz Brothers as three dimwitted lackeys who are forced to substitute for the musketeers, who have drunk themselves into a stupor. His most famous role was the voice of the Slave in The Magic Mirror in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Olsen also provided the voice of the senior angel in It's a Wonderful Life. Olsen was an active member of the LDS Church, being a teacher of youth in the Hoolwood Ward. He also was director of the Pilgramage Play of Hollywood for several years.
Known For
5.2
Pope Leo I
Sign of the Pagan
1954
6.9
Mr. Tewitt
The Long, Long Trailer
1954
0.0
Mr. Courtney
Marry Me Again
1953
3.8
Arnold Reuben
So This Is Love
1953
5.6
Sam Houston
Lone Star
1952
6.0
Speaker Of The House
Washington Story
1952
4.8
Porthos
At Sword's Point
1952
5.6
Rear Adm. Joshua Rice
Submarine Command
1951
7.9
Judge
I Love Lucy
1951
6.0
Henry Manston
No Questions Asked
1951
Credits
Sign of the Pagan
as Pope Leo I
1954
5.2
The Long, Long Trailer
as Mr. Tewitt
1954
6.9
Marry Me Again
as Mr. Courtney
1953
0.0
So This Is Love
as Arnold Reuben
1953
3.8
Lone Star
as Sam Houston
1952
5.6
Washington Story
as Speaker Of The House
1952
6.0
At Sword's Point
as Porthos
1952
4.8
Submarine Command
as Rear Adm. Joshua Rice
1951
5.6
I Love Lucy
as Judge
1951
7.9
No Questions Asked
as Henry Manston
1951
6.0
Father's Little Dividend
as Herbert Dunstan
1951
6.5
Payment on Demand
as Mr. Barton
1951
6.0
Father of the Bride
as Herbert Dunstan
1950
7.0
Samson and Delilah
as Targil
1949
6.5
Task Force
as Adm. Ames
1949
7.0
The Fountainhead
as Chairman
1949
6.8
Command Decision
as Congressman Stone
1948
6.4
Up in Central Park
as Big Jim Fitts
1948
6.3
Call Northside 777
as Parole Board Chairman
1948
6.7
High Wall
as Dr. Philip Dunlap
1947
6.3
That Hagen Girl
as Trenton Gateley
1947
4.8
Black Gold
as Don Toland
1947
6.0
Life with Father
as Dr. Humphries
1947
6.7
Possessed
as Dr. Ames
1947
6.9
The Long Night
as Chief of Police Bob McManus
1947
5.6
It's a Wonderful Life
as Senior Angel (voice) (uncredited)
1946
8.3
The Strange Woman
as Rev. Thatcher
1946
6.1
Notorious
as Walter Beardsley
1946
7.7
Boys' Ranch
as Judge Henderson
1946
6.5
The Walls Came Tumbling Down
as Bishop Martin
1946
5.9
From This Day Forward
as Tim Bagley
1946
5.2
Mildred Pierce
as Inspector Peterson
1945
7.6
Don't Fence Me In
as Henry Bennett
1945
4.3
Week-End at the Waldorf
as House Detective
1945
6.0
Pride of the Marines
as Capt. Burroughs
1945
6.5
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
as General (uncredited)
1944
6.6
Roger Touhy, Gangster
as Riley
1944
6.0
Cobra Woman
as MacDonald
1944
5.2
Buffalo Bill
as Sen. Frederici
1944
5.6
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
as Caliph Hassan
1944
6.1
Madame Curie
as President of Businessman's Board (uncredited)
1943
7.2
We've Never Been Licked
as Commandant
1943
0.0
Mission to Moscow
as Col. Faymonville
1943
5.3
Air Force
as Col. Blake
1943
6.5
Reunion in France
as Paul Grebeau
1942
6.4
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Dr. Henry Olcott
1942
0.0
The Glass Key
as Ralph Henry
1942
6.6
My Favorite Spy
as Major Allen
1942
5.2
Sundown Jim
as Andrew Barr
1942
0.0
Nazi Agent
as Brenner
1942
6.6
Dangerously They Live
as Mr. John Goodwin
1941
5.9
One Foot in Heaven
as Dr. John Romer
1941
6.6
Dive Bomber
as Senior Surgeon at San Diego
1941
6.4
Three Sons o' Guns
as Philip G. Talbot
1941
5.0
Life with Henry
as Sylvanus Q. Sattherwaite
1941
5.0
Respect the Law
as Dr. Walter Terriss
1941
6.0
Santa Fe Trail
as Robert E. Lee
1940
5.7
East of the River
as Judge R.D. Davis
1940
5.7
Brigham Young
as Doc Richards
1940
4.4
If I Had My Way
as Mr. Blair
1940
6.4
Virginia City
as Cameron
1940
6.1
Brother Rat and a Baby
as Major Terry
1940
5.2
Invisible Stripes
as The Warden
1939
6.1
Barricade
as Managing Editor
1939
5.3
That's Right – You're Wrong
as Jonathan Forbes
1939
5.7
Allegheny Uprising
as Tom Calhoon
1939
5.6
Dust Be My Destiny
as Slim Jones
1939
6.2
The Bill of Rights
as Royal Governor Dunmore
1939
6.0
Susannah of the Mounties
as Supt. Andrew Standing
1939
6.3
Code of the Secret Service
as The friar
1939
3.9
Rose of Washington Square
as Buck Russell
1939
5.8
The Three Musketeers
as Bailiff
1939
5.8
Off the Record
as Juvenal Court Judge
1939
6.0
Homicide Bureau
as Captain Haines
1939
5.3
Kentucky
as John Dillon - 1938
1938
5.8
Submarine Patrol
as The Fleet Captain
1938
6.6
There Goes My Heart
as Fisherman (uncredited)
1938
7.1
That Certain Age
as Fullerton's Associate (uncredited)
1938
5.1
Marie Antoinette
as Bearded Leader of the People (uncredited)
1938
6.5
What Do You Think? Tupapaoo
as Kurt Larsen
1938
7.5
Kidnapped
as Douglas
1938
4.7
Gold Is Where You Find It
as Senator Hearst
1938
6.9
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
as Magic Mirror (voice) (uncredited)
1938
7.1
Adventure's End
as First Mate Rand Husk
1937
5.0
The Last Gangster
as Detective Danny Shea (uncredited)
1937
6.4
The Soldier and the Lady
as Tartar Chief (Voice) (Uncredited)
1937
6.5
The Plough and the Stars
as General Connally
1936
5.8
Mummy's Boys
as Dr. Edward Sterling
1936
4.7
Grand Jury
as Davis, the bodyguard
1936
7.0
Mary of Scotland
as John Knox
1936
6.2
M'Liss
as Jake
1936
5.0
The Witness Chair
as Lt. Poole
1936
6.2
Two in Revolt
as Cyrus Benton
1936
6.0
The Farmer in the Dell
as Chester Hart
1936
0.0
Yellow Dust
as Missouri
1936
3.8
We're Only Human
as R.J. Curran
1935
6.5
Seven Keys to Baldpate
as Mayor Jim Cargen
1935
6.6
Annie Oakley
as Col. William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
1935
6.3
The Three Musketeers
as Porthos
1935
6.5
Death Takes a Holiday
as Cardinal De Valle (uncredited)
1934
6.2