Theatre Register

George Olsen

Shows · George Olsen

Actor 1893–1971 On stage 1923

George Edward Olsen Sr. (March 18, 1893 – March 18, 1971) was an American musician and bandleader. Born in Portland, Oregon, Olsen's orchestra's debut hotel engagement came at the Multnomah Hotel in Portland. He then made the cross-country transition to Broadway, appearing in Kid Boots (1923), the Ziegfeld Follies of 1924, Ziegfeld Follies of 1925, and Good News (1927). George Olsen and his orchestra were in Eddie Cantor's 1928 Broadway hit Whoopee!, and in the 1930 movie version. In the Follies George met a singer, Ethel Shutta, who sings and dances memorably in Whoopee!, and they married, appearing together in nightclubs and on radio. They had two children, George Jr. and Charles; followin…

On stage 1 production

1923 Kid Boots Earl Carroll Theatre · Original · directed by Edward Royce 489 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Also credited on5 works

Follies
Good News!
Sunny
Whoopee
Ziegfeld Follies

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature1 passages

  • Cast: Mary Lawlor, John Price Jones, Gus Shy, Inez Courtney, Zelma O’Neal, George Olsen Orchestraebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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