OLIN HOWLAND

February 10, 1886

Olin Ross Howland was born in Denver, Colorado. His father was one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War. His older sister was the famous stage actress Jobyna Howland. As a young man, he learned to fly airplanes from the Wright Brothers! 

From 1909 to 1928, Howland appeared on Broadway in musicals. His first screen appearance was 1918′s Paramount short Hick Manhattan. He appeared under the name Olin Howlin. He went on to make more than 200 film and television appearances. 

He and Irving Bacon (Will Potter, Ethel’s father) are the only actors to appear in both the 1937 and 1954 versions of A Star Is Born. The two were also in the legendary 1939 film Gone With The Wind. 

He also appeared with William Frawley (Fred Mertz) in the less-than-classic Ambush (1939) and Crime Doctor’s Manhunt (1946).

He played the same role (Mr. Davis, Amy March’s schoolteacher) in both the 1933 and 1949 versions of Little Women.

Two of his very last roles were in classic 1950s science fiction films: first as the alcoholic in Them; then as the rancher who is the first victim of The Blob (1958).

He made his television debut in a 1952 episode of “Hopalong Cassidy” (above left with William Boyd and Edgar Buchanan, right).  

One of his most memorable roles was also one of his last; he appeared on “I Love Lucy" in “First Stop” (ILL S4;E14) filmed on November 11, 1954 and first aired on January 17, 1955. Howlin played the owner of One Oak, a broken down motel in the middle of nowhere, at which the Ricardos and Mertzes are forced to stay at for the night. This was his only appearance with Lucille Ball. 

From 1958 to 1959 he was back at Desilu as the recurring character of Charley Perkins in “The Real McCoys”.  He did five episodes of the series. 

His final screen appearance was posthumously on an episode of “Father Knows Best” aired on October 5, 1959.  Howland had died on September 20, 1959 at age 73.