Ken Olfson
Ken Olfson (April 2, 1937 – December 31, 1997) was an American actor who worked in film, theater, and television in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and started acting at age 10, performing with Boston Children’s Theatre until he was 18. He studied at Syracuse University and the American Theatre Wing.
In theater, Olfson created the role of Dr. Schoenfeld in Bruce Jay Friedman’s off-Broadway play Scuba Duba (1967). He was a Broadway standby for Charles Nelson Reilly in Neil Simon’s Gods Favorite (1974). On television, he co-starred on The Nancy Walker Show (1976) as Terry Folson, the first openly gay principal character on American TV. He appeared on Flying High (1978) and many other series, including Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; One Day at a Time; Happy Days; Charlie’s Angels; Three’s Company; The Jeffersons; Murder, She Wrote; Trapper John, M.D.; and Amazing Stories.
His film work includes Spaceballs, Mr. Mom, Odd Jobs, and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Away from acting, Olfson volunteered as a lay counselor at the Southern California Counseling Center for many years, eventually becoming head of the Training Lay Counselors program, which he designed from scratch and which became very popular.
He had a twin brother, 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 60.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:01 (CET).