Susan Oliver facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Oliver
|
|
|---|---|
Oliver in 1971
|
|
| Born |
Charlotte Gercke
February 13, 1932 New York City, U.S.
|
| Died | May 10, 1990 (aged 58) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1955–1988 |
Susan Oliver (born Charlotte Gercke on February 13, 1932 – died May 10, 1990) was an amazing American actress, television director, and a skilled aviator. She was known for her many roles in TV shows and movies, and also for her incredible achievements in flying airplanes.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Susan Oliver was born in New York City in 1932. Her dad, George Gercke, was a journalist, and her mom, Ruth Hale Oliver, was an astrology expert. Her parents separated when she was young.
In 1949, Susan moved to Southern California to live with her mom, who was becoming a famous Hollywood astrologer. Susan decided she wanted to be an actress. She chose the stage name Susan Oliver, using her mother's maiden name.
Susan Oliver's Career
Starting Out in Acting
In September 1949, Susan Oliver went back to the East Coast to study drama. She attended Swarthmore College and then the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.
After performing in local plays and small TV roles, she got her first big TV part in 1955 on Goodyear TV Playhouse. Soon, she was getting main roles in other shows.
In 1957, Susan appeared in many TV shows and on stage. She played a young woman in her first Broadway play, Small War on Murray Hill. That same year, she took over the lead female role in another Broadway play called Look Back in Anger.
After these plays, she had bigger roles in live TV dramas like Kaiser Aluminum Hour and The United States Steel Hour. Then, Susan moved to Hollywood. There, she appeared in shows such as Climax!, Wagon Train, Father Knows Best, and Johnny Staccato.
In 1957, Susan Oliver got the main role in her first movie, The Green-Eyed Blonde. It was a smaller film released by Warner Bros..
Television and Film Roles
Susan Oliver became a familiar face on television. She appeared in many popular shows during the 1960s and 1970s.
Some of her notable TV appearances include:
- Wagon Train: She played Maggie Hamilton in 1960.
- The Deputy: She was cast as the long-lost daughter of the main character.
- Rawhide: She appeared in two episodes, "Incident of His Brother's Keeper" (1961) and "Incident at Spider Rock" (1963).
- Twilight Zone: She starred in the episode "People Are Alike All Over" (1960).
- Route 66, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, and Mannix.
One of her most famous roles was as Vina in "The Cage" (1964), the first pilot episode for Star Trek. Her performance was later used in the two-part episode "The Menagerie" (1966). In a fantasy scene, her character appeared as an "Orion slave girl" with green skin. This image of her with green skin became very famous and is often seen in the show's credits. A documentary about her life was even called The Green Girl because of this iconic role.
In movies, Susan Oliver played the ambitious wife of singer Hank Williams in Your Cheatin' Heart (1964). She also appeared with Jerry Lewis in The Disorderly Orderly (1964).
From 1975 to 1976, she was a regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. In 1976, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in the TV movie Amelia Earhart.
Directing and Later Years
In the late 1970s, Susan Oliver started directing. She was one of the first 19 women accepted into the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women. She even directed two TV episodes:
- "Hey, Look Me Over" for M*A*S*H (1982).
- "Fat Chance" for Trapper John, M.D. (1983).
In her last active years, she appeared in shows like Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and Freddy's Nightmares. She had a total of 58 acting credits on television.
Aviator and Author
Susan Oliver was also a very talented pilot. In 1959, she was on a plane that suddenly dropped thousands of feet, which made her afraid of flying for a while. She even used hypnosis to overcome this fear!
In 1964, a news anchor named Hal Fishman took her on a flight over Los Angeles. This inspired her to start training to become a pilot herself.
In 1967, flying her own plane, she became the fourth woman to fly a single-engine aircraft alone across the Atlantic Ocean. She was trying to fly to Moscow, but her trip ended in Denmark because the Soviet Union wouldn't let her enter their airspace. She wrote a book in 1983 about her flying adventures and her life philosophy.
In 1970, Susan Oliver co-piloted a plane to win the "Powder Puff Derby", a 2760-mile race across the country. Because of this, she was named Pilot of the Year by the Association of Executive Pilots. In 1971, she joined the Federal Aviation Administration's Women Advisory Committee on Aviation.
Her training to fly gliders was even shown on the TV series The American Sportsman in 1973. She earned several pilot ratings, showing her skill in different types of aircraft.
Death
Susan Oliver was diagnosed with colorectal cancer that spread to her lungs. She passed away on May 10, 1990, at the age of 58, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.
Selected Filmography
Susan Oliver appeared in many movies and TV shows throughout her career. Here are some of her notable roles:
- The Green-Eyed Blonde (1957)
- BUtterfield 8 (1960)
- The Twilight Zone (1960)
- The Caretakers (1963)
- Star Trek (1964, 1966)
- Your Cheatin' Heart (1964)
- The Disorderly Orderly (1964)
- Peyton Place (1966)
- The Love-Ins (1967)
- Carter's Army (1970)
- Amelia Earhart (1976)
- M*A*S*H (1982) - as director
- Trapper John, M.D. (1983) - as director
Images for kids
-
Oliver in 1971
-
With Gardner McKay and Guy Stockwell in Adventures in Paradise (1961)
See also
In Spanish: Susan Oliver para niños
- Manumit School
