Ole Olsen (comedian)

Ole Olsen
Ole Olsen (l.) and Chic Johnson
Born	John Sigvard Olsen November 6, 1892(1892-11-06) Peru, Indiana, U.S
Died	January 26, 1963(1963-01-26) (aged 70) Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Occupation	Vaudevillian and Comedian
Years active	1930-1956
Spouse	Lillian Olsen (1910s-?) (divorced) Eileen Maria Osthoff (m. 1961–1963) «start: (1961)–end+1: (1964)»"Marriage: Eileen Maria Osthoff to Ole Olsen (comedian)" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Olsen_(comedian))
Children	J.C. Olsen, Moya Olsen-Lear, Joy Olsen

John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen (November 6, 1892 – January 26, 1963) was an American vaudevillian and comedian.

Born in Peru, Indiana, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1912 with a degree in music and hit the Vaudeville circuit. In 1914 he met Chic Johnson, who was advertising himself as the "Greatest Ragtime Pianist in the Midwest."

The two performers met when they were hired as musicians in the same band. When the band broke up "Ole" Olsen and "Chic" Johnson formed the Olsen and Johnson comedy team. They really did not have a set act but found themselves booked into a small Chicago nightclub as part of Mike Fritzol's Frolics. When it came time for their turn in the show, unannounced and not particularly welcome, the brave pair pushed a piano onstage. Johnson seated himself at the keyboard and began to plunk out a ragtime tune. Olsen joined in with his violin and started singing, making up comical lyrics as he went along. The pair began to exchange "patter", mostly insults and the soon-to-be-famous "Olsen and Johnson" team emerged.

They struggled in Vaudeville for 24 years before hitting Broadway in 1938 with the show Hellzapoppin', later successfully filmed.

Ole Olsen was married twice. He had three children with his first wife, Lillian: J. C., Joy, and Moya. They were later divorced. His son, J. C., committed suicide. Moya married William P. Lear of Learjet fame in 1942. Ole was involved in a serious automobile accident in 1950 and recuperated at the Lear home. In June 1961 Ole married Eileen Maria Osthoff, a dancer and choreographer he had known for eight years.

Ole's ambition was to make people laugh. He is remembered for the quote, "May you live as long as you want to, and laugh as long as you live".^{[citation needed]} Those words are engraved on his headstone. Olsen died at the age of 70 of a kidney ailment and is interred in Las Vegas, Nevada in a grave adjoining Chic Johnson's.

External links

Biography portal

• Ole Olsen at the Internet Movie Database
• Olsen and Johnson - The Zaniest of the Zanies
• Ole Olsen Memorial Theatre
• Ole Olsen (comedian) at Find a Grave
• Ole Olsen's personal papers at the Indiana Historical Society

Persondata
Name	Olsen, Ole
Alternative names
Short description	Vaudevillian and Comedian
Date of birth	November 6, 1892
Place of birth	Peru, Indiana, United States
Date of death	January 26, 1963
Place of death	Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States