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Susan Oliver Biography (1937-1990)

Born Charlotte Gercke, February 13, 1937, in New York, NY; died of cancer, May 10, 1990, in Woodland Hills, CA; daughter of George (a U.S. Government official) and Ruth Hale (an astrologer; maiden name, Oliver) Gercke.

An enthusiastic aviator, Susan Oliver tried in 1967 to become the first womanto fly a single-engine plane from the United States to Moscow, U.S.S.R. Shereached Denmark before having to abandon her effort when she was denied permission to enter Soviet airspace. Oliver recounted the voyage in her 1983 bookOdyssey.

Nationality

American

Gender

Female

Occupation

actress, writer, director

Birth Details

February 13, 1937

New York, New York, United States

Death Details

May 10, 1990

Woodland Hills, California, United States

Famous Works

• Credits; Stage Appearances
• (Stage debut) Little Miss, La Ronde, Circle in the Square, New York City, 1955.
• Abigail Torpen, Small War on Murray Hill, Ethel Barrymore Theatre,New York City, 1957.
• Alexa Rollo, Patate, Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, 1958.
• Also appeared in Look Back in Anger, New York City.
• Credits; Film Appearances
• (Film debut) Greeneyes, The Green-Eyed Blonde, Warner Brothers, 1957.
• Dorissa Dinell, The Gene Krupa Story (also known as Drum Crazy), Columbia, 1959.
• Norma, Butterfield 8, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1960.
• Cathy Clark, The Caretakers (also known as Borderlines), United Artists, 1963.
• Susan Andrews, The Disorderly Orderly, Paramount, 1964.
• Maria, Guns of Diablo, MGM, 1964.
• Jan McNair, Looking for Love, MGM, 1964.
• Audrey Williams, Your Cheatin' Heart, MGM, 1964.
• Patricia Cross, The Love-Ins, Columbia, 1967.
• Margaret Rowe, Change of Mind, Cinerama, 1969.
• Matty, A Man Called Gannon, Universal, 1969.
• Barbara Cole, The Monitors, Commonwealth United Entertainment, 1969.
• Thelma Dwyer, Company of Killers, Universal, 1970.
• Ginger in the Morning, National Film, 1973.
• Isabel, Widow's Nest, Navarro, 1977.
• Mary Kelly, Murder By Decree, AVCO/Embassy, 1979.
• Claire Trent, Hardly Working, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1981.
• Credits; Film Work
• Producer, director, The Spy Who Came to America (also see below),American Film Institute, Woman's Workshop Program; producer, director, Cowboy-San! (also see below).
• Credits; Television Appearances; Series
• Ann Howard, Peyton Place, ABC, 1966.
• Dr. Laura Spencer, Days of Our Lives, NBC, 1975-76.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Movies
• Anna, Carter's Army, ABC, 1970.
• Mildred Crandall, Do You Take This Stranger?, NBC, 1971.
• Death in Space, ABC, 1974.
• Neta Snook "Snookie," Amelia Earhart, NBC, 1976.
• Marilyn Hurst, Tomorrow's Child, ABC, 1982.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Episodic
• "The Prize Winner," Goodyear Playhouse, NBC, 1955.
• "So Short a Season," Kaiser Aluminum Hour, NBC, 1957.
• "The Bottle Imp," U.S. Steel Hour, CBS, 1957.
• "End of the Rope," Matinee Theatre, NBC, 1957.
• "Action," Crossroads, ABC, 1957.
• "The Emily Rossiter Story," Wagon Train, NBC, 1957.
• "Two Tests for Tuesday," Climax, CBS, 1957.
• "The Thundering Wave," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1957.
• Ozzie and Harriet, ABC, 1957.
• Father Knows Best, NBC, 1957.
• "The Woman at High Hollow," Kraft Theatre, NBC, 1958.
• "A Trip to Paradise," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1959.
• "The Last Room," David Niven Theatre, NBC, 1959.
• "Run to the City," Lineup, CBS, 1959.
• "The Long House on Avenue A," Alcoa Theatre, NBC, 1959.
• "The Outcast," Bonanza, NBC, 1960.
• "A Dream of Treason," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1960.
• "The Blue Goose," June Allyson Show, CBS, 1960.
• Teenya, "People Are Alike All Over," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1960.
• "The Maggie Hamilton Story," "The Cathy Eckhardt Story," Wagon Train, NBC, 1960.
• "Whip Fight," Adventures in Paradise, ABC, 1960.
• "Incident at the Bar M," Wrangler, NBC, 1960.
• "The Deadly Breed," Deputy, NBC, 1960.
• "Knife of Hate," Zane Grey Theatre, CBS, 1960.
• "No One," Barbara Stanwyck Theatre, NBC, 1960.
• "The Pariah," Wanted Dead or Alive, CBS, 1960.
• "Choose a Victim," Thriller, NBC, 1961.
• "The Organization," The Untouchables, ABC, 1961.
• "The Heiress," Michael Shayne, NBC, 1961.
• "The Storm Adventure," Aquanauts, CBS, 1961.
• "No Enemy," Best of the Post, ABC, 1961.
• "Incident of His Brother's Keeper," Rawhide, CBS, 1961.
• "The Gun," Americans, NBC, 1961.
• "A Memory of Crying," Naked City, ABC, 1961.
• "Image of a Drawn Sword," Zane Grey Theatre, CBS, 1961.
• "Hill of Ghosts," "The Reluctant Hero," Adventures in Paradise, ABC, 1961.
• "The Thrill Seeker," Checkmate, CBS, 1961.
• "Somebody's Waiting," Dick Powell Theatre, NBC, 1961.
• "Ricky, the Milkman," Ozzie and Harriet, ABC, 1961.
• "Shadows in the Dusk," Laramie, NBC, 1962.
• "The Cost of Living," Cain's Hundred, NBC, 1962.
• "So Beats My Plastic Heart," Checkmate, CBS, 1962.
• "Between Hello and Goodbye," Route 66, CBS, 1962.
• "Annabel," Alfred Hitchcock Theatre, CBS, 1962.
• "Incident at Spider Rock," Rawhide, CBS, 1963.
• "The Lily Legend Story," Wagon Train, ABC, 1963.
• "Thunder in a Forgotten Town," Dick Powell Theatre, NBC, 1963.
• "Fifty Miles from Home," Route 66, CBS, 1963.
• "Your Fortune for a Penny," 77 Sunset Strip, ABC, 1963.
• "No Score," Nurses, CBS, 1963.
• "Never Wave Goodbye," The Fugitive, ABC, 1963.
• "The Eleventh Commandment," Dr. Kildare, NBC, 1963.
• "Who Killed the Kind Doctor," Burke's Law, ABC, 1963.
• "Money Is for Burning," Rogues, NBC, 1964.
• "The Day of Reckoning," The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, ABC, 1964.
• "The Hidden Fury," The Defenders, ABC, 1964.
• "One Hundred Bibles," Destry, ABC, 1964.
• "The Prisoner of Love," The Andy Griffith Show, CBS, 1964.
• "The Bow-Wow Affair," The Man from U.N.C.L.E., NBC, 1965.
• "A Little Learning," The Virginian, NBC, 1965.
• "Pas De Duez," Ben Casey, ABC, 1965.
• "Courage of a Conviction," The FBI, ABC, 1965.
• "Perfect Is Hard To Be," Dr. Kildare, NBC, 1965.
• "Rope's End," Shenandoah, ABC, 1966.
• Vina, "The Menagerie," Star Trek, NBC, 1966 (originally prepared as pilot "The Cage").
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., CBS, 1966.
• "One Thousand Fine," I Spy, NBC, 1966.
• My Three Sons, CBS, 1966.
• "The Day the Earth Trembled," Tarzan, NBC, 1967.
• "The Ivy Curtain," Invaders, ABC, 1967.
• "The Night Dr. Loveless Died," The Wild Wild West, CBS, 1967.
• "21 and Out," T.H.E. Cat, NBC, 1967.
• The Virginian, NBC, 1967.
• "Two Lovers and Mother," Lamp unto My Feet, syndicated, 1967.
• "Inquisition," Invaders, ABC, 1968.
• "The White Birch," The Name of the Game, NBC, 1968.
• "The Land of the Fox," The Outsider, NBC, 1968.
• "The Storm Gate," The Virginian, NBC, 1968.
• "Alias Nellie Hanley," The Big Valley, ABC, 1969.
• "The Odds Against Donald Jordan," Mannix, CBS, 1969.
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, ABC, 1969.
• "Hannah," Men from Shiloh, NBC, 1970.
• "Seek and Destroy," The Name of the Game, NBC, 1971.
• "Prognosis: Homicide," Dan August, ABC, 1971.
• "Journey from San Juan," Alias Smith and Jones, ABC, 1971.
• Love American Style, ABC, 1971.
• The D.A., NBC, 1971.
• "The Long Way Home," Longstreet, ABC, 1971.
• Primus, ABC, 1971.
• "Accident Waiting to Happen," "A Kept Woman," The Sarge, NBC, 1972.
• "Tune in Dan's Cafe," Night Gallery, NBC, 1972.
• "$11," Gunsmoke, CBS, 1972.
• "Where There's Smoke," The Smith Family, ABC, 1972.
• "Moving Target," Cannon, CBS, 1973.
• "Spare Parts," Circle of Fear, NBC, 1973.
• "Visions of Doom," Medical Center, CBS, 1973.
• The FBI, ABC, 1973.
• "The Youngest Lovers," Love Story, NBC, 1973.
• "Friends Till Death," Barnaby Jones, CBS, 1974.
• Petrocelli, NBC, 1974.
• Manhunter, CBS, 1975.
• Police Story, NBC, 1975.
• Louis, Murder, She Wrote, NBC, 1985.
• Cyd Greenwald, Simon & Simon, CBS, 1987.
• Olga Zelnikova, Our House, NBC, 1988.
• Also appeared in Suspicion, NBC.
• Credits; Other Television Appearances
• Sybil Vane, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Golden Showcase (special), CBS, 1961.
• Debbie Adams, An Apartment in Rome (pilot), CBS, 1964.
• Mary Van Leuven, International Airport (pilot), ABC, 1985.
• Also appeared in Ghost Story, 1972.
• Credits; Television Work
• Director of episodes of M*A*S*H and Trapper John, M.D.
• Credits; Writings
• Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey (memoir), Macmillan, 1983.
• Also author of the films The Spy Who Came to America, American Film Institute Woman's Workshop Program; and Cowboy-San!

Further Reference

Books

• Oliver, Susan, Odyssey: A Daring Transatlantic Journey, Macmillan,1983.

Periodicals

• Variety, May 16, 1990.