GERALD S. O’LOUGHLIN

December 23, 1921 in New York City, New York, USA Died July 31, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA Short, dark, rough-looking and-tough-talking American character actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin received his start on the stage after debating on a law career. After a stint with the US Marine Corps, he used the GI bill instead to train in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Throughout the early 1950s O'Loughlin was frequently seen on TV drama but highlighted his stage career with a national tour of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as Stanley Kowalski with the incomparable Tallulah Bankhead starring as Blanche DuBois. He later impressed once again as mental patient Cheswick opposite Kirk Douglas's Randle McMurphy in 1963's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" on Broadway. O'Loughlin made a very little dent in films at the beginning, what with an offbeat romantic lead role in the low-budget Lovers and Lollipops (1956) and a small role in the more impressive A Hatful of Rain (1957). He later toughened things up a bit with tough-guy parts in In Cold Blood (1967), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and, especially, Desperate Characters (1971). Things finally clicked for him on 1970s TV when he nabbed the role of Lt. Ryker in the TV cop series The Rookies (1972) replacing Darren McGavin, who played the same role in the pilot.

Acting

1957

A Hatful of Rain

- Actor