Moroni Olsen
Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889 – November 22, 1954) was an American actor.
Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah, to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha Hoverholst, who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, but there appears to be no support for this claim.
Olsen studied at Weber Stake Academy, the predecessor of Weber State University. He then went to study at the University of Utah, where one of his teachers was Maud May Babcock. During World War I, he sold war bonds for the United States Navy. He also studied and performed in the Eastern United States around this time.
In 1923, Olsen organized the "Moroni Olsen Players" out of Ogden. They performed at both Ogden's Orpheum Theatre and at various other locations spread from Salt Lake City to Seattle.
After having worked on Broadway, he made his film debut in a 1935 adaptation of The Three Musketeers. He later played a different role in a 1939 comedy version of the story, starring Don Ameche as D'Artagnan and the Ritz Brothers as three dimwitted lackeys who are forced to substitute for the musketeers, who have drunk themselves into a stupor.
His most famous role was the voice of the Slave in The Magic Mirror in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Olsen also provided the voice of the senior angel in It's a Wonderful Life.
Olsen was an active member of the LDS Church, being a teacher of youth in the Hoolwood Ward. He also was director of the Pilgramage Play of Hollywood for several years.
Filmography (102 Appearances)
MGM Parade
Sign of the Pagan
The Long, Long Trailer
Marry Me Again
So This Is Love
Lone Star
Washington Story
At Sword's Point
Submarine Command
I Love Lucy
No Questions Asked
Father's Little Dividend
Payment on Demand
Father of the Bride
Samson and Delilah
Task Force
The Fountainhead
Command Decision
Up in Central Park
Call Northside 777
High Wall
That Hagen Girl
Black Gold
Life with Father
Possessed
The Long Night
It's a Wonderful Life
The Strange Woman
Notorious
Boys' Ranch
The Walls Came Tumbling Down
From This Day Forward
Mildred Pierce
Don't Fence Me In
Week-End at the Waldorf
Behind City Lights
Pride of the Marines
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Roger Touhy, Gangster
Cobra Woman
Buffalo Bill
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Madame Curie
We've Never Been Licked
Mission to Moscow
Air Force
Reunion in France
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
The Glass Key
My Favorite Spy
Sundown Jim
Nazi Agent
Dangerously They Live
One Foot in Heaven
Dive Bomber
Three Sons o' Guns
Life with Henry
Respect the Law
Santa Fe Trail
East of the River
Brigham Young
If I Had My Way
Virginia City
Brother Rat and a Baby
Invisible Stripes
Barricade
That's Right – You're Wrong
Allegheny Uprising
Dust Be My Destiny
The Bill of Rights
Susannah of the Mounties
Code of the Secret Service
Rose of Washington Square
The Three Musketeers
Off the Record
Homicide Bureau
Kentucky
Submarine Patrol
There Goes My Heart
That Certain Age
Marie Antoinette
What Do You Think? Tupapaoo
Kidnapped
Gold Is Where You Find It
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Adventure's End
The Last Gangster
The Soldier and the Lady
The Plough and the Stars
Mummy's Boys
Grand Jury
Mary of Scotland
M'Liss
The Witness Chair
Two in Revolt
The Farmer in the Dell
Yellow Dust
We're Only Human
Seven Keys to Baldpate
Annie Oakley
The Three Musketeers
Death Takes a Holiday