Edmund Mortimer Olson (1874-1944) started out as a professional actor in 1904 and had extensive stage experience when he made his first film ten years later. He would eventually appear in over 380 pictures.
After serving in the First World War, Mortimer turned his hand to direction and made a couple of dozen films, two of which he also wrote. He returned to acting in 1930, but most of his many roles were without credit.
Films featuring Mortimer include Red-Headed Woman (1932), Duck Soup (1933), Imitation of Life (1934), Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Stella Dallas (1937), The Awful Truth (1937), Holiday (1938), Midnight (1939), Wuthering Heights (1939), Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Story of Dr Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940) and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941).
Mortimer appeared uncredited in fifteen MGM musicals: Stage Mother, Dancing Lady, Broadway Melody of 1936, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry, Sweethearts, At the Circus, Little Nellie Kelly, Ship Ahoy, I Dood It, Thousands Cheer, Swing Fever, Two Girls and a Sailor and Bathing Beauty.
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