From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Olin Ross Howland February 10 1886 September 20 1959 was an American film and theatre actor Howland was born in Denver Colorado to Joby A Howland one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War and Mary C Bunting His older sister was the famous stage actress Jobyna Howland From 1909 to 1927 Howland appeared on Broadway in musicals occasionally performing in silent films The musicals include Leave It to Jane 1917 Two Little Girls in Blue 1921 and Wildflower 1923 He was in the film Janice Meredith 1924 with Marion Davies With the advent of sound films his theatre background proved an asset and he concentrated mostly on films thereafter appearing in nearly two hundred movies between 1918 and 1958 Howland often played eccentric and rural roles in Hollywood His parts were often small and uncredited and he never got a leading role He was a personal favorite of David O Selznick who cast him in his movies Nothing Sacred 1937 as a strange luggage man The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1938 as the teacher Mr Dobbins and Gone with the Wind 1939 as a carpetbagger businessman He also played in numerous westerns from Republic Pictures including the John Wayne films In Old California 1942 and Angel and the Badman 1947 As a young man Howland learned to fly at the Wright Flying School and soloed on a Wright Model B This lent special sentiment in his scenes with James Stewart in the film The Spirit of St Louis 1957 as Stewart was also a pilot in real life The Spirit of St Louis and Them 1954where he played a drunken old man and The Blob 1958 were his last films He also played in telelevision shows during the 1950s In 1958 and 1959 he was cast as Charley Perkins in five episodes of ABCs sitcom The Real McCoys starring Walter Brennan Howland never married and had no children He worked until his death in Hollywood California at the age of 73
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