Gerald S. O'Loughlin

Gerald S. O'Loughlin
O'Loughlin as Eddie Ryker in The Rookies
Born	Gerald Stuart O'Loughlin Jr. (1921-12-23)December 23, 1921 New York City, U.S.
Died	July 31, 2015(2015-07-31) (aged 93) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre Actors Studio
Occupation(s)	Actor, director
Years active	1952–2008
Spouse	Meryl O'Loughlin ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1976)​
Children	2; including Chris O'Loughlin

Gerald Stuart O'Loughlin Jr. (December 23, 1921 – July 31, 2015) was an American television, stage, and film actor and director who was primarily known for playing tough-talking and rough-looking characters. He is best known for Ed Ryker on The Rookies (1972-1976).

Overview

After a stint with the United States Marine Corps, O'Loughlin used his GI Bill of Rights benefits to train at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. Continuing to hone his skills at the Actors Studio, he would land a handful of TV and/or film roles throughout the 1950s.

Early years

O'Loughlin was a native of New York City. Before becoming an actor, he earned a college degree in mechanical engineering.

Military service

O'Loughlin served two tours of duty in the Marines, enlisting during World War II and being recalled to active duty for the Korean War.

Television

It was during the 1960s and 1970s, however, that O'Loughlin would become virtually ubiquitous on TV, his workload decreasing only slightly during the century's final two decades. One of his early guest-starring roles was on "A Man for Mary" episode of ABC's 1962 comedy-drama Going My Way.

He appeared in the 1965 Gunsmoke episode "Twenty Miles from Dodge". O'Loughlin played a tough but not insensitive gang leader of stagecoach robbers holding the passengers as hostages for ransom. Among them was Kitty (Amanda Blake) who plays her usual tough-as-nails saloon-keeper, who comforts the freezing and hungry, while battling the desperadoes and a feisty, crafty fellow passenger played by Darren McGavin. O'Loughlin manages to get his hands on the loot, $62,000 & change, but is thwarted by the ingenious explosion of bullets collected round-about by McGavin. This is one of the more grueling and compelling episodes of this western, featuring a strong ensemble cast alongside James Arness, displaying the relentless Marshal Matt Dillon, and aided by the ever-jawin' Festus, Ken Curtis. Sixteen years later, O'Loughlin reunited with Arness in the made-for-TV film McClain's Law, structured as the pilot for Arness' 1981–82 police detective series. He played Adam Beale Chief of the Hijack Containment Unit in Quincy Season 3 Episode 7 who works to take down terrorists hi-jacking a plane with a fatal virus on board.

Cast photo of The Rookies. Clockwise from the top: Georg Stanford Brown (Terry Webster), Kate Jackson (Jill Danko), Gerald S. O'Loughlin (Eddie Ryker), Bruce Fairbairn (Chris Owens) and Sam Melville (Mike Danko) in 1975

O'Loughlin appeared in an episode of the 1961 television series The Asphalt Jungle. In 1966 he portrayed truck driver Carl Munger (S2:Ep7) and in 1972 he portrayed a robber named Kulhane (S7:Ep21) in the TV series, The F.B.I. He appeared in three episodes of Hawaii Five-O. The first was aired January 29, 1969 in the episode "The Box". O'Loughlin played the tough but sympathetic central figure of a group of prison inmates who take Hawaii Five-O chief Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) hostage. The second was called "Six Kilos" on March 12, 1969 (playing the same character as in "The Box"), and the third was called "A Time to Die" on September 16, 1970. He also appeared on Cannon on February 22, 1972, in the episode "Flight of the Hawks". He also appeared on episode 16 of the TV show The Green Hornet. In Season 2 Episode 22 of Mission: Impossible, he played a killer for hire.

In 1970–1971, O'Loughlin portrayed Devin McNeil in the CBS crime drama Storefront Lawyers (which was later revised and retitled and became Men at Law).

From 1972 to 1976 O'Loughlin appeared as Lt. Ed Ryker on The Rookies. In 1978, he appeared in the pilot episode of The Eddie Capra Mysteries, and had roles in TV miniseries such as Wheels (1978), Women in White (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Blind Ambition (1979). He also appeared as Sgt. O'Toole in the 1983 made-for-TV miniseries The Blue and the Gray. Also in 1983, he appeared as Gen. Schwerin, hoping to meet Marilyn Monroe, in the M*A*S*H episode "Bombshells." He was also a regular the series Automan (1983) and Our House (1986). Also in 1986, O'Loughlin played the part of Mr. Parks in a first season episode of Highway to Heaven entitled "The Brightest Star".

In 1988, he played Tom Callahan in Dirty Dancing. In 1992 he appeared as Ben Oliver in Murder She Wrote in the episode "Badge of Honor".

Stage

O'Loughlin's professional acting career began in repertory work at Crystal Lake Theatre in upstate New York. He played Cheswick in the stage version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the Cort Theatre beginning in 1963. The highlight of O'Loughlin's stage career was a national tour of A Streetcar Named Desire as Stanley Kowalski, opposite Tallulah Bankhead as Blanche DuBois.

Film

O'Loughlin's movie credits include Ensign Pulver, In Cold Blood, Ice Station Zebra, The Valachi Papers and Twilight's Last Gleaming.

Personal life and death

O'Loughlin and his ex-wife Meryl Abeles had two children: Chris O'Loughlin (born 1967), a member of the 1992 United States Olympic épée fencing team, and Laura O'Loughlin. O'Loughlin died of natural causes in Los Angeles on July 31, 2015.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Lovers and Lollipops	Larry
1957	A Hatful of Rain	Church
1958	Cop Hater	Detective Mike Maguire
1964	Ensign Pulver	LaSueur
1966	A Fine Madness	Chester Quirk – Policeman
1966	A Man Called Adam	Red – the Sheriff
1967	In Cold Blood	Harold Nye
1968	Ice Station Zebra	Lt. Cdr. Bob Raeburn
1969	Riot	Grossman
1970	The Virginian	Lute Dormer Sr	season 8 episode 18 ("Train of Darkness")
1971	Desperate Characters	Charlie
1971	The Organization	Jack Pecora
1972	The Valachi Papers	Ryan
1972	Room 222	Sid LeRoi	season 3 episode 22 ("The Quitter")
1977	Twilight's Last Gleaming	Brig. Gen. O'Rourke
1977	Murder at the World Series	Moe Gold
1978	The Eddie Capra Mysteries	Ed Schroder	Pilot: "Nightmare at Pendragon Castle
1978	Crash	Larry Cross
1981	McClain's Law	Sid Lammon	made-for-TV film
1982	Frances	Lobotomy Doctor
1983	Automan	Capt. E. G. Boyd
1984	Crimes of Passion	Ben
1984	City Heat	Counterman Louie
1986	Quicksilver	Mr. Casey
1986	Our House	Joe Kaplan
1998	The Secret Kingdom	Chartwell
2000	3 Strikes	Judge

External links

• Gerald S. O'Loughlin at IMDb
• Gerald O'Loughlin at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection