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IMDbPro

Virginia Christine(1920-1996)

  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Virginia Christine
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:13
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966)
3 Videos
35 Photos
Virginia has a long career as a character actress on the screen, but she will always be best remembered as the Swedish "Mrs. Olsen", who somehow knew everything about making coffee, and we somehow always found her in the kitchen of some hapless young housewife who just couldn't seem to make good coffee. Mrs. Olsen taught these women how to do so, as long as it involved using "Mountain Grown" Folger's brand Coffee. For some reason only Mrs. Olsen knew, no other kind of coffee you could buy was any good. And if you believe her, I have some land you'll be interested in!

Virginia was born in the small Iowa town of Stanton, which later converted its water tower to resemble a coffee pot in honor of its most famous citizen. When her family moved to Los Angeles, Virginia worked in radio while attending the University of California, Los Angeles. She was trained for a theatrical career by actor/director Fritz Feld, whom she married in 1940. In 1942, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. and started appearing in various films. Her first film was, Edge of Darkness (1943), in which she played a Norwegian peasant girl called "Miss Olson". Over the years, she appeared in prestigious films such as High Noon (1952) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - to horror in The Mummy's Curse (1944) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). She was a favorite of Stanley Kramer, appearing in a number of his films. But her greatest fame came in the 1960's when she started her 21-year stint as the matronly "Mrs. Olsen", who always had comforting words for young married couples while pouring Folger's Coffee in the TV ads.
BornMarch 5, 1920
DiedJuly 24, 1996(76)
BornMarch 5, 1920
DiedJuly 24, 1996(76)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos35

José Ferrer and Virginia Christine in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Paul Newman, Leo G. Carroll, Rudolph Anders, Virginia Christine, Anna Lee, Elke Sommer, and Ben Wright in The Prize (1963)
Edward G. Robinson, Diane Baker, Rudolph Anders, and Virginia Christine in The Prize (1963)
Don Castle and Virginia Christine in The Invisible Wall (1947)
Lee Marvin and Virginia Christine in The Killers (1964)
Virginia Christine in The Killers (1964)
Virginia Christine in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Virginia Christine in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Russ Bender, Bill Cassady, Virginia Christine, Hugh O'Brian, and Phillip Pine in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955)
Virginia Christine and Wanda Shannon in Death Valley Days (1952)
Virginia Christine, Martin Kosleck, and Dennis Moore in The Mummy's Curse (1944)
Virginia Christine, Kay Harding, and Dennis Moore in The Mummy's Curse (1944)

Known for

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
7.7
  • Wilma Lentz
  • 1956
Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Houghton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
7.8
  • Hilary St. George
  • 1967
Lon Chaney Jr., Virginia Christine, Peter Coe, and Dennis Moore in The Mummy's Curse (1944)
The Mummy's Curse
5.4
  • Princess Ananka
  • 1944
Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Maximilian Schell, and Richard Widmark in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Judgment at Nuremberg
8.3
  • Mrs. Halbestadt
  • 1961

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Pay the Piper
    • Short
  • Nicholas Campbell and Stoney Jackson in The Insiders (1985)
    The Insiders
    • TV Series
    • 1986
  • The Puppy's Further Adventures (1982)
    The Puppy's Further Adventures
    • (voice, credit only)
    • TV Series
    • 1982
  • Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)
    Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo
    • Additional Voices (voice)
    • TV Series
    • 1979
  • Kojak (1973)
    Kojak
    • Mrs. Yankowski
    • TV Series
    • 1976
  • Woman of the Year
    • Alma
    • TV Movie
    • 1976
  • Raymond Burr in Ironside (1967)
    Ironside
    • Esther Hawkins
    • TV Series
    • 1974
  • The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970)
    The Old Man Who Cried Wolf
    • Miss Cummings
    • TV Movie
    • 1970
  • Kim Richards, Juliet Mills, David Doremus, Trent Lehman, and Richard Long in Nanny and the Professor (1970)
    Nanny and the Professor
    • Mrs. Wilson
    • TV Series
    • 1970
  • Fess Parker in Daniel Boone (1964)
    Daniel Boone
    • Martha
    • Mrs. Brewster
    • TV Series
    • 1968–1970
  • Daughter of the Mind (1969)
    Daughter of the Mind
    • Helga
    • TV Movie
    • 1969
  • Hail, Hero! (1969)
    Hail, Hero!
    • Eleanor Murchiston
    • 1969
  • Lancer (1968)
    Lancer
    • Hannah Sickles
    • TV Series
    • 1969
  • The F.B.I. (1965)
    The F.B.I.
    • Eugenia Sayres
    • Lucille Fortier
    • Mrs. Ferguson
    • TV Series
    • 1966–1968
  • Anjanette Comer and Anthony Franciosa in In Enemy Country (1968)
    In Enemy Country
    • Frau Gulden
    • 1968

Videos3

Trailer
Trailer 1:06
Trailer
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula
Trailer 1:13
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula
Action In The North Atlantic
Trailer 2:16
Action In The North Atlantic

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
  • Born
    • March 5, 1920
    • Stanton, Iowa, USA
  • Died
    • July 24, 1996
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(heart ailment)
  • Spouse
    • Fritz FeldNovember 10, 1940 - November 18, 1993 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    TV commercial for Folgers Coffee (1964-1985), as Mrs. Olson
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Best-known to Americans as "Mrs. Olsen" in Folgers Coffee TV commercials in the 1960s/70s. Fans who knew little of her earlier film career were surprised to find that, even though she was raised in heavily Scandinavian communities in Iowa, she had no accent.
  • Quotes
    [on Lionel Atwill, with whom she worked in Raiders of Ghost City (1944)] Lionel Atwill was a great ham, a poseur, and I mean that as a compliment. We got along very well - he was a delight.

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