Gerald S. O'Loughlin made gruff authority credible, with enough warmth to make a mentor worth listening to. We value his straightforward delivery, though the repeated police and military roles could become restrictive.
Fi1m perspective
Gerald S. O'Loughlin sounds accustomed to being listened to. His delivery is straightforward, his manner often gruff, and a policeman or military officer needs little introduction when he plays one. We value the humanity he finds in these familiar parts, especially when the man giving instructions also has to help someone learn the job. His mentors benefit from that mixture of bluntness and concern.
His film work grew steadier in the 1960s, and Richard Brooks's In Cold Blood (1967) gives us a useful place to begin. As Harold Nye, a real-life Kansas investigator, O'Loughlin supplies the reliable supporting work on which his reputation rests. We were chilled by Robert Blake and Scott Wilson because they made the killers seem so ordinary. Conrad Hall's exact, expressive black-and-white photography helps make this a film we recommend, despite its less convincing attempts to explain the violence. O'Loughlin belongs comfortably in it, but we would not claim that his performance is the chief reason to watch.
John Sturges's Ice Station Zebra (1968) cast him as Lieutenant Commander Bob Raeburn, another job for that no-nonsense manner. The substantial turn came with The Rookies (1972–1976), where he played Lieutenant Ed Ryker, an experienced officer mentoring younger officers. Here the gruffness had a continuing purpose: it had to accommodate guidance as well as orders. That is an appealing use of his familiar manner, allowing sympathy without asking him to stop sounding like the man in charge.
Later work included Joe Kaplan, a neighbour in the family drama Our House (1986), alongside the television guest roles and occasional films that continued into the 2000s. The reservation is the repeated casting as police and military men, which can make the actor seem predictable before he has had a chance to do much. Start with In Cold Blood; just do not expect it to be his film.
Biography
Gerald S. O'Loughlin (1921–2015) was an American actor and director known for character roles in television, film and on stage. Born in New York City, he served in the United States Marine Corps during the Second World War and later studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre with Sanford Meisner before joining the Actors Studio.
He appeared on Broadway in productions including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1963) and A Streetcar Named Desire. On television he played Lt. Ed Ryker in the series The Rookies (1972–1976) and guest-starred in episodes of Mission: Impossible (1966) as Bert Gordon, MASH, Murder, She Wrote and ER. His film credits include In Cold Blood (1967) and Ice Station Zebra* (1968).
