Born June 27, 1889 Moroni Olsen
Moroni Olsen made his professional acting debut on Broadway in 1920 portraying Jason in Medea. He worked on Broadway until 1935 (with an 11 year break between 1922-1933), and then made his feature film debut as Porthos in The Three Musketeers opposite Walter Abel as d’Artagnan and Paul Lukas as Athos. Over the course of 20 years (1935-1955) he appeared in over 105 films, playing his share of doctors, preachers, lawyers and even corrupt villains. Some of his more ‘familiar’ roles include the voice of the Magic Mirror in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Herbert Dunstan (Buckley’s dad) in Father of the Bride (1950) and Father’s Little Dividend (1951), Robert E. Lee in Santa Fe Trail, Inspector Peterson in Mildred Pierce, Walter Beardsley in Notorious — and the Senior Angel who sends Clarence down to earth in It’s a Wonderful Life.
“Over the seven jeweled hills, beyond the seventh fall, in the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, dwells Snow White, fairest of them all.”
– Moroni Olsen as the Magic Mirror in Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
…..
Senior Angel (Olsen): Yes, Clarence. A man down on earth needs our help.
Clarence (Henry Travers): Splendid. Is he sick?
Senior Angel: No worst. He’s discouraged. At exactly 10:45 pm earth time, that man will be thinking seriously about throwing away God’s greatest gift.
…..
–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub
,
