Olive Sturgess Dies: TV Western Stalwart, ‘The Raven’ Horror Spoof Actor Was 91
Olive Sturgess, whose many acting credits through the 1950s and ’60s included numerous TV Westerns and the Roger Corman horror spoof The Raven starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, died February 19 in Los Angeles. She was 91.
Her death was announced by her family.
Although her TV career included guest roles in such comedies as The Donna Reed Show and Petticoat Junction, her forte was the television Western, a genre that was wildly popular in the ’50s and ’60s. During those years, Sturgess made guest appearances on Cheyenne, U.S. Marshal, Sugarfoot, The Texan, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Lawman, Buckskin, Rebel, Laramie, Wagon Train, Maverick, The Rebel, Tall Man, Outlaws, Bonanza, Wide Country, Destry, and The Virginian. In 1965 she appeared in the Western feature film Requiem For A Gunfighter.
In an undated interview on the Western Clippings website, Sturgess reflected on the early days of her career. “We used to have stories that had a beginning, middle and an end,” she said, “that made you feel good after watching them…We had stories that were genuine; stories of the West done with humor or drama and romance.”
Born October 8, 1933, in Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Sturgess was signed to Universal Studios in her early 20s, landing a supporting role in the 1956 comedy film The Kettles in the Ozarks and appearing in guest shots on TV.
Jack Nicholson, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Olive Sturgess in Roger Corman’s ‘The Raven’ (1962)
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Perhaps her most memorable feature film role was in Corman’s 1963 horror comedy The Raven. She played Estelle Craven, daughter of Vincent Price’s Dr. Erasmus Craven. Loosely (very loosely) based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem, the low-budget drive-in fare would build a cult following through years of TV airings.
