- Born
- Died
- Birth nameStephen Oliver Welzig
- Muscular and ruggedly handsome tough guy actor Steve Oliver was born as Stephen Oliver Welzig on November 29, 1941 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a garage mechanic. Steve had three brothers and one sister. He grew up in Riverside, California. Steve not only worked various jobs as a cab driver, roughneck, bounty hunter, and fitness instructor to the stars, but also served a brief stint in the U.S. Navy, working on an old World War II mine-sweeper during the early part of the Vietnam war prior to embarking on an acting career. Moreover, Oliver was an honorary member of the Hell's Angels in his youth and even participated in both boxing matches and martial arts events. Steve made his film debut as brooding romantic biker gang leader "Brahmin" in Russ Meyer's Motorpsycho! (1965). He got the job by staging a fight scene in Russ's office in which he broke the producer's desk with a display of such force he was hired on the spot. He went on to portray similarly rough'n'tumble biker gang leaders in the enjoyable drive-in exploitation features Angels from Hell (1968), Werewolves on Wheels (1971) and Savage Abduction (1973). Oliver was, likewise, excellent as sleazy gigolo "Terry Shaw" in The Naked Zoo (1970) and, once again, personally cast by Steve McQueen, he was memorable as legendary boxer "Gentleman Jim" Corbett in Tom Horn (1980). Stephen was quite funny as sneering beefcake bully "Dugan Hicks" in the amusing Crown International comedy romps, The Van (1977) and Malibu Beach (1978). Perhap best known as the dangerous "Lee Weber" on the popular soap opera TV series, Peyton Place (1964), he was brought on the series to stand up to Ryan O'Neill, the elitist bully no one else dared confront. Oliver did guest spots, usually as strong villains on such TV shows as The Streets of San Francisco (1972), CHiPs (1977) and Starsky and Hutch (1975). Steve was a good friend of Pat Boone and gave his life to the Lord. He concentrated on writing screenplays after he stopped acting in the early 90s. A fighter to the end, he walked out of chemotherapy and returned to his home in Big Bear, California to face his pending end. Steve Oliver died at age 66 of gastric cancer on March 5, 2008 in Big Bear City, California.- IMDb Mini Biography By: woodyanders
- Steve Oliver aka Stephen Oliver Welzig had 1 daughter whom he lived with shortly before he past away. He has 4 grandchildren and 1 great-grand child. DNA has proven the relationship. This was added to show that Steve was more complex than it seemed. He had a heart that often isn't seen in his movies. He was with a woman for about a year and were going to get married but after going to Illinois with his pregnant partner he became enraged over something, broke a piano bench, he realized there was no way he could live on a farm and raise a child so he went back to California. He would later catch up with his daughter he met for the first time when she was a young adult with her first child. He would visit her and his grandkids from time to time and for the most part was a very loving grandfather. The last time his own child saw him he was living with them. He had a hard time excepting that one of his young grandchildren would not call him grandpa because she had always known her mom's adopted dad as her grandpa. His daughter told him to be patient, the granddaughter was young and didn't understand how this hurt him. He just couldn't get over the pain, which ended with him becoming angry and then leaving. They continued to love Steve but lost touch with him a bit before he passed away. His child has since met 2 of Steve's brothers, his 1 sister and many of the cousins.- IMDb Mini Biography By: DW
- SpousesLana Wood(February 26, 1966 - April 1966) (annulled)Anna Geirstottir (divorced)
- Dark, brooding, ruggedly handsome Philadelphia-born actor who went from being broke and driving a taxi to landing the co-starring role of the pompadour-wearing wife abuser and murderer "Lee Webber" on TV's Peyton Place (1964). His character was killed off after two seasons.
- During the run of Peyton Place (1964), he married his on-screen wife Lana Wood (she portrayed waitress "Sandy Webber") but the marriage lasted a scant six weeks. He subsequently wed a former Miss Iceland, Anna Geirstottir, but that marriage too folded after a few months, and later actress Andrea Cyrill, who played girlfriend Ginger Alden in the Elvis docudrama, This Is Elvis (1981).
- Displaying a bad guy animal magnetism, he tended to play rough-and-tumble biker types such as in the cheap-jack films, Motorpsycho! (1965),Angels from Hell (1968), Werewolves on Wheels (1971), Fugitive Lovers (1975) and Savage Abduction (1973).
- Grew up in Riverside, California. He is survived by three brothers and a sister.
- Big Bear Lake City. Writing new screen plays.
- I wasn't ready for marriage. I'm mature in other ways, but not when it comes to getting along with women. The thing that led to the big blowup was my going away for a weekend of skydiving. Well, what's so terribly wrong about that? If a man can't go out on a weekend with male friends and take a couple of jumps, what kind of a marriage has he got? So I left one evening and came home the following afternoon - and, of course, she was gone. SO, in an interview as to what went wrong with his five-week marriage to Lana Wood
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