Walter Olkewicz
Walter Olkewicz inSeinfeld
Born	(1948-05-14)May 14, 1948 Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 6, 2021(2021-04-06) (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Ray Holland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–2017
Children	1

Walter Olkewicz (May 14, 1948 – April 6, 2021) was an Americancharacter actor. He played Marko in the short-lived TV seriesWizards and Warriors and Coach Wordman in the feature filmMaking the Grade.

Olkewicz was born inBayonne, New Jersey,^[1] and attended a Catholic grammar school there andSt. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City before graduating fromBayonne High School in 1965.^[2] He continued his education atSaint Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kansas and atColorado State University.^[1] During his high-school years, he was active in plays.^[2] Before he began acting professionally, Olkewicz sold insurance, sold office supplies, and drove a taxi.^[3]

Early in his career, Olkewicz acted with improv and other groups.^[4] He co-founded the improvisational group Saturday Bath, which had a national tour that lasted more than a year.^[2]Originally billed asRay Holland, He appeared in the filmsFutureworld (1976),The Greatest (1977),Summer Camp (1979),Hot T-Shirts (1981),Circle of Power (1981), andThe Client (1994).^[1]

Olkewicz guest-starred in many TV shows, includingBarney Miller (two episodes),Night Court,Seinfeld,ER, andWho's the Boss?. He was a semi-regular performer onDolly Parton's 1987–88 variety showDolly! and played the key role of Dougie Boudreau in the first four seasons ofGrace Under Fire. He also played gangsterJacques Renault onTwin Peaks (1990).

Olkewicz died at his Reseda, California, home^[1] after a long illness on April 6, 2021, at age 72.^[5][6] His son, Zac Olkewicz, is a screenwriter.^[1] During the time of his illness, he crafted a series ofYouTube videos reaching out to all of his friends from his years of work, hoping that someone he knew would help him. The video messages were posted as being meant forSteven Spielberg,Danny DeVito,Dolly Parton,Tommy Lee Jones, andJohn Goodman, among many others. He spoke of his illness and struggling to get back into work, the pain that he was in, and his substantial number of knee surgeries (19 at that point as he states), as well as his resulting insurance-related financial losses. In his message to John Larroquette, he said he'd been out of work approximately 12 years because he was too sick to go on, with the exception of two episodes of the 2017 revival ofTwin Peaks. His final video was posted as "Message to Sam Elliott."

• Walter Olkewicz atIMDb

• 1948 births
• 2021 deaths
• American male television actors
• American male film actors
• Male actors from Bayonne, New Jersey
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• St. Mary of the Plains College alumni
• Colorado State University alumni

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