Jeff Osterhage is an American film and television actor from Columbus, Indiana

Columbus, Indiana

Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 44,061 at the 2010 census, and the current mayor is Fred Armstrong. Located approximately 40 miles south of Indianapolis, on the east fork of the White River, it is the state's 20th largest...

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Osterhage began his acting career in a television adaptation of True Grit

True Grit: A Further Adventure

True Grit: A Further Adventure is a 1978 television film sequel to the films True Grit and Rooster Cogburn.While John Wayne played the role of Rooster Cogburn in the first two films, Warren Oates played him in this 1978 television film.-Plot:...

in 1978 and starred in the 1979 TV movie The Legend of the Golden Gun

The Legend of the Golden Gun

The Legend of the Golden Gun is a 1979 Made-for-TV Western film, starring Jeff Osterhage, Hal Holbrook, Carl Franklin, and Robert Davi-Plot Summary:...

. He is probably most recognizable to western fans in his role as Tyrel Sackett

Sackett

The Sackett family is a fictional American family featured in a number of western novels, short stories and historical novels by American writer Louis L'Amour.- Background :...

 in the 1979 western The Sacketts

The Sacketts

The Sacketts is a 1979 TV Western movie, based on a series of books of the same name by Louis L'Amour. The film recounts the story of the Sacketts brothers in the Western days.-Synopsis:...

, followed by the 1982 The Shadow Riders

The Shadow Riders (film)

The Shadow Riders is a 1982 television film western that first aired in the United States on September 28, 1982. It is based on the novel of the same name by Louis L'Amour, and is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The movie reunites actors Tom Selleck, Sam Elliot, and Jeff Osterhage, who also starred...

, both being film adaptations of novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s by western novelist Louis L'Amour

Louis L'Amour

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...

. "The Shadow Riders" is not a part of the "Sackett" book series, and the actors play totally different roles. In both films he starred opposite Tom Selleck

Tom Selleck

Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....

 and Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott

Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...

. In the first film he also starred alongside western legends Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson (actor)

Ben "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...

 and Glen Ford, with Johnson also starring in the second. Osterhage has appeared in twenty-seven films, made for television movies, and television series appearances in TV series including The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

, Knight Rider, T. J. Hooker

T. J. Hooker

T.J. Hooker is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982 on ABC and ran on the network until May 4, 1985...

, Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance,...

, Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

, Moonlighting

Moonlighting (TV series)

Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...

, Simon & Simon

Simon & Simon

Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...

, Matlock

Matlock (TV series)

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...

, as well as the computer game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a computer role-playing game developed by BioWare and released on September 26, 2000. The game is the sequel to Baldur's Gate, and, opening only a few months after the events of the earlier game, continues the story of the player character, whose unique heritage...

. His latest appearance is in the 2008 film Taken by Force. He also played Marshal James Anderson in the computer game Outlaws, released in 1997.

Osterhage also appeared in the short-lived 1989 revival of Dragnet, called The New Dragnet, alongside Bernard White

Bernard White

Bernard White is a Sri Lankan-born English actor, screenwriter and film director. A 1977 graduate of Detroit Catholic Central High School, he graduated from Michigan State University. He was previously married to American actress Julia Campbell and French actress Nathalie Canessa-White...

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External links