GEORG OLDEN (1920 – 1975) was the first black executive of a major corporation also noted for his contributions to the television graphics field and leading the way for future black designers.
Born George Elliott Olden on Nov. 13, 1920, in Birmingham, Al., to James Clarence Olden, a Baptist minister, and Sylvia Ward Olden, a classically-trained singer and music teacher, Olden excelled in art from a young age. His family, which included older siblings James Clarence Jr. and Sylvia (who became the first person of color to work at the Metropolitan Opera as a vocal coach) had moved to Washington, D.C., where his father pastored Plymouth Congregational Church.
After becoming heavily involved in the civil rights movement, James Sr. abandoned the family in 1933, and six years later their mother died. Georg failed most of his classes in high school but continued to excel in art as well as swimming, winning a number of trophies. He graduated a year behind his class and attended Virginia State, drawing cartoons for the school newspaper, the Virginia Statesmen, and gaining popularity after establishing a reputation for wit and drinking.
In 1940, Georg proposed to aspiring actress Courtenaye Macbeth, who was three years older than him and had two small children. Because his sister Sylvia would not consent as his legal guardian, the couple was forced to wait until Georg turned 21 in order to marry, which they did on December 25, 1941.
By January 1942, the college honor student had dropped out to serve as a graphic designer for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. It was during this time that he dropped the second “E” in his first name in order to get him noticed by magazine editors, he explained to Advertising Age in 1963, while Olden historian Julie Lasky suggests the “Scandinavian spelling, along with his rendering of Caucasian cartoon figures, served as much as a blind to racial identity as it did a vehicle to recognition”.
George published cartoons in National CIO News, The New Yorker and Esquire before his OSS supervisor recommended him for the art director position at CBS’s new television division in 1945. He was also selected by Secretary of State Edward Strettinius to serve as a graphic designer to the International Secretariat after being invited to the conference which led to the formation of the United Nations.
Olden became the first artist to design news graphics at CBS and supervised the vote-tallying graphics of the first live presidential election coverage in 1952. In 1956, he received the New York Art Directors Club medal. As television grew more popular, Olden was responsible for the graphics of some of its main shows of the era including The Ed Sullivan Show, Lassie, Gunsmoke and The Late Show. According to 250 Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography, his work appeared 108 times between 1951 and 1960.
In 1960, he became television group art director at New York ad agency BBDO. Ebony featured the “tall, suave, athletically handsome man of 39 who is recognized as one of America’s top graphic designers”. Three years later, he had moved on to McCann Erickson and designed a postage stamp (another first for a black individual) commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (view the stamp). 
At a White House ceremony, President John F. Kennedy praised the stamp as “a reminder of the extraordinary actions in the past as well as the business of the future”.
That same year, in an Ebony article, Olden was quoted saying, “In my work I’ve never felt like a Negro. Maybe I’ve been lucky.” Lasky reports colleagues considered him “whiter than a lot of white people”, while he had belonged to the National Urban League for over a decade and even designed its logo. In 1964, Olden was honored with six others at a dinner by U.S. Representative to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson celebrating “Negroes prominent in the economic world”.
Georg divorced Courtenaye in 1966 and married singer Terri Phillips Baker. Two years later, their son Georg Jr. was born. In 1970, he was laid off at McCann Erickson and cited racial discrimination as the reason for his dismissal, although Lasky asserts the recession was the cause. Georg filed a racial discrimination lawsuit but was without merit because 20 others had been laid off at the same time (and all of the others were white). He continued to believe that his termination was racially-motivated and filed a class-action suit against McCann while serving as Vice President of Marketing and Advertising at the Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation.
By 1972, he had separated from his second wife and moved to Southern California to start his own company. He lived with his 28-year-old German girlfriend, Irene “Maya” Mikolajczyk. Around this time, Georg made his directorial debut directing an episode of The Mod Squad. On January 25, 1975, just days before the class-action suit was set to go to trial, Maya shot and killed Georg in possible self-defense. Having a strong case, she pleaded not guilty, was released on $1,000 bail and acquitted of the charge on May 14, 1975.
When he died at the age of 54, Georg Olden was poor and had obtained several rejection letters for novels and cartoons he wanted to publish. His efforts, which include a number of firsts for his race, inspired a number of designers, which was exactly what he had set out to do as detailed by his written epitaph:
As the first black American to achieve an executive position with a major corporation, my goal was the same as that of Jackie Robinson in baseball: to achieve maximum respect and recognition by my peers, the industry and the public, thereby hopefully expanding acceptance of, and opportunities for, future black Americans in business.
Georg Olden on I’ve Got a Secret, May 20, 1963
MORE GEORG OLDEN PICS provided by EBONY MAGAZINE
So glad yall do this. Great post. This story would make a great movie.
Very intresting!!! Good post
Two thumbs up CL, I love this part about this site. Though, now I want to find out why his wife killed him.
Again, the victim of abuse and violence, she acted in self defense, and is lucky to have survived. .
Simply put, in a drunken state (his alcoholism is never touched upon), with his own 357 Magnum, he tried to kill her; she managed to defend herself and, as others have noted, is lucky to have survived. That’s all I have to say.
interesting post..I LIKE..George Olden..Im going to look up more information about him
I Love these CL Spotlights! You guys need to do a whole day of CL Spotlights! There are soooo educational and informative. So many unknown pioneers and trailblazers!
Thank you so much ConcreteLoop for these History Spotlights! The articles are much appreciated
Great story in history. It amazing me that alot of history hasn’t been taught in our schools.
Thanks for introducing me and the other readers to pioneers like this. Though tragic, it is so important to know about these people, their stories, and their contribution to the world we live in day. Go CL!
To be honest, the CL Spotlights are often the highlight of my day and the only reason I still visit CL.
Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Harry Belafonte?
He does have a strong resemblance to him
Real nice. I’m graphic designer and that cool to see the kind of design did worked at that time.
+ really elegant and handsome man with great confidence. I’m not surprised he was so successful in advert’
i agree, very complex man
Thanks for this series…I try to keep up with unsung AM’s how did it back in the day..and I have never heard of this bro, so thanks.
I really dont like talking bad about my people but if he was beating that woman, he deserved to get shot….not killed though.
The victim of an abusive and violent relationship, her life in peril, acting in self-defense, she is lucky to have survived.
so handome! thanks for this
Oh thank you CL for giving us such great references of Black history. Every last one of your CL Spotlights have been captivating! Keep up the excellent work on all that you do. Stay unique. I am so impressed that you all have not induldge in garbage like the other websites.
I really enjoyed this piece. Outstanding research and black history. I will come to this site more often.
All People are filled with contradictions. THats what makes us human. CL thanks for posting his story it was notable and real. I love the CL spotlights.
Perhaps if he’s lucky people will look back someday over Cris Brown’s career and say something similar for his contributions in the field of entertainment.
Studies show that only a very small percentage of domestic violence cases are reported to police. If a movie is ever made, as suggested above, one wonders if this will be presented, and if so how will it be handled. Unfortunately, the gifted and talented, like all of humanity, are plagued with all too human problems.
What a surprise, not without shock, to come across this article, and so soon after being posted. Now a long time ago, and while never actually acquainted with Olden or the girlfriend, recall friends of both the man and the gal expressing concern for her general welfare and safety. Not long before the fatal incident police were called following a violent assault against the woman. Judging by the comments posted here, most though not all responders are young? Children, a cautionary tale.
I am daughter of Georg Olden Jr., Danielle Olden. That is my grandpa and I am very proud. I have never seen these pictures before, which is why this website interested me.
Can’t knock success, but as a bro who could what, pass? nasty behavior with lady friend that caused his own death? Life title could be ‘I Had Several Secrets’.
No mention in newspaper archives of his death, same day that Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad died, February 25, 1975, not January.
Sadly, Nicole Brown Simpson and Lana Clarkson were not as lucky.