Football, television star Merlin Olsen diagnosed with mesothelioma

On Dec. 31, the online celebrity news source, TMZ, revealed that football and television star Merlin Olsen has filed a lawsuit against a number of companies, claiming they are responsible for exposing him to asbestos, resulting in his recent diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. Companies named in the suit are Sherwin Williams and Lennox Industries, whose products Olsen says he was exposed to during jobs in his youth, but also NBC Studios, NBC Universal, and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. It is unclear from the lawsuit how the television and movie companies contributed to Olsen’s asbestos exposure.

Olsen was a professional football player for the Los Angeles Rams team, and later had a successful career as a sportscaster and actor, most notably on shows “Little House on the Prairie” and “Father Murphy.”

According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the defendants “were engaged in the business of manufacturing, fabricating, designing, assembling, distributing, leasing, buying, selling, inspecting, servicing, installing, repairing, marketing, warranting and advertising a certain substance the generic name of which is asbestos.”

News reports say Olsen, with wife Susan by his side, is fighting his mesothelioma and currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Read the complaint.

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Tags: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, asbestos, lawsuit, Lennox Industries, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Los Angeles Rams, Merlin Olsen, mesothelioma, NBC Studios, NBC Universal, Sherwin Williams

This entry was postedon Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 9:11 amand is filed under News, People.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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