After Oliver's mother died, he began acting with the Fennberg Stock Company in New England. Later, he and
Joe Keaton teamed in a "burlesque boxing act" that they performed in amusement parks around the United States Oliver followed that routine with a vaudeville act in which he sang and whistled. After "an unsuccessful engagement with a stock company in Rome, Georgia," in 1908 he began working for
Lubin Studios in
Philadelphia, earning $3.00 a day. He also worked for
Eclair,
Kinemacolor and the
Selig Polyscope Company before he joined
Jesse L. Lasky's company in California in 1916. Oliver appeared in at least 18 films starring
Wallace Reid, and in those made by many other stars at
Paramount. In 1931 his health led him to retire, but the studio continued to pay him. == Personal life and death ==