This 1964 handout provided by NFL Photos shows the Los Angeles Rams defensive front four, known as the Fearsome Foursome. From left to right are Lamar Lundy (85), Merlin Olsen (74), Rosey Grier (76), and Deacon Jones (75). Olsen, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former television actor, died early Thursday at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 69.

SALT LAKE CITY — Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, who helped form one of the NFL's greatest defensive lines before embarking on a successful career in television, died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 69.

Olsen was a member of the Los Angeles Rams' Fearsome Foursome along with Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier in the 1960s. He later starred on NFL broadcasts, commercials and as Jonathan Garvey on the TV series "Little House on the Prairie."

"He was ferocious and fearless on the football field and then the other probably more important aspect of his personality was he was a true gentleman," said fellow Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, his teammate with the Rams in Los Angeles. "We all know what a wonderful, tremendous football player he was, but he was so much more than that."

Utah State, Olsen's alma mater, said he died outside of Los Angeles. He was diagnosed last year with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining often linked to asbestos.

Olsen was a consensus All-American at Utah State and won the 1961 Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman. The Rams drafted him third overall in 1962 and he spent the next 15 years with the team, and is still the franchise's career leader in tackles with 915. He was picked to 14 straight Pro Bowls, a string that began with his rookie year.

As part of the Rams' storied Fearsome Foursome defensive line, he helped the team set an NFL record for the fewest yards allowed during a 14-game season in 1968.

Former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jerry Kramer remembered dreading Olsen, in his 1968 book "Instant Replay," co-written with late sportswriter and broadcaster Dick Schaap.

"I'll be facing Merlin Olsen, and that's definitely work, not fun," Kramer wrote. "Merlin never lets up. He'll run right over you no matter what the score is."

Olsen was voted NFC defensive lineman of the year in 1973 and the NFL MVP in 1974, and was voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

Olsen is also remembered for his role alongside Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert on "Little House on the Prairie" from 1977-81, and on the short-lived "Father Murphy."