Ole, the washed-up boxer and murder victim was played by Burt Lancaster in the 1946 film version, but in this television adaptation was portrayed by Ingemar Johansson, who was a professional boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from 1959 to 1960. Johansson attempted acting, appearing in this television drama and in a small part in All the Young Men starring Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier. After retiring from the ring in 1963, he appeared in a few films in his native Sweden and died in 2009.