Actor

Kolden (front) with Me and the Chimp co-stars, Ted Bessell and "Buttons", 1971

From the time he was a baby, friends commented on Kolden's photogenic looks, suggesting to his mother that she get him into show business.^[1] Years later, when recounting how he began his acting career, Kolden explained, "I got started at about 7½ [or] 8-years-old. I was just the little kid that was kind of the ham-bone. I'd do funny voices and I was putting on a show for the relatives and friends and I guess enough people bugged mom saying 'Gee you oughta get him in show business.'"^[2]

Kolden's mother took him to a commercial talent agent. The agency signed him, sent him on three auditions, and he was promptly hired for all three commercials.^[1] Kolden continued, "I guess I just had the right look at the right time [because] every [audition] I seemed to go on, I just started getting them."^[2] After starting as essentially a child model in commercials, Kolden quickly transitioned to acting roles.^[1]

In January 1971, The Los Angeles Times reported that Paramount Television was filming a new pilot for CBS, tentatively titled The Plumbum. The pilot reportedly starred Kenneth Mars and Kolden as a bachelor plumber and his young cousin, however, no record of the pilot or subsequent series having aired has been found.^[3] According to IMDb, Kolden made his television debut in a small role as Bobby on the 1971 comedy series Funny Face.^[4] The following year, he landed a co-starring role as Scott Reynolds, the son of Ted Bessell and Anita Gillette on the short-lived CBS comedy series Me and the Chimp.^[5]

Kolden (back) with Sigmund co-stars Billy Barty and Johnny Whitaker, 1973

In January 1973, Kolden co-starred as Leonard Booth alongside Johnny Whitaker as his brother, Alfie in The Wonderful World of Disney two-part television film, The Mystery in Dracula's Castle.^[6][7] In March of that year, he made his feature film debut co-starring as Rubert Appleby, the son of Fred MacMurray and Cloris Leachman in the Walt Disney family film Charley and the Angel.^[8][9] In 1976, Kolden starred as Joey Fields, a boy who befriends a Killer Whale at Marineland in the feature film A Whale of a Tale^[10] (although earliest reports of a release date to 1976,^[11] records indicate the film was shot circa 1972^[12]).

In 1973, Kolden landed his co-starring role as Scotty Stuart on the Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning comedy-fantasy series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, once again paired alongside fellow child star Johnny Whitaker as his brother, Johnny.^[13] The series was a success and aired on NBC from 1973 to 1975, becoming the first Krofft Saturday morning series to be picked up for a second season and co-starring such veteran character actors as Billy Barty, Mary Wickes, Rip Taylor and Margaret Hamilton, among others.^[14][15][16]

On September 7, 1973, Kolden also appeared as Scotty Stuart on the NBC Saturday Morning Preview special introducing the new Saturday morning offerings of the 1973–1974 season alongside fellow Sigmund co-stars, Johnny Whitaker and Billy Barty.^[17][18] In 1980, Kolden made his final on-screen appearance as Steve, the son of Jim Davis in the science-fiction feature film, The Day Time Ended.^[10]

Sound engineer

In 1993 Kolden began a career as a sound engineer, working as a sound mixer and sound effects editor on over 200 films and television series, including The X-files, Everybody Loves Raymond, Pinocchio's Revenge and Leprechaun 3, as well as working on the Disney channel children's series Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Cory in the House.^[4]

In 2000, Kolden won the Golden Reel Award for his work on the children's film Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein^[19] and in 2004, was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the dramatic television film 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out.^[20]