David Nelson (actor)

Nelson was born October 24, 1936, in New York City, the elder son of entertainment couple Harriet Hilliard Nelson and Ozzie Nelson.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/269296852/?terms=%22David%20Nelson%22&match=1 McLellan, Dennis, Ozzie and Harriet's oldest son, longtime director, The Orlando Sentinel, January 13, 2011, page A4] His younger brother was singer Ricky Nelson. In late 1941, Nelson moved with his parents from Tenafly, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California.Weber, Bruce. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/arts/television/13nelson.html "David Nelson, Son in Ozzie and Harriet, Dies at 74"], The New York Times, January 12, 2011. Accessed May 11, 2017. "David Oswald Nelson was born in Manhattan on Oct. 24, 1936. The family lived for a time in Tenafly, N.J., but moved to California when David was about 5."

He attended Hollywood High School, balancing his studies, playing on the football team and his TV work. He later attended the University of Southern California and was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.{{cite web|url=http://www.kappasigmaucf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=53|title=UCF IFC Rush, Kappa Sigma, Kappa Sig UCF, Fraternity Rush|access-date=January 18, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726212811/http://www.kappasigmaucf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=53|archive-date=July 26, 2011|df=mdy-all}}

File:Adv of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson Family 1952.jpg

Nelson's acting career started in 1949 when he and his brother began playing themselves on their parents' radio series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which lasted until 1954.John Dunning, Tune In Yesterday the Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio 1925-1976, page 11, Prentice-Hall, 1976 His film debut came in Here Come the Nelsons, released in 1952.

Also in 1952 Nelson continued playing himself on the television version of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran until 1966.Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 – Present, Ballantine Books, 1979, page 12 Starting in the early 1960s he directed about a dozen episodes of the show.

During the 1950s and 60s he appeared in Peyton Place, The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, The Big Circus, Day of the Outlaw, -30-, and The Big Show.

From the 1970s through 1990 Nelson had roles in Smash-Up on Interstate 5, Up In Smoke, The Love Boat, High School U.S.A., and A Family for Joe.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/194984118/?terms=%22David%20Nelson%22&match=1 David Nelson, 74, The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA), January 13, 2011, page 20] Nelson's last film appearance was in the 1990 film Cry-Baby.

Nelson directed episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, O.K. Crackerby!, Ozzie's Girls and Goodnight, Beantown. He directed several films, including Childish Things, Death Screams and Last Plane Out.

In 1973 he was the producer of Ozzie's Girls, a spinoff/revival of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/193268044/?terms=%22David%20Nelson%22&match=1 Lloyd, Robert, A team player for the family, The Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2011, page 52]

Nelson had two sons—Daniel Blair and James Eric from his first marriage with June Blair, which ended in divorce. He later adopted two sons and a daughter—John, Eric, and Teri—during his second marriage to Yvonne Huston.

Nelson died on January 11, 2011, in Century City, California, of complications of colon cancer.{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-david-nelson-20110112-story.html | title=David Nelson dies at 74; last surviving member of the TV sitcom family | first=Dennis | last=McLellan | date=January 12, 2011 | work=Los Angeles Times | access-date=September 26, 2021}}

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• Here Come the Nelsons (1952)
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (320 episodes, 1952–1966)
• Peyton Place (1957)
• The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)
• The Big Circus (1959)
• Day of the Outlaw (1959)
• -30- (1959)
• The Big Show (1961)
• Hondo (1 episode, 1967)
• Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970)
• The D.A. (1 episode, 1971)
• Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976)
• Up in Smoke (1978)
• The Love Boat (1 episode, 1978)
• An Ozzie and Harriet Christmas (1981 TV special on KTLA in Los Angeles)
• High School U.S.A. (1983)
• A Family for Joe (1990)
• Cry-Baby (1990)

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• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (12 episodes)
• O.K. Crackerby! (Unknown episodes)
• Childish Things (1969)
• Easy to Be Free (1973)
• Ozzie's Girls (1973)
• Death Screams (1982)
• Last Plane Out (1983)
• Goodnight, Beantown (1 episode, 1984)
• A Rare Breed (1984)

• Ozzie's Girls (1973)
• Easy to Be Free (1973)
• Last Plane Out (1983)

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{{Commons category|David Nelson (actor)|David Nelson}}

• {{IMDb name|0625287|name=David Nelson}}
• [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv929418 Ozzie and Harriet Nelson papers] at the American Heritage Center

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Category:1936 births

Category:2011 deaths

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male child actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

David Nelson

Category:Male actors from New York (state)

Category:American television directors

Category:Film directors from New Jersey

Category:Film producers from New Jersey

Category:University of Southern California alumni

Category:Male actors from Tenafly, New Jersey

Category:American people of Swedish descent

Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in California

Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery

Category:Television producers from New Jersey