Felix Nelson
{{short description|American actor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Felix Nelson
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Felix Bradford Nelson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|8|13|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Franklin, Texas, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|2|17|1927|8|13|mf=y}}
| death_place = Riverside, California, U.S.
| death_cause =
| years_active = 1937–1986
| occupation = Actor, dancer
| spouse =
| other_names = Felix B. Nelson,[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQ98YCW1isEC&q=%22nelson+felix+b%22 Academy Players Directory, Volume 140, Part 2]. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 1937. pp. 42, 61. Felix P. Nelson[https://www.newspapers.com/image/144256692/?clipping_id=144177829 "On Shore Screens: 'The Learning Tree'"]. Asbury Park Press.
| website =
}}
Felix Bradford Nelson (August 13, 1913 – February 17, 1998)Lamarre, Hazel L. (May 28, 1953). [https://www.mediafire.com/view/9tt1tauwy5a6npt/ "All the World's a Stage: Artist of the Week"]. Los Angeles Sentinel. p. B-2. was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best known for his work in Gordon Parks' The Learning Tree and Ruth Woodman's "Land of the Free" (Death Valley Days' acclaimed Season 1 finale).[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-call/144510042/ "Two Slaves Join Gold Rush in 'Land of Free'"]. Kansas City Call. May 22, 1953. p. 9.[https://archive.org/details/sim_jet_1953-06-04_4_4/page/62/mode/2up?q=%22Radio+TV+Guide%22 "Negro Actors Star in New Television Film"]. Jet. June 4, 1963. p. 63. Nelson also appeared as Jim from Huckleberry Finn on both radio and television, and, alongside Sammy Davis Jr. and a mostly African American cast, in Aaron Spelling's groundbreaking 10th Cavalry-themed TV western, Mission.
Early life and career
A native of Franklin, Texas, the older of two sons born to John Nelson and Dove Biggers,"Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4LX5-ZJ3Z : 14 February 2020), Felix Bradford Nelson, 1913. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4LG6-B82M : 14 February 2020), Dovie Biggers in entry for Johnnie Dovie Nelson, 1915. Nelson ran away from home at the age of 13, joining the J. R. Roberton Circus as a dancer, performing the Charleston and Black Bottom. From 1937 through 1940 and again from 1945 through 1948, he appeared with the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts, portraying painter Elihu Vedder's "African Sentinel."[https://www.newspapers.com/image/567349008/?clipping_id=144235563 "Art Studies Prepared for Laguna Festival"]. Daily Times-Advocate. July 9, 1948. p. 6.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/689327464/?clipping_id=144234734 "FELIX NELSON as Vedder's 'African Sentinel'"]. Los Angeles Daily News. August 8, 1947. p. 27. In the interim, he served with the United States Army for 3½ years during World War II, in China, India, and Burma, and was awarded the Purple Heart in 1945.
In 1949, Nelson became the first African American graduate of CBS's radio drama school.Brown, Jessie Mae (March 4, 1948). [https://www.newspapers.com/article/california-eagle/144106812/ "Whats' Doing in the Social Set"]. California Eagle. p. 10. The following year, he appeared as Jim—alongside Dean Stockwell's Huck and Jerry Farber's Tom—on NBC University Theater, in Ernest Kinoy's adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He also appeared that year on TV in Your Show Time's adaptation of Bret Harte's short story, "Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff," and onstage in a revival of the Broadway musical Carmen Jones, staged at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/144234905/ "Music Show Due Tonight"]. Los Angeles Times. September 5, 1949. Pt. II, p. 2.
Personal life and death
On June 3, 1948, the California Eagle reported that Nelson was residing in Laurel Canyon with his "pretty blue eyed wife."{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} However, a 1953 profile in the Los Angeles Sentinel refers to him as "a bachelor."
On February 17, 1998, Nelson died of undisclosed causes. His remains are interred at Riverside National Cemetery.[https://www.gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ngl/NGLMap?ID=6470742 "Felix B. Nelson"]. cem.va.gov.
Works
=Radio=
=Film and television=
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- [https://www.newspapers.com/image/610757766/?clipping_id=144109337 "Welcome, Friend"]. The Rock Island Argus. August 11, 1954. p. 9.
- [https://www.newspapers.com/image/71935451/?clipping_id=144109875 "One of the most heart-warming true stories"]. Daily Independent Journal. August 14, 1954. p.T 1.
- [https://www.newspapers.com/article/california-eagle/120442392/ "Mourn Beavers"]. California Eagle. November 8, 1962. p. 1.
External links
- {{IMDb name|0625364}}
- [https://www.otrr.org/OTRRPedia/pedia.html?s=per&id=32515&t=1 Felix Nelson] at OTRr.org
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Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century African-American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male radio actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Male actors from Texas
Category:People from Franklin, Texas