Ed Nelson

Early life and career

Nelson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began acting while attending Tulane University in New Orleans. He left college after two years to study at the New York School of Radio and Television Technique. He served with the United States Navy as a radioman on the light cruiser USS Dayton. He took a position as a director at WDSU-TV in New Orleans. By 1956, acting became his central focus, and he moved to the Los Angeles area.

Early in his career he worked with B-movie producer Roger Corman on the films Swamp Women (1956), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), Rock All Night (1957), Carnival Rock (1957), Night of the Blood Beast (1958), The Cry Baby Killer (1958), Teenage Cave Man (1958), and A Bucket of Blood (1959). Also in 1958 he acted in and produced actor-director Bruno VeSota's science fiction horror film The Brain Eaters, which Roger Corman executive produced. That same year he was cast as the lead in Devil's Partner, though the film was not released until 1962. He also appeared in the 1960 thriller Valley of the Redwoods and the 1963 comedy drama Soldier in the Rain, starring Steve McQueen and Jackie Gleason. His television career featured many guest starring roles, such as the talented but arrogant Dr. Wade Parsons in the 1962 episode "Doctor on Horseback" of the NBC western series, The Tall Man, starring Barry Sullivan as Sheriff Pat Garrett and Clu Gulager as Billy the Kid. In the story line Dr. Parsons works to save the life of a pregnant young woman who attempts suicide when her husband deserts her.

Nelson was cast in episodes of such other westerns as Maverick, Wagon Train, Black Saddle, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Rebel (five times), Johnny Ringo, Gunsmoke, Tombstone Territory, Laramie, Bonanza, Stoney Burke, The Dakotas, "The Rifleman" and Redigo. He appeared on drama and adventure series too, such as Combat!, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone, Flight, The Silent Service, The Outer Limits, Harbor Command, Tightrope, The Blue Angels (as the arrogant flight instructor Lieutenant Dayl Martin in "The Jarheads"), COronado 9, The Eleventh Hour, Thriller, and Channing, an ABC drama that romanticizes college life. He guest starred on Mission: Impossible and Jackie Cooper CBS military sitcom/drama, Hennesey.

He made two guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, both times as the defendant; in 1961, he played Ward Nichols in "The Case of the Left-Handed Liar," and in 1964, he played Dirk Blake, father of the title character, in "The Case of the Missing Button".

Peyton Place and later roles

In 1964, Nelson secured his most famous role, portraying Dr. Rossi on the ABC drama Peyton Place, which ran from 1964 to 1969. Nelson's fellow cast members included Mia Farrow, Warner Anderson, and Dorothy Malone. By 1968, all of the original stars had left the series, and Nelson became the lead actor on the show. Nelson reprised his role in two made-for-TV movies, Murder in Peyton Place and Peyton Place: The Next Generation.

After Peyton Place, Nelson worked in many more productions of all varieties often as a guest star on such series as Gibbsville, McMillan and Wife and Murder, She Wrote. He teamed with former Peyton Place co-star Percy Rodriguez in a second television series, The Silent Force, which ran for 15 episodes in 1970-1971. He guest starred with David Janssen in the very first episode of The Fugitive in the early 1960s. He appeared in many television movies such as Along Came a Spider (1970), The Screaming Woman (1972), Runaway! (1973), Houston, We've Got a Problem (1974), The Missing Are Deadly (1975), Superdome (1978), Doctors' Private Lives (1978) and Crash (1978), and served as host on a morning talk show,The Ed Nelson Show, that he hosted for three years. During the 1980s, Nelson took on the role of patriarchal Senator Mark Denning in the daytime serial Capitol. In late 1986, Nelson was upset to discover that the show's writers had turned his character into a traitor, and quit the show in disgust, last airing in early January 1987, two months prior to the show's cancellation.

He also continued appearing in theatrical films, such as Airport 1975 (1974), That's the Way of the World (1975), Acapulco Gold (1976), Midway (1976), For the Love of Benji (1977), Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986), Brenda Starr (1989), The Boneyard (1991), Who Am I? (1998) and Runaway Jury (2003).

He spent several years playing U.S. President Harry S. Truman onstage, having replaced James Whitmore for the National Tour of "Give 'Em Hell, Harry".

Personal life

While living in Los Angeles, Nelson was an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and was elected to the union board for many years. Nelson was a long-standing member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and maintained a long tradition of participation in voting for the Academy Awards. In the early 1970s, he ran for city council and mayor of San Dimas, California until a Federal Communications Commission ruling said that if he appeared in television programs his political opponents must be given equal time.

In 1999, Nelson returned to Tulane University to finish credits toward his undergraduate degree, which he completed the following year at age 71. He and his wife, Patsy, enjoyed semi-retirement visiting their six children and fourteen grandchildren. One of his children is actor Christopher S. Nelson.

Nelson died on August 9, 2014 in Greensboro, North Carolina from congestive heart failure.