Bob Nelson (born March 3, 1958) is an American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

Life and career

Nelson began doing stand-up in comedy clubs while a theater student at

Nassau Community College Nassau Community College (NCC) is a public community college in Uniondale, New York, using the Garden City, New York ZIP Code. It was founded in 1959 and is part of the State University of New York. History Nassau Community College was crea ...

in the late 1970s.Len Righi,
Multiple Personalities Comic Bob Nelson Brings His Cast Of Characters To Valley
. ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...

'', May 22, 1993. Nelson specializes in rubber-faced comedy characters. He is also known for his

Jacques-Yves Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

impersonations and his "football act" in which he parodies the old team rundowns in the College Football All-Star games, in which players announce their names, numbers and teams. Nelson was

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-line joke, one-liner humor, his c ...

's opening act for eight years and was featured in two of Rodney's HBO stand-up comedy showcases, alongside

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom '' Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with La ...

, Roseanne Barr,

Rita Rudner Rita Rudner (born September 17, 1953) is an American comedian. Beginning her career as a Broadway dancer, Rudner noticed the lack of female comedians in New York City and turned to stand-up comedy, where she has flourished for over three deca ...

and

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fulle ...

. That led to two HBO specials starring Nelson, including "Nelson Schmelson". Nelson was also in a comedy group called "The Identical Triplets" with

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

and Rob Bartlett. Nelson has appeared several times on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' and various other talk shows and appeared on tour with Gallagher during 2016–17. In 2008 Nelson relocated his family and his show to

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...

to take a break from the road, where he performed locally for three years. In 2013, Nelson and family returned to Long Island. In late 2020, Nelson was diagnosed with colon cancer, and is currently undergoing treatment to battle his illness. Nelson won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

for a children's show he wrote and starred in, called ''Double Muppet Hold the Onions'', in 1983. He also had supporting roles in

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for ...

's directorial film debut '' This Is My Life''. He also starred in the film ''

Brain Donors ''Brain Donors'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and released by Paramount Pictures, loosely based on the Marx Brothers comedies '' A Night at the Opera'' and '' A Day at the Races'' (the first two films the Marx Brothers ...

'', the 1992 update of the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

' comedy '' A Night at the Opera''.

Filmography

*''

Kindergarten Cop ''Kindergarten Cop'' is a 1990 American action comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and distributed by Universal Pictures. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as John Kimble, a tough police detective working undercover as a kindergarten teacher to apprehe ...

'' (1990) – Henry Shoop *''

Nothing Upstairs Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...

'' (1990) – Bob *'' This Is My Life'' (1992) – Ed *''

'' (1992) – Jacques *''

Miss Evers' Boys ''Miss Evers' Boys'' is an American made-for-television drama starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne that first aired on February 22, 1997, and is based on the true story of the four-decade-long Tuskegee Syphilis Study. It was directed by ...

'' (1997) – Source musician *''

The Appleby Sensation ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1997) – Linguist

References

External links

Official Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Bob 1958 births American male film actors Living people People from Massapequa, New York 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Comedians from New York (state) Nassau Community College alumni