David Oswald Nelson (October 24, 1936 – January 11, 2011) was an American actor.

Early life

David Oswald Nelson was born October 24, 1936 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Nelson was the elder son of entertainment couple Harriet Hilliard Nelson (born Peggy Lou Snyder; July 18, 1909 – October 2, 1994) and Ozzie Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975). He was the older brother of singer

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

(May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985). In late 1941, David moved with his parents from

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

.Weber, Bruce
"David Nelson, Son in ''Ozzie and Harriet,'' Dies at 74"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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."

Career

Adv of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson Family 1952

Along with his brother and their parents, David Nelson appeared on the long-running sitcom ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'' in the 1950s and 1960s. Late in the run of the series, David directed several episodes. After the series' end, he continued acting, directing and producing. His most memorable 'break-out' performance was in the 1959 thriller ''

The Big Circus ''The Big Circus'' is a 1959 film starring Victor Mature as a circus owner struggling with financial trouble and a murderous unknown saboteur. It was produced and cowritten by Irwin Allen, later known for a series of big-budget disaster films. Pl ...

'', wherein David played a disturbed, apparently homicidal 'troubled youth', while his last film appearance was in the campier ''

Cry-Baby ''Cry-Baby'' is a 1990 American teen musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Waters. It was the only film of Waters's over which studios were in a bidding war, coming off the heels of the successful '' Hairspray''. The film s ...

'' (1990). For his contribution to the motion picture industry, David Nelson was honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

at 1501

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue and Melrose Avenue. The intersection with Hollywood Boulevard was once a symbol of Hollywood itself. The famed intersection fell into d ...

, on May 9, 1996. He attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

, balancing his studies, playing on the football team and his TV work. He later attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and was a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

fraternity.

Personal life

Nelson had two sons—Daniel Blair and James Eric—from his first marriage with

June Blair Margaret June Blair (October 20, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American model and actress. She was best known for being ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its January 1957 issue and for being part of the TV series ''The Adventu ...

, which ended in divorce, and adopted two sons and a daughter—John, Eric, and Teri—during his second marriage, to

Yvonne Huston Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

Death

Nelson died on January 11, 2011, in

Century City, California Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...

, from complications of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...

Filmography

Actor

* '' Here Come the Nelsons'' (1952) * ''

'' (320 episodes, 1952–1966) * '' Peyton Place'' (1957) * ''

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker ''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' is a 1959 DeLuxe Color film starring Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire directed by Henry Levin in CinemaScope. The film is based on the 1953 Broadway play of the same, which ran for 221 performances: Burgess Mer ...

'' (1959) * ''

'' (1959) * '' Day of the Outlaw'' (1959) * ''

-30- -30- has been traditionally used by journalists in North America to indicate the end of a story or article that is submitted for editing and typesetting. It is commonly employed when writing on deadline and sending bits of the story at a time, v ...

'' (1959) * '' The Big Show'' (1961) * ''

Hondo Hondo may refer to: Places * Rio Hondo (disambiguation), the name of several locations, derived from the Spanish word for "deep" Canada * Hondo, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Hondo, New Mexico, an unincorporated com ...

'' (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 ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'' (1 episode, 1978) * ''

High School U.S.A. ''High School U.S.A.'' is a 1983 American made-for-television comedy film starring Michael J. Fox, Nancy McKeon, Anthony Edwards, and Crispin Glover, directed by Rod Amateau. The film originally aired on NBC on October 16, 1983. Several of th ...

'' (1983) * ''

A Family for Joe ''A Family for Joe'' is an American sitcom that starred Robert Mitchum in the title role. It started out as a television movie that aired NBC on February 25, 1990, before turning it into a series that lasted from March 24 until August 19, 1990. Nin ...

'' (1990) * ''

'' (1990)

Director

* ''

'' (3 episodes) * ''O.K. Crackerby!'' (Unknown episodes) * '' Childish Things'' (1969) * ''Easy to Be Free'' (1973) * ''

Ozzie's Girls ''Ozzie's Girls'' is an American sitcom starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson that was broadcast in first-run syndication from September 1973 to September 1974. It served as a continuation and revival of ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'', whi ...

'' (1973) * '' Death Screams'' (1982) * '' Last Plane Out'' (1983) * ''

Goodnight, Beantown ''Goodnight, Beantown'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS for two brief seasons in 1983 and 1984. Synopsis The series stars Bill Bixby as Matt Cassidy and Mariette Hartley as Jennifer Barnes, two news anchors at WYN-TV, a fictional televis ...

'' (1 episode, 1984) * ''A Rare Breed'' (1984)

Producer

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

Awards

References

External links

*
Ozzie and Harriet Nelson Papers (includes papers related to David and Ricky)
at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, David 1936 births 2011 deaths American male television actors American male film actors American male child actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from New York (state) American television directors Film directors from New Jersey Film producers from New Jersey University of Southern California alumni People from Tenafly, New Jersey American people of Swedish descent Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from colorectal cancer Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Television producers from New Jersey