Gene Nelson

This article is about the American entertainer. For the baseball player, see Gene Nelson (baseball).

Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director.^[1][2][3]

Gene Nelson
Nelson in 1953.
Born	Eugene Leander Berg (1920-03-24)March 24, 1920 Astoria, Oregon, U.S.
Died	September 16, 1996(1996-09-16) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Gene Berg Eugene E. Nelson
Occupations	Actor dancer director
Years active	1938–1980

Biography

Nelson was born Eugene Leander Berg in Seattle, Washington. By 1924, he and his parents moved to Santa Monica. He was inspired to become a dancer during his childhood by watching Fred Astaire in films. After serving in the Army during World War II, during which he also performed in the musical This Is the Army, Nelson landed his first Broadway role in Lend an Ear. His performance earned a Theatre World Award. He also appeared onstage in Good News.^{[citation needed]} Nelson's longtime professional dance partner during the 1950s was actress JoAnn Dean Killingsworth.^[4]

Nelson co-starred with Doris Day in Lullaby of Broadway in 1951. He played Will Parker in the film Oklahoma!^[5]

In 1959, he appeared in Northwest Passage as a young man trying to prove his innocence in a murder case. Nelson appeared on the March 17, 1960 episode of You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx. He and Groucho's daughter, Melinda, performed a dance number together.^[6]

Nelson directed eight episodes of The Rifleman in the 1961–62 season. He also directed episodes of the original Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie (the first season), Gunsmoke (and starred in many others including “Saludos” [1959] and “Say Uncle" [1960]), The Silent Force, and The San Pedro Beach Bums. Nelson directed the Elvis Presley films Kissin' Cousins (1964), for which he also wrote the screenplay, and Harum Scarum (1965). For the Kissin' Cousins screenplay he received a Writers Guild of America award nomination for best written musical. In the late 1980s, he taught in the Theater Arts Department at San Francisco State University.

He starred as Buddy in the 1971 Broadway musical Follies, for which he received a 1972 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Musical.^{[citation needed]} The production featured a score by Stephen Sondheim, was co-directed by Michael Bennett and Harold Prince, and co-starred Alexis Smith and Dorothy Collins.^[7]

In 1990, for contributions to the motion picture industry, Nelson was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 7005 Hollywood Boulevard.

Death

Nelson died of cancer, aged 76, in Los Angeles.^[2][8]

Filmography

Actor

• Second Fiddle (1939) as Minor Role (uncredited)
• Everything Happens at Night (1939) as Skater (uncredited)
• This Is the Army (1943) as Soldier (uncredited)
• I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947) as Tommy Yale
• Gentleman's Agreement (1947) as Second Ex-GI in Restaurant (uncredited)
• The Walls of Jericho (1948) as Assistant Prosecutor (uncredited)
• Apartment for Peggy (1948) as Jerry (uncredited)
• The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950) as Doug Martin
• Tea for Two (1950) as Tommy Trainor
• The West Point Story (1950) as Hal Courtland
• Lullaby of Broadway (1951) as Tom Farnham
• Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951) as Ted Lansing
• Starlift (1951) as Gene Nelson
• She's Working Her Way Through College (1952) as Don Weston
• She's Back on Broadway (1953) as Gordon Evans
• Crime Wave (1954) as Steve Lacey
• Three Sailors and a Girl (1954) as Twitch
• So This Is Paris (1954) as Al Howard
• The Atomic Man (1955) as Mike Delaney
• Oklahoma! (1955) as Will Parker
• The Way Out (1956) as Greg Carradine
• Little New Orleans Girl (1956) as Gregory Gold
• Shangri-La (1960, TV movie) as Robert
• 20,000 Eyes (1961) as Dan Warren
• The Purple Hills (1961) as Gil Shepard
• Thunder Island (1963) as Billy Poole
• Family Flight (1972, TV Movie) as Aircraft Carrier Captain
• S.O.B. (1981) as Clive Lytell

Director

• Life with Archie (1962, TV Movie)
• Hand of Death (1962)
• Hootenanny Hoot (1963)
• Your Cheatin' Heart (1964)
• Kissin' Cousins (1964)
• Archie (1964, TV Movie)
• Harum Scarum (1965)
• I Dream of Jeannie (1965, Season 1)
• Where's Everett (1966, TV Movie)
• The Cool Ones (1967)
• Wake Me When the War Is Over (1969, TV Movie)
• The Letters (1973, TV Movie)
• Dan August: The Jealousy Factor (1980, TV Movie)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film
1951	Golden Globe Award	Win	Most Promising Newcomer	Tea for Two
1965	Writers Guild of America Award	Nominated	Best Written American Musical	Kissin' Cousins (Shared with Gerald Drayson Adams)