Gene Nelson
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1920-03-24
Deathday 1996-09-16 (76 years old)
Place of Birth Astoria, Oregon, USA
Also Known As Gene Berg, Eugene A. Nelson, Leander Eugene Berg
Gene Nelson
Biography
Gene Nelson was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director. Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was a year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers when he was a child. 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, for which he received the Theatre World Award. He also appeared onstage in Follies, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and Good News. Nelson's longtime professional dance partner during the 1950s was actress JoAnn Dean Killingsworth. Gene Nelson co-starred with Doris Day in "Lullaby of Broadway" in 1951. He played Will Parker in the film Oklahoma! 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. Nelson directed eight episodes of The Rifleman in the 1961-62 season, the original Star Trek, the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, The Silent Force, and The San Pedro Beach Bums. He directed the Elvis Presley films Kissin' Cousins, which screenplay he wrote, and Harum Scarum. For the Kissin' Cousins screenplay he received a WGA award nomination for best written musical. He later taught in the Theater Arts Department at San Francisco State University in the late 1980s. 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. The production featured a score by Stephen Sondheim and was co-directed by Michael Bennett and Harold Prince. For contribution to the motion picture industry, in 1990, Nelson was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nelson's star is located at 7005 Hollywood Boulevard. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gene Nelson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Actor
as Louis Metcalf
as Clive Lytell
as Harry
as Aircraft Carrier Captain
as Steve
as Billy Poole
as Rick Mason
as Danny Swift
as Gil Shepard
as Dan Warren
as Hardy O'Hara
as Self
as Wickes
as Whit Morrison
as Jim Hazlit
as Self - Dancer
as Self
as Greg Carradine
as Mike Delaney
as Will Parker
as Hob Cannon
as Foss
as Hutch
as Lt. Steven Q. Forrest
as Al Howard
as Jess Shepard
as Twitch
as Steve Lacey
as Gordon Evans
as Don Weston
as Gene Nelson
as Tom Farnham
as Robert
as Hal Courtland
as Tommy Trainor
as Doug Martin
as Self
as Legal Assistant
as Jerry (uncredited)
as Trout
as Self
as Tommy Yale
as Soldier (uncredited)
as Skater
as Minor Role
Director
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Writer
as Screenplay
Producer
as Producer