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Gene Nelson

Gene Nelson

Actor · 1920 – 1996 · Astoria, Oregon, USA

Gene Nelson was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director. Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, his family 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.​

Movies24

  • Movie6.6

    Oklahoma!

    1955 · 196 votes

  • Movie5.7

    This Is the Army

    1943 · 25 votes

  • Movie7.1

    Crime Wave

    1953 · 84 votes

  • Movie6.0

    S.O.B.

    1981 · 101 votes

  • Movie6.1

    Tea for Two

    1950 · 32 votes

  • Movie7.5
  • Movie9.0

    So This Is Paris

    1954 · 3 votes

  • Movie5.4
  • Movie9.0

    A Brand New Life

    1973 · 1 votes

  • Movie6.0
  • Movie7.0
  • Movie6.0

    Lullaby of Broadway

    1951 · 18 votes

  • Movie7.0
  • Movie5.6

    The Walls of Jericho

    1948 · 8 votes

  • Movie5.1

    Second Fiddle

    1939 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Starlift

    1951 · 7 votes

  • Movie5.3
  • Movie6.0

    She's Back on Broadway

    1953 · 4 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Family Flight

    1972 · 7 votes

  • Movie8.2

    Apartment for Peggy

    1948 · 9 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Thunder Island

    1963 · 9 votes

  • Movie5.8

    The West Point Story

    1950 · 11 votes

  • Movie5.3

    20,000 Eyes

    1961 · 3 votes

  • Movie5.8

    Timeslip

    1955 · 15 votes

Series24

  • TV7.5
  • TV5.8

    The Mike Douglas Show

    1961 · 11 votes

  • TV7.5

    Murder, She Wrote

    1984 · 471 votes

  • TV6.8

    Ironside

    1967 · 71 votes

  • TV7.0

    Maverick

    1957 · 43 votes

  • TV7.3

    Have Gun, Will Travel

    1957 · 44 votes

  • TV5.3

    Matinee Theater

    1955 · 7 votes

  • TV5.4

    Studio One

    1948 · 13 votes

  • TV3.8

    Climax!

    1954 · 12 votes

  • TV7.2

    Rawhide

    1959 · 49 votes

  • TV6.3

    Burke's Law

    1963 · 12 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Ed Sullivan Show

    1948 · 23 votes

  • TV6.7

    Gunsmoke

    1955 · 119 votes

  • TV6.2

    The Steve Allen Show

    1956 · 6 votes

  • TV6.9

    The Colgate Comedy Hour

    1950 · 13 votes

  • TV7.1
  • TV5.8

    The Millionaire

    1955 · 4 votes

  • TV6.4

    Bat Masterson

    1958 · 16 votes

  • TV6.7

    The Detectives

    1959 · 10 votes

  • TV7.3

    Your Show of Shows

    1950 · 4 votes

  • TV6.1

    The Mod Squad

    1968 · 27 votes

  • TV6.2

    Black Saddle

    1959 · 5 votes

  • TV7.3

    Law of the Plainsman

    1959 · 3 votes

  • TV7.4

    Ghost Story

    1972 · 9 votes