Ed Nelson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Edwin Stafford Nelson (born December 21, 1928) is an American actor.
Nelson has appeared in numerous television shows, more than fifty motion pictures, and hundreds of stage productions. Until 2005, he was teaching acting and screenwriting in his native New Orleans at two local universities there. Hurricane Katrina prompted him to move his family to Sterlington near Monroe in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana.
Nelson began acting while attending Tulane University in New Orleans. He left college after two years to study at the New York School of Radio and Television Technique. After graduating, he took a position as a director at WDSU-TV in New Orleans. By 1956, acting became his central focus and he moved to the Los Angeles area. Early in his career he worked with famed B-movie producer Roger Corman on such Corman films as Cry Baby Killers, A Bucket of Blood, Teenage Cave Man and Attack of the Crab Monsters. In 1958 he participated in Bruno VeSota's science fiction horror film The Brain Eaters.
His early television career featured many guest starring roles in such series as The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, Harbor Command, Tombstone Territory, Tightrope, The Blue Angels (as arrogant flight instructor Lieutenant Dayl Martin), Laramie, COronado 9, The Eleventh Hour, Bonanza, Thriller (US TV series), and Channing, an ABC drama about college life.
In 1964 he won his most famous role portraying Dr. Michael Rossi on the ABC drama Peyton Place, which ran from 1964 to 1969. Nelson's fellow cast members included Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, and Dorothy Malone. Dr. Rossi proved to be so popular that by 1968, he became the lead actor on the show. Nelson reprised his role in two made-for-TV movies, Murder in Peyton Place and Peyton Place: The Next Generation.
After Peyton Place ended, Nelson worked in many more productions of all varieties, including starring role in many movies of the week, a second TV series, "The Silent Force," and a popular morning talk show which he hosted for three years.
Soon after, Nelson struck gold with his critically acclaimed portrayal of elusive pit crew chief Robert Denby in the hit film Riding with Death (1976), earning him several prestigious accolades and legions of devoted fans.
He portrayed a dangerous impostor in the adventure movie For the Love of Benji (1977).
During the 1980s, Nelson took on the role of Senator Mark Denning in the daytime soap Capitol.
Nelson also spent a couple of years as Harry Truman onstage replacing James Whitmore for the National Tour of "Give 'Em Hell, Harry."
While living in Los Angeles, Nelson was an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and was elected to the union board for many years. Nelson is a long-standing member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and continues a long tradition of participation in voting for the Academy Awards.
In 1999, Nelson returned to Tulane University to finish credits toward his undergraduate degree, which he completed the following year at the age of seventy-one. Nelson continues to act as the opportunity arises. He and his wife of fifty-eight years, Patsy, enjoy semi-retirement visiting his six children and fourteen grandchildren.
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Known for
Quincy, M.E.
Dallas
Jeb Amos
Have Gun, Will Travel
Charlie's Angels
George Starrett
Perry Mason
Ward Nichols
Perry Mason
Dirk Blake
Murder, She Wrote
Raymond 'Ray' Bascomb
Murder, She Wrote
Judge Willard Clinton
Murder, She Wrote
Henry Post
Murder, She Wrote
Mayor Albert Simpson
Murder, She Wrote
Carl Turnball
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Rockford Files
Edgar 'Bud' Clement
The Rockford Files
Blake Sternlight
MacGyver
Arthur Bandel
Mission: Impossible
The Twilight Zone
Philip Redfield
Jake and the Fatman
D.A. Marcus Packard
Cannon
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Nelson
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Jack Bowen
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Albie
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Tantasi
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Vince Harwell
The Rifleman
Ironside
Medical Center
Hank
Trapper John, M.D.
Maverick
Maverick
2nd Classmate (uncredited)
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Tom Keller
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Alex Trevor
Cagney & Lacey
Sgt. Steingrove
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Keith Judge
Adam-12
Abe Strayhorn
Rawhide
Lt. Cory Clemens
Rawhide
Sam Weber
Rawhide
Chuck Whittaker
Hotel
Bat Masterson
Jedrow
Bat Masterson
Browder
Thriller
Brundage
Thriller
Charlie
Thriller
Tom Ellison / Daniel Le Jean
The Fugitive
Paul Clements
The Fugitive
Steve Edson
77 Sunset Strip
Police Woman
M Squad
Lenny Maston
The F.B.I.
Walter Swenson
The F.B.I.
Hamilton
Capitol
The Rebel
Chad
The Rebel
Doug
The Rebel
The Stalker
The Rebel
Clint Mowbree
Barnaby Jones
Larry Kinner
The Bionic Woman
The Outer Limits
Col. Luke Stone
Surfside 6
The Mod Squad
Night Gallery
Tom Burke (segment “Little Girl Lost”)
The Virginian
Ralph Slocum
The Streets of San Francisco
Highway Patrol
The New Breed
Jefty Bright
The New Breed
Roger Sykes
The Tall Man
Riverboat
Jim Tyler
Arrest and Trial
Lou Grant
Laramie
Sable
Alias Smith and Jones
Matt Houston
Finder of Lost Loves
Bill Garnett
Gunsmoke
Lee Prentice
Gunsmoke
Rusk
Gunsmoke
Perce
Gunsmoke
Seth
Gunsmoke
Burt Cury
Gunsmoke
Tom
Tombstone Territory
Cowboy
The Detectives
Logan's Run
Vega$
Checkmate
Gil Stoneham
Checkmate
Chuck Palmer
The Dakotas
J.J. Starbuck
CHiPs
Coronado 9
Stoney Burke
Black Saddle
Lee Coogan
Black Saddle
Roy Corey
87th Precinct
Cain's Hundred
Peter Stull
The Sixth Sense
Tightrope
Redigo
The Gallant Men
Johnny Ringo
Kirk
Johnny Ringo
Tomstedter
The Silent Force
Channing
Deke Allison
The Aquanauts
Chris Garland
Sam Benedict
Saints and Sinners
Ray
Search
Harbor Command
Peyton Place
Michael Rossi
Doctors' Private Lives
Gibbsville
Who Am I?
General Sharman
Runaway Jury
George Dressler
Midway
Admiral Harry Pearson
Judgment at Nuremberg
Captain at Nightclub Announcing Call-up of Officers (uncredited)
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
Governor Neilson
Kung Fu
Sheriff Walter Raha
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Ensign Quinlan
Airport 1975
Major John Alexander
Hagen
Invasion of the Saucer-Men
Tom
That's the Way of the World
Carlton James
Swamp Women
Police Sergeant
The Crash of Flight 401
Philip Mulwray
The Cry Baby Killer
Rick Connor
The Boneyard
Jersey Callum
Devil's Partner
Nick Richards / Pete Jensen
She Gods of Shark Reef
Guard (uncredited)
A Bucket of Blood
Art Lacroix
Brink of Disaster!
Dr. Harden
Deadly Weapon
General Stone
Anatomy of a Seduction
Mark Kane
Born to Be Sold
Carl Strickland
Time to Run
Warren Cole
New Orleans Uncensored
Charlie
I, Mobster
Sid - Henchman (uncredited)
Night of the Blood Beast
Dave Randall
Teenage Cave Man
Blonde Tribe Member
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
President Harry S. Truman
Rock All Night
Pete
Superdome
George Beldridge
Teenage Doll
Police Officer 'Dutch' / Blind Man
Peyton Place: The Next Generation
Dr. Michael Rossi
The Young Captives
Norm Britt
The Return of Frank Cannon
Mike Danvers
Riding with Death
Robert Denby
Soldier in the Rain
James Priest
The Man from Galveston
Cole Marteen
Murder in Peyton Place
Dr. Michael Rossi
The Missing Are Deadly
Bayou
Etienne (as Edwin Nelson)
The Screaming Woman
Carl Nesbitt
Sworn to Silence
Victor Handler
Help Wanted: Male
George Dobbs
The Brain Eaters
Dr. Paul Kettering
Houston, We've Got a Problem
Gene Kranz, Flight Director
Along Came a Spider
Dr. Martin Becker
Acapulco Gold
Ray Hollister
Doctors' Private Lives
Dr. Mike Wise
Linda
Paul Reston
Runaway!
Nick Staffo
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything
Joseph Locordolos
T-Bird Gang
Alex Hendricks
Police Headquarters
Lt. Calvin Zenger
Carnival Rock
Cannon
A Little Game
Paul Hamilton
For the Love of Benji
Chandler Dietrich
Cries of Silence
Dr. August Claiborne
Leave Yesterday Behind
Mr. Clarkson
Valley of the Redwoods
Dino Michaelis
The Fatal Impulse
Brundage