
Ed Nelson
Biography
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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Acting (61 movies)

Born to Be Sold
1981

A Bucket of Blood
1959

Code of Silence
1960

Attack of the Crab Monsters
1957

Airport 1975
1974

Time to Run
1973

Carnival Rock
1957

New Orleans Uncensored
1955

Invasion of the Saucer-Men
1957

The Brain Eaters
1958

The Boneyard
1991

Devil's Partner
1961

Night of the Blood Beast
1958

The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything
1980

Houston, We've Got a Problem
1974

Deadly Weapon
1989

The Man from Galveston
1963

The Screaming Woman
1972

The Young Captives
1959

Anatomy of a Seduction
1979

Along Came a Spider
1970

A Little Game
1977

Runaway!
1973

T-Bird Gang
1959

Valley of the Redwoods
1960

Murder in Peyton Place
1977

Superdome
1978

Linda
1973

Who Am I?
1998

Midway
1976

Brink of Disaster!
1972

Bayou
1957

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980

Riding with Death
1976

Doctors' Private Lives
1978

Sworn to Silence
1987

Judgment at Nuremberg
1961

Leave Yesterday Behind
1978

I, Mobster
1959

Cries of Silence
1996

Swamp Women
1956

Acapulco Gold
1976

The Fatal Impulse
1960

The Crash of Flight 401
1978

The Return of Frank Cannon
1980

The Missing Are Deadly
1975

Teenage Cave Man
1958

For the Love of Benji
1977

Police Headquarters
1974

Peyton Place: The Next Generation
1985

Runaway Jury
2003

Help Wanted: Male
1982

Cry Baby Killer
1958

Soldier in the Rain
1963

That's the Way of the World
1975

Police Academy 3: Back in Training
1986

Rock All Night
1957

Teenage Doll
1957

She Gods of Shark Reef
1958

Hot Car Girl
1958

The Steel Trap
1952
| Title | Year | Job | 
|---|---|---|
| The Brain Eaters | 1958 | Producer |