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Gene Nelson

Gene Nelson

Birthday: 1920-03-24 | Place of Birth: Seattle, Washington

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.​

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1973
A Brand New Life

as    Harry

1972
Family Flight

as    Aircraft Carrier Captain

1963
Thunder Island

as    Billy Poole

1956
Timeslip

as    Mike Delaney

1955
Oklahoma!

as    Will Parker

1954
So This Is Paris

as    Al Howard

1954
Crime Wave

as    Steve Lacey

1953
She's Back on Broadway

as    Gordon Evans

1953
Three Sailors and a Girl

as    Twitch

1952
1951
Lullaby of Broadway

as    Tom Farnham

1950
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady

as    Doug Martin

1950
The West Point Story

as    Hal Courtland

1950
Tea for Two

as    Tommy Trainor