- Gene Nelson
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This article is about the American entertainer. For the baseball player, see Gene Nelson (baseball).
Gene Nelson Born Leander Eugene Berg
March 24, 1920
Seattle, WashingtonDied September 16, 1996 (aged 76)
Los Angeles, CaliforniaOther names Gene Berg
Eugene E. NelsonOccupation Actor, dancer, screenwriter, film and television director Spouse Miriam Franklin (1941–1956)
Marilyn Morgan (1958–1974)
Jean Martin (July 1990 – ?)Gene Nelson (March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director.
Contents
Biography
Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was one year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films 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 on stage in Follies, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and Good News.
He also starred as Buddy in the 1971 Broadway musical Follies, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. The iconic production featured a score by Stephen Sondheim and was co-diected by Michael Bennett (also choreographer) and Harold Prince (also producer); the cast also included Alexis Smith, Yvonne de Carlo, Dorothy Collins, Ethel Barrymore Colt, Ethel Shutta, and John McMartin.
Nelson directed episodes of the original Star Trek, the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, and Gunsmoke. In 1959, he appeared with Keith Larsen and Buddy Ebsen in the NBC adventure series Northwest Passage as a young man trying to prove his innocence in a murder case.
Nelson also directed the Elvis Presley films Kissin' Cousins (1964) and Harum Scarum (1965). He also co-wrote the Kissin' Cousins screenplay for which he received a WGA award nomination for best written musical.
In 1957, a horse fell on Nelson and fractured his pelvis.[citation needed] He legally changed his name in 1964.[citation needed] He died of cancer, aged 76, in Los Angeles, California.[citation needed] He was survived by three children, Douglas, Victoria and Chris.[citation needed]
Gene's last work as a director/choreographer was a production of 42nd Street, which he staged at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California in the Spring of 1994.[citation needed]
Filmography
- Everything Happens at Night (1939)
- This Is the Army (1943)
- I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947)
- Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
- The Walls of Jericho (1948)
- Apartment for Peggy (1948)
- The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950)
- Tea for Two (1950)
- The West Point Story (1950)
- Lullaby of Broadway (1951)
- Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951)
- Starlift (1951)
- She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)
- She's Back on Broadway (1953)
- Three Sailors and a Girl (1953)
- Crime Wave (1954)
- So This Is Paris (1955)
- The Atomic Man (1955)
- Oklahoma! (1955)
- The Way Out (1955)
- 20,000 Eyes (1961)
- The Purple Hills (1961)
- Thunder Island (1963)
- S.O.B. (1981)
Awards and nominations
Year Award Result Category Film 1951 Golden Globe Award Win Most Promising Newcomer Tea for Two 1965 Writers Guild of America Award Nominated Best Written American Musical Kissin' Cousins(Shared with Gerald Drayson Adams) External links
Categories:- 1920 births
- 1996 deaths
- American dancers
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American screenwriters
- American film directors
- American television directors
- People from Seattle, Washington
- Cancer deaths in California
- New Star of the Year (Actor) Golden Globe winners
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