Gene Nelson
Actor
Biography
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.
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Filmography
Oklahoma!
as Will Parker 1955
S.O.B.
as Clive Lytell 1981
Crime Wave
as Steve Lacey 1953
Tea for Two
as Tommy Trainor 1950
This Is the Army
as Soldier (uncredited) 1943
Lullaby of Broadway
as Tom Farnham 1951
Timeslip
as Mike Delaney 1955
The West Point Story
as Hal Courtland 1950
Dial 999
as Greg Carradine 1955
Thunder Island
as Billy Poole 1963
Apartment for Peggy
as Jerry (uncredited) 1948
She's Working Her Way Through College
as Don Weston 1952
Second Fiddle
as Minor Role 1939
The Walls of Jericho
as Legal Assistant 1948
Family Flight
as Aircraft Carrier Captain 1972
Starlift
as Gene Nelson 1951
Everything Happens at Night
as Skater 1939