
Ed Nelson
Department: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor. 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.
Known For

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

The Brain Eaters
1958

Invasion of the Saucer-Men
1957

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

Lou Grant
1977

Murder, She Wrote
1984

CHiPs
1977

The Gallant Men
1962

77 Sunset Strip
1958

Cain's Hundred
1961

Trapper John, M.D.
1979

Kung Fu
1972

The F.B.I.
1965

The Bionic Woman
1976

Quincy, M.E.
1976

The Streets of San Francisco
1972

Alias Smith and Jones
1971

Charlie's Angels
1976

Hotel
1982

MacGyver
1985

Surfside 6
1960

The Mod Squad
1968

Medical Center
1969

Gunsmoke
1955

Perry Mason
1957

Arrest and Trial
1963

Cagney & Lacey
1982

Johnny Ringo
1959

Dallas
1978

Jake and the Fatman
1987

Mission: Impossible
1966

Cannon
1971

Saints and Sinners
1962

Black Saddle
1959

The Twilight Zone
1959

Ironside
1967

The Tall Man
1960

87th Precinct
1961

Sam Benedict
1962

Redigo
1963

Rawhide
1959

Vega$
1978

Police Woman
1974

Have Gun, Will Travel
1957

Highway Patrol
1955

The Fugitive
1963

The Virginian
1962

Capitol
1982

Thriller
1960

Search
1972

The Aquanauts
1960

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955

Matt Houston
1982

M Squad
1957

Peyton Place
1964

The Sixth Sense
1972

Black Saddle
1959

The Rebel
1959

The Rifleman
1958

The Dakotas
1963

Bat Masterson
1958

Riverboat
1959

The New Breed
1961

The Detectives
1959

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956

Stoney Burke
1962

Johnny Ringo
1959

Tightrope
1959

Dr. Kildare
1961

Coronado 9
1960

The Outer Limits
1963

The Silent Force
1970

Harbor Command
1957

Gibbsville
1976

Doctors' Private Lives
1979

The Fugitive
1963

Channing
1963

Hagen
1980

J.J. Starbuck
1987

Logan's Run
1977

Maverick
1957

Laramie
1959

Tombstone Territory
1957

Murder, She Wrote
1984

Murder, She Wrote
1984

Night Gallery
1970

Rawhide
1959

The F.B.I.
1965

Gunsmoke
1955

The New Breed
1961

Gunsmoke
1955

Gunsmoke
1955

Gunsmoke
1955

Gunsmoke
1955

Adam-12
1968

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956

Murder, She Wrote
1984

Checkmate
1960

Checkmate
1960

Thriller
1960

Thriller
1960

The Rebel
1959

The Rebel
1959

The Rebel
1959

Perry Mason
1957

Bat Masterson
1958

Maverick
1957

The Rockford Files
1974

Finder of Lost Loves
1984

Barnaby Jones
1973

The Rockford Files
1974

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962

Murder, She Wrote
1984

Rawhide
1959