Ed Nelson
Acting
144 titles
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.
Filmography
Runaway Jury
2003
Who Am I?
1998
Cries of Silence
1996
The Boneyard
1991
Deadly Weapon
1989
Jake and the Fatman
1987
J.J. Starbuck
1987
Sworn to Silence
1987
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
1986
MacGyver
1985
Peyton Place: The Next Generation
1985
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Finder of Lost Loves
1984
Matt Houston
1982
Hotel
1982
Capitol
1982
Cagney & Lacey
1982
Help Wanted: Male
1982
Born to Be Sold
1981
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980
The Return of Frank Cannon
1980
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything
1980
Hagen
1980
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
Anatomy of a Seduction
1979
Doctors' Private Lives
1979
The Crash of Flight 401
1978
Vega$
1978
Leave Yesterday Behind
1978
Dallas
1978
Doctors' Private Lives
1978
Superdome
1978
Murder in Peyton Place
1977
Lou Grant
1977
Logan's Run
1977
CHiPs
1977
A Little Game
1977
For the Love of Benji
1977
Gibbsville
1976
Quincy, M.E.
1976
Charlie's Angels
1976
Midway
1976
Acapulco Gold
1976
The Bionic Woman
1976
Riding with Death
1976
That's the Way of the World
1975
The Missing Are Deadly
1975
Airport 1975
1974
Police Woman
1974
The Rockford Files
1974
Police Headquarters
1974
Houston, We've Got a Problem
1974
Linda
1973
Runaway!
1973
Barnaby Jones
1973
Time to Run
1973
Kung Fu
1972
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Search
1972
The Screaming Woman
1972
The Sixth Sense
1972
Brink of Disaster!
1972
Cannon
1971
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
Night Gallery
1970
The Silent Force
1970
Along Came a Spider
1970
Medical Center
1969
The Mod Squad
1968
Adam-12
1968
Ironside
1967
Mission: Impossible
1966
The F.B.I.
1965
Peyton Place
1964
The Man from Galveston
1963
Soldier in the Rain
1963
Redigo
1963
Channing
1963
The Fugitive
1963
The Outer Limits
1963
Arrest and Trial
1963
The Dakotas
1963
The Gallant Men
1962
Stoney Burke
1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
The Virginian
1962
Saints and Sinners
1962
Sam Benedict
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
The New Breed
1961
Dr. Kildare
1961
87th Precinct
1961
Devil's Partner
1961
Cain's Hundred
1961
The Fatal Impulse
1960
Surfside 6
1960
Checkmate
1960
The Aquanauts
1960
Thriller
1960
The Tall Man
1960
Coronado 9
1960
Code of Silence
1960
Valley of the Redwoods
1960
A Bucket of Blood
1959
T-Bird Gang
1959
The Detectives
1959
The Rebel
1959
Johnny Ringo
1959
The Twilight Zone
1959
Laramie
1959
Riverboat
1959
Tightrope
1959
The Young Captives
1959
I, Mobster
1959
Black Saddle
1959
Rawhide
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Bat Masterson
1958
The Rifleman
1958
The Brain Eaters
1958
Hot Car Girl
1958
Cry Baby Killer
1958
Night of the Blood Beast
1958
She Gods of Shark Reef
1958
Teenage Cave Man
1958
Tombstone Territory
1957
Harbor Command
1957
Maverick
1957
Perry Mason
1957
M Squad
1957
Teenage Doll
1957
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Carnival Rock
1957
Invasion of the Saucer Men
1957
Bayou
1957
Rock All Night
1957
Attack of the Crab Monsters
1957
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Swamp Women
1956
Highway Patrol
1955
Gunsmoke
1955
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
New Orleans Uncensored
1955
The Steel Trap
1952