Cast & creator
Gene Nelson
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, Star Trek
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gene Nelson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Also known as: Gene Berg, Eugene A. Nelson, Leander Eugene Berg
38
film credits
68
television credits
60
1939–1984 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (106)
Showing 106 of 106 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Star Trek
Director
1966
The Andy Griffith Show
Director
1960
Hawaii Five-O
Director
1969
Ironside
1967Ironside
Director
1967
Murder, She Wrote
Louis Metcalf
1984
Maverick
Jim Hazlit
1957
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Quincy, M.E.
Director
1976
Matinee Theater
1955
The Rifleman
Director
1958
Climax!
Jess Shepard
1954
Cannon
Director
1971
Studio One
Trout
1948
I Dream of Jeannie
Director
1965
The Donna Reed Show
Director
1958
Starsky & Hutch
Director
1975
Rawhide
1959
Burke's Law
Rick Mason
1963Burke's Law
Danny Swift
1963Burke's Law
Director
1963
Fantasy Island
Director
1978
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Barnaby Jones
Director
1973
The F.B.I.
Director
1965
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
The Rookies
Director
1972
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Dancer
1956
Bat Masterson
Whit Morrison
1958
Gunsmoke
Hob Cannon
1955Gunsmoke
Foss
1955Gunsmoke
Hutch
1955
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
The Detectives
1959
Gilligan's Island
Director
1964
The Millionaire
Lt. Steven Q. Forrest
1955
Felony Squad
Director
1966
The Mod Squad
1968The Mod Squad
Director
1968
12 O'Clock High
Director
1964
Laredo
Director
1965
Lancer
Director
1968
The Farmer's Daughter
Director
1963
Your Show of Shows
1950
Ghost Story
Steve
1972
F Troop
Director
1965
Black Saddle
Wickes
1959
The Bell Telephone Hour
Self
1959
Law of the Plainsman
Hardy O'Hara
1959
Salvage 1
Director
1979Vacation Playhouse
Director
1963
Philip Marlowe
1959
Men Into Space
1959
The Invisible Man
Director
1975
Get Christie Love!
Director
1974The Rosemary Clooney Show
Self
1956
The San Pedro Beach Bums
Director
1977Shirley
Director
1979
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Robert
1951Blondie
Director
1968
The Silent Force
Director
1970
General Electric Theater
1953
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Eischied
Director
1979
The American Girls
Director
1978
Oklahoma!
Will Parker
1955
Three Sailors and a Girl
Twitch
1953
S.O.B.
Clive Lytell
1981
This Is the Army
Soldier (uncredited)
1943
Crime Wave
Steve Lacey
1953
Destry
Director
1964
The West Point Story
Hal Courtland
1950
Kissin' Cousins
Director
1964Kissin' Cousins
Screenplay
1964
Harum Scarum
Director
1965
A Brand New Life
Harry
1973
Wake Me When the War Is Over
Director
1969Wake Me When the War Is Over
Producer
1969
So This Is Paris
Al Howard
1954
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
Tommy Yale
1947
The Letters
Director
1973
The Walls of Jericho
Legal Assistant
1948
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Doug Martin
1950
Everything Happens at Night
Skater
1939
Archie
Director
1964
Second Fiddle
Minor Role
1939
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine
Ted
1951
Starlift
Gene Nelson
1951
Tea for Two
Tommy Trainor
1950
The Cool Ones
Director
1967
She's Working Her Way Through College
Don Weston
1952
She's Back on Broadway
Gordon Evans
1953
Apartment for Peggy
Jerry (uncredited)
1948
Your Cheatin' Heart
Director
1964
Lullaby of Broadway
Tom Farnham
1951
Family Flight
Aircraft Carrier Captain
1972
Hootenanny Hoot!
Director
1963
Where's Everett?
Director
1966
Thunder Island
Billy Poole
1963
Hand of Death
Director
1962
Timeslip
Mike Delaney
1955
The Purple Hills
Gil Shepard
1961
Dial 999
Greg Carradine
1955
20,000 Eyes
Dan Warren
1961