Gene Nelson

Gene Nelson was an American dancer actor screenwriter and director Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria Oregon he 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 Nelsons longtime professional dance partner during the 1950s was actress JoAnn Dean Killingsworth Gene Nelson costarred 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 Grouchos daughter Melinda performed a dance number together Nelson directed eight episodes of The Rifleman in the 196162 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 codirected by Michael Bennett and Harold Prince For contribution to the motion picture industry in 1990 Nelson was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame Nelsons star is located at 7005 Hollywood Boulevard Description above from the Wikipedia article Gene Nelson licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia