Never to be Forgotten: Ed Nelson 1928-2014

Most people who remember Ed Nelson will know his role on Peyton Place as Dr. Michael Rossi, the big city doctor moving into the small town full of drama, or more accurately melodrama.  Like so many actors on 1960s TV, his career took off in 1950s monster movies. When roles got scarce later in his career, he had no qualms about working in genre again. From most recent to oldest, his roles in sci-fi and fantasy include The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything, Salvage 1, Logan’s Run [TV], Gemini Man, The Bionic Woman, Houston, We’ve Got a Problem, The Sixth Sense [TV], The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, A Bucket of Blood, Night of the Blood Beast, Teenage Cave Man, Invasion of the Saucer Men and Attack of the Crab Monsters. Unlike some other actors best known for low budget work before finding steady work on the small screen, he was in some big budget movies in uncredited roles such as Judgment at Nuremburg and Elmer Gantry.

The career path from 1950s monster movies to 1960s TV series regulars is very common, the best known example being William Schallert, remembered as Patty Duke's dad on her 1960s sitcom. The difference between TV star and movie star was considered vast back in the 1960s, which is not the case this century. The best counterexample  is James Gandolfini, known as one of the best actors of his generation largely from his virtuoso work on The Sopranos.

Ed Nelson did his job and when one job was done, he took another, just as anyone trying to make a living would. He was never virtuoso like Gandolfini (almost no one was in the 1960s) and he was just remarkably handsome instead of drop dead gorgeous like Steve McQueen. That said, he did his job and he did it well. If guys like Ed Nelson didn't exist, show business would vanish overnight.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Ed Nelson, from an admiring fan. May he never be forgotten.