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'Barry Nelson' (April 16 1917 - April 7 2007^[1]) was an American actor of Norwegian ancestry, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Partial filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Nelson was born 'Robert Haakon Nielsen' in San Francisco, California. He began acting in school at the age of fifteen, playing an 80-year-old man. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1941 and, because of his theatrical efforts in school, was almost immediately signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Career

Nelson made his screen debut in the role as Paul Clark in ''Shadow of the Thin Man'' (1941) starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, with Donna Reed.^[2] He followed that with his role as Lew Rankin in the film noir crime/drama ''Johnny Eager'' (1942) starring Robert Taylor and Lana Turner.^[3]
During his military service in World War II, Nelson debuted on the Broadway stage in one of the leading roles, Bobby Grills, in Moss Hart's play ''Winged Victory'' (1943).^[4] His next Broadway appearance was as Peter Sloan in Hart's ''Light Up the Sky'' (1948), which was a first-rate success.⁴ He went on to appear on Broadway with Barbara Bel Geddes in the original Broadway production of ''The Moon is Blue''; he was the last surviving original cast member of the production. During the play's run he also starred in a CBS half-hour drama called ''The Hunter'', premiering in July 1952. He played Bart Adams, a wealthy young American whose business activities involved him in a series of adventures.
He also appeared opposite Lauren Bacall in the Abe Burrows comedy ''Cactus Flower'' in 1965.¹ Another Broadway role, that of Gus Hammer in ''The Rat Race'' (1949)⁴, kept Nelson away from the movies again, but after it closed he starred in the dual roles as Chick Graham and Bert Rand in ''The Man with My Face'' (1951), which was produced by Ed Gardner of radio fame.
He was the first actor (and, to date, the only American) to play James Bond on screen, in a 1954 adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel ''Casino Royale'' on the TV anthology series ''Climax!'' (preceding Sean Connery's interpretation in ''Dr. No'' by eight years).³ Reportedly this was considered a pilot for a possible James Bond television series, though it's not known if Nelson intended to continue playing the character. Nelson played James Bond as an American named "Jimmy Bond".
The program also featured Peter Lorre as the primary villain; Nelson later noted Lorre was the reason he took the role.² Originally broadcast live, the production was believed lost to time until a kinescope emerged in the 1980s. It was subsequently released to home video, and is currently available on DVD as a bonus feature with the 1967 film adaptation of the novel.
Nelson's additional television credits include guest appearances on ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', ''Ben Casey'', ''The Twilight Zone'' and ''Dr. Kildare''. He appeared regularly on TV in the 1960s. He was one of the ''What's My Line?'' mystery guests and later served as a guest panelist on that popular CBS quiz show. Nelson appeared in both the stage and screen versions of ''Mary, Mary''.²⁴ In 1978, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Dan Connors in ''The Act'' (1977) with Liza Minnelli.² His final appearance on Broadway was as Julian Marsh in ''42nd Street'' (1986).⁴ William Goldman, in his 1968 book ''The Season'', called Nelson a consummately professional actor.
"He was a very naturalistic, believable actor," said his agent, Francis Delduca. "He was good at both comedy and the serious stuff."¹
Among his other film credits were ''Airport'' and ''The Shining'' (as the hotel manager who interviews Jack Nicholson for a job opening), and he also appeared on such TV shows as ''Murder, She Wrote'', ''Dallas'' and ''Magnum, P.I.'' More recently, Nelson and his second wife spent a lot of time travelling.¹ He planned to write a couple of books about his time on stage and in Hollywood.¹

Personal life

Nelson had two wives, actress Teresa Celli, married in 1951 and later divorced, and Nansilee ("Nansi") Hoy, to whom he was married until his death. Nelson and his second wife divided their time between homes in New York and France.^[5] Until his death, Nelson could be seen publicly at American Civil War shows across America.
According to his wife Nansi, Barry Nelson died on April 7 2007, while traveling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, nine days before his 90th birthday. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Partial filmography

★ ''Shadow of the Thin Man'' (1941) (MGM) ... Paul Clark

★ ''Johnny Eager'' (1942) (MGM) ... Lew Rankin

★ ''Dr. Kildare's Victory'' (MGM) (1942) ... Samuel Z. Cutter

★ ''The Affairs of Martha'' (MGM) (1942) ... Danny O'Brien

★ ''The Human Comedy'' (1943) (MGM) ... Fat, first soldier

★ ''Bataan'' (1943) (MGM) ... F.X. Matowski

★ ''A Guy Named Joe'' (1943) (MGM) ... Dick Rumney

★ ''The Man with My Face'' (1951) (United Artists) ... Charles "Chick" Graham/Albert "Bert" Rand

★ ''Airport'' (1970) (Universal) ... Capt. Anson Harris

★ ''Pete 'n' Tillie'' (1972) (Universal) ... Burt

★ ''The Shining'' (1980) (Warner Bros.) ... Stuart Ullman

References

1. Actor Barry Nelson Dies at 89
2. First Bond starred on Broadway with Bacall, Minnelli, Bel Geddes
3. First James Bond star dies aged 89
4. Barry Nelson
5. Barry Nelson (1920-2007)

External links

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★ Barry Nelson at TV.com

★ Barry Nelson obituary at MI6.co.uk