Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014)[1] was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series Peyton Place.
Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV programs, more than 50 movies, and hundreds of stage productions.
Early life
Nelson was raised in North Carolina after having been born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was educated at Edwards Military Institute and Camp Lejeune High School, playing football and basketball at the latter school.[2]
He 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. He served in the U.S. Navy as a radioman on the light cruiserUSS Dayton. 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.[3]
Nelson's television career featured many guest-starring roles, such as the talented, arrogant Dr. Wade Parsons in the 1962 episode "Doctor on Horseback" of the western series The Tall Man.
He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, both times as the defendant; in 1961, he played Ward Nichols in "The Case of the Left-Handed Liar," and in 1964, he played Dirk Blake, father of the title character, in "The Case of the Missing Button". He played rival mystery writer Tom Keller opposite James Mason as Warren Barrow on "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" S1 E5 "Captive Audience" (1962). He also portrayed an assistant district attorney on the TV series Adam 12 in 1974.
Peyton Place and later roles
In 1964, Nelson secured his most famous role, portraying Dr. Michael Rossi on the drama Peyton Place, staying with the series during its entire run from 1964 to 1969. Nelson reprised his role in two TV movies: Murder in Peyton Place and Peyton Place: The Next Generation.
Nelson appeared in many television movies such as Along Came a Spider (1970), The Screaming Woman (1972), Runaway! (1973), Houston, We've Got a Problem (1974), The Missing Are Deadly (1975), Superdome (1978), Doctors' Private Lives (1978) and Crash (1978), and served as host on the morning talk show The Ed Nelson Show, which he hosted for three years. During the 1980s, Nelson took on the role of patriarchal Senator Mark Denning in the daytime serial Capitol. In late 1986, Nelson was upset to discover that the show's writers had turned his character into a traitor, and quit the show in disgust, last airing in early January 1987, two months before the show's cancellation.[citation needed]
He spent several years playing U.S. President Harry S. Truman on stage, replacing James Whitmore for the National Tour of Give 'Em Hell, Harry.[4]
Personal life
While living in Los Angeles, Nelson was an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and was elected to the union board for many years. Nelson was a long-standing member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the early 1970s, he ran for city council and mayor of San Dimas, California until a Federal Communications Commission ruling stated that his political opponents must be given equal time if he appeared in television programs.[5]
Later years
In 1999, Nelson returned to Tulane University to finish credits toward his undergraduate degree,[4] which he completed the following year at age 71. He and his wife, Patsy, enjoyed semi-retirement visiting their six children and 14 grandchildren. One of his children is actor Christopher S. Nelson.
Until 2005, he had been teaching acting and screenwriting in New Orleans at two local universities. Hurricane Katrina prompted him to move his family far to the north to Sterlington, Louisiana. At the time of his death, however, he had moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, where he had been in hospice care. He died at age 85.[3]
Death
Nelson died on August 9, 2014, in Greensboro, North Carolina from congestive heart failure.[3] He was 85 years old.[1][6]
