Ozzie Nelson
Oswald George Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975)[1] was an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and bandleader. He originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio and television series with his wife Harriet and two sons David and Ricky Nelson.[2]
Ozzie Nelson
June 3, 1975 (aged 69)
- Actor
- director
- producer
- screenwriter
- musician
- composer
- conductor
- bandleader
1930–1973
Don Nelson (brother)
Kristin Nelson
(daughter-in-law)
Tracy Nelson (granddaughter)
Matthew Nelson (grandson)
Gunnar Nelson (grandson)
Early life[edit]
Nelson was born March 20, 1906, in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States.[1] He was the second son of Ethel Irene (née Orr) and George Waldemar Nelson. His paternal grandparents were Swedish and his mother was of English descent. Nelson was raised in Ridgefield Park, where he was active in Scouting, earning the rank of Eagle Scout at age 13. He played football at Ridgefield Park High School and during his college years at Rutgers University. He was a member of the Cap and Skull fraternity.[3] He graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor's degree and earned a law degree from Rutgers School of Law, Newark, New Jersey, in 1930. Nelson was made a doctor of humane letters by Rutgers University in 1957. As a student, he made pocket money playing saxophone in a band and coaching football. Nelson was rejected to be the vocalist for the Rutgers Jazz Bandits, led by Scrappy Lambert and later Hawley Ades. Nelson was not discouraged and was gracious about this rejection when he met Ades years later.[4] During the Depression, he turned to music as a full-time career.[1]
Death[edit]
Nelson suffered from recurring malignant tumors in his later years, and eventually succumbed to liver cancer. He died at his home in the San Fernando Valley on June 3, 1975, with his wife and sons at his bedside.
Services were held at the Church of the Hills at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, California, on Friday, June 6.[12] He is interred with his wife and son Ricky in the Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
When his elder son David died in 2011, he was cremated, having chosen a niche in Westwood Memorial Park's outdoor Garden of Serenity columbarium rather than interment in the Nelson family plot.