Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) – known as Ricky Nelson, later also as Rick Nelson – was an American actor, musician and singer-songwriter.
He starred alongside his family in the television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66), as well as co-starring alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in Howard Hawks's western feature film, Rio Bravo (1959).
He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973 including "Poor Little Fool" which holds the distinction of being the first #1 song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart.
He recorded 19 additional Top 10 hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987.[1][2] In 1996, he was ranked #49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.[3]
Nelson began his entertainment career in 1949 playing himself in the radio sitcom series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
In 1952, he appeared in his first feature film, Here Come the Nelsons. In 1957, he recorded his first single, debuted as a singer on the television version of the sitcom, and released the #1 album entitled Ricky.
In 1958, Nelson released his first #1 single, "Poor Little Fool", and in 1959 received a Golden Globe nomination for "Most Promising Male Newcomer" after starring in Rio Bravo.
A few films followed, and when the television series was cancelled in 1966, Nelson made occasional appearances as a guest star on various television programs.
Nelson and Sharon Kristin Harmon were married on April 20, 1963, and divorced in December 1982.
On February 14, 1981, a son (Eric Crewe) was born to Nelson and Georgeann Crewe.
A blood test in 1985 confirmed that Nelson was the child's father. Nelson was engaged to Helen Blair when both were killed in an airplane crash on December 31, 1985.
| Rick Nelson | |
|---|---|
Nelson in concert in Lawton, Oklahoma
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eric Hilliard Nelson |
| Born | May 8, 1940 Teaneck, New Jersey, US |
| Died | December 31, 1985 (aged 45) De Kalb, Texas, US |
| Genres | Rockabilly, Rock 'n' roll, Pop,Folk, Country |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, musician, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1949–1985 |
| Labels | Imperial, Decca/MCA, Epic |
| Associated acts | Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Connie Francis, Carl Perkins, James Burton |
| Website | rickynelson |
Early life[edit]
Ricky Nelson was born on May 8, 1940, at 1:25 p.m. at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey.[4][5][6]
He was the second son of big band leader Ozzie Nelson, who was of half Swedish descent, and his wife, big band vocalist Harriet Hilliard Nelson (née Peggy Louise Snyder).
Harriett remained in Englewood, New Jersey, with her newborn and her older son David while Ozzie toured the nation with the Nelson orchestra.[7]
The Nelsons bought a two-story colonial house in Tenafly, New Jersey,[7][8] and, six months after the purchase, moved with son David to Hollywood, where Ozzie and Harriet were slated to appear in the 1941–42 season of Red Skelton's The Raleigh Cigarette Hour; Ricky remained in Tenafly in the care of his paternal grandmother.[9]
In November 1941, the Nelsons bought what would become their permanent home: a green and white, two-story, Cape Cod colonial home at 1822 Camino Palmero in Los Angeles.[10][11]
Ricky joined his parents and brother in Los Angeles in 1942.[10]
Ricky was a small and insecure child who suffered from severe asthma. At night, his sleep was eased with a vaporizer emitting tincture of evergreen.[12]
He was described by Red Skelton's producer John Guedel as "an odd little kid," likable, shy, introspective, mysterious, and inscrutable.[13]
When Skelton was drafted in 1944, Guedel crafted the radio sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet for Ricky's parents.[13][14]
Ozzie eventually became head writer for the show and based episodes on the fraternal exploits and enmity of his sons.[17]
The Nelson boys were first played in the radio series by professional child actors until twelve-year-old Dave and eight-year-old Ricky joined the show on February 20, 1949, in the episode "Invitation to Dinner."[18][19]
In 1952, the Nelsons tested the waters for a television series with the theatrically released film Here Come the Nelsons.
The film was a hit, and Ozzie was convinced the family could make the transition from radio's airwaves to television's small screen.
On October 3, 1952, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet made its television debut and was broadcast in first run until September 3, 1966, to become one of the longest-running sitcoms in television history.
Education
Nelson attended Gardner Street Public School,[20] Bancroft Junior High,[21] and, between 1954 and 1958, Hollywood High School, from which he graduated with a B average.[22][23][24]
He played football at Hollywood High[22][23] and represented the school in interscholastic tennis matches.[25]
Twenty-five years later, Nelson told the Los Angeles Weekly he hated school because it "smelled of pencils" and he was forced to rise early in the morning to attend.[22]
At Hollywood High, Nelson was blackballed by the Elksters, a fraternity of a dozen conservative sports-loving teens who thought him too wild.[26][27]
Many of the Elksters were family friends and spent weekends at the Nelson home playing basketball or relaxing around the pool.[27]
In retaliation, he joined the Rooks, a greaser car club of sideburned high school teens clad in leather jackets and motorcycle boots.[27][28]
He tattooed his hands, wrist, and shoulder with India ink and a sewing needle, slicked his hair with oil, and accompanied the Rooks on nocturnal forays along Hollywood Boulevard.[27][28]
He tattooed his hands, wrist, and shoulder with India ink and a sewing needle, slicked his hair with oil, and accompanied the Rooks on nocturnal forays along Hollywood Boulevard.[27][28]
Nelson was jailed twice in connection with incidents perpetrated by the Rooks and escaped punishment after sucker-punching a police officer only through the intervention of his father.[28]
Nelson's parents were alarmed. Their son's juvenile delinquency did little to enhance the All-American image of Ozzie and Harriet, and they quickly put an end to Ricky's involvement with the Rooks by banishing one of the most influential of the club's members from Ricky's life and their home.[25]
One of Ricky's seldom-publicized traits was his "fierce loyalty" to boyhood friends whom he regarded as trusted confidants. When young friend Bill Aken was in a crippling auto accident in New York City and confined to a hospital bed for months, Ricky would often phone Billy's mother, asking about his progress and writing short notes and letters to Billy to cheer him up.
They became lifelong friends, and Aken recorded the only family-authorized tribute record ("Gentle Friend") for the fan club after Rick's death.
Ozzie Nelson was a Rutgers alumnus and keen on college education,[29] but eighteen-year-old Ricky was already in the 93 percent income-tax bracket and saw no reason to attend.[23]
At age thirteen, Ricky was making over $100,000 per annum, and at sixteen he had a personal fortune of $500,000.[30]
Nelson's wealth was astutely managed by his parents, who channeled his earnings into trust funds. Although his parents permitted him a $50 allowance at the age of eighteen, Rick was often strapped for cash and one evening collected and redeemed empty pop bottles to gain entrance to a movie theater for himself and a date.[31]
Accustomed to affluence, Nelson had a cavalier attitude about money and never managed his finances very well.[26]
Music career
Debut
Nelson played clarinet and drums in his tweens and early teens, learned the rudimentary guitar chords, and vocally imitated his favorite Sun Records rockabillyartists in the bathroom at home or in the showers at the Los Angeles Tennis Club.[32][33][34]
He was strongly influenced by the music of Carl Perkins and once said he tried to emulate the sound and the tone of the guitar break in Perkins's March 1956 Top Ten hit "Blue Suede Shoes."[33][34]
At age sixteen, he wanted to impress a girl friend who was an Elvis Presley fan and, although he had no record contract at the time, told her that he, too, was going to make a record.[32][35][36][37]
With his father's help, he secured a one-record deal with Verve Records, an important jazz label looking for a young and popular personality who could sing or be taught to sing.[36][37][38][39]
On March 26, 1957, he recorded the Fats Domino standard "I'm Walkin'" and "A Teenager's Romance" (released in late April 1957 as his first single),[40] and "You're My One and Only Love".[39][41]
Before the single was released, he made his television rock-and-roll debut on April 10, 1957, lip-synching "I'm Walkin'" in the Ozzie and Harriet episode "Ricky, the Drummer".[42][43]
About the same time, he made an unpaid public appearance, singing "Blue Moon of Kentucky" with the Four Preps at a Hamilton High School lunch hour assembly[40] in Los Angeles and was greeted by hordes of screaming teens who had seen the television episode.[44][45]
"I'm Walkin'" reached #4 on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores chart, and its flip side, "A Teenager's Romance", hit #2.[36][45]
When the television series went on summer break in 1957, Nelson made his first road trip and played four state and county fairs in Ohio and Wisconsin with the Four Preps, who opened and closed for him.[46]
When the television series went on summer break in 1957, Nelson made his first road trip and played four state and county fairs in Ohio and Wisconsin with the Four Preps, who opened and closed for him.[46]
Source: Wikipedia.org
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