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Ozzie Nelson

1906-03-20 – 1975-06-03 (age 69) Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American band leader, actor, director, and producer. He originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio and long-running television series with his wife Harriet and two sons David and Ricky Nelson.

Nelson started his entertainment career as a band leader. He formed and led "The Ozzie Nelson Band," and had some initial limited success. Nelson's records were consistently popular, and in 1934, Nelson enjoyed success with his hit song, "Over Somebody Else's Shoulder," which he introduced. Nelson was their primary vocalist and, from August of 1932, he featured in duets with his other star vocalist, Harriet Hilliard. Nelson's calm, easy vocal style was popular on records and radio and quite similar to son Rick's voice, and Harriet's perky vocals added to the band's popularity.

Ozzie Nelson appeared with his band in feature films and short subjects of the 1940s, and often played speaking parts, displaying a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, as in the 1942 musical Strictly in the Groove. He shrewdly promoted the band by agreeing to appear in "soundies," three-minute musical movies shown in "film jukeboxes" of the 1940s. In 1952, when he and his family were established as radio and TV favorites, they starred in a feature film, Here Come the Nelsons, which actually doubled as a "pilot" for the TV series.

Known For

The Movie Orgy
The Movie Orgy

1968

as Self (archive footage)

The Big Street
The Big Street

1942

as Orchestra Leader

Honeymoon Lodge
Honeymoon Lodge

1943

as Ozzie Nelson - Band Leader

Here Come the Nelsons
Here Come the Nelsons

1952

as Ozzie Nelson

The Impossible Years
The Impossible Years

1968

as Dr. Herbert J. Fleischer

Disneyland '59
Disneyland '59

1959

as Self

People Are Funny
People Are Funny

1946

as Leroy Brinker

Sweetheart of the Campus
Sweetheart of the Campus

1941

as Ozzie Norton

Take It Big
Take It Big

1944

as Ozzie Nelson

Hi, Good Lookin'!
Hi, Good Lookin'!

1944

as Ozzie Nelson - Orchestra Leader

Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra
Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra

1940

as Ozzie Nelson

Strictly in the Groove
Strictly in the Groove

1942

as Ozzie Nelson

🎦
Wave-a-Stick Blues

1944

as Ozzie Nelson