Gene Nelson

 Gene Nelson (March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996)

He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films when he was a child. After serving in the Army during World War II during which he also performed in the musical This Is the Army, Nelson landed his first Broadway role in Lend an Ear, for which he received the Theatre World Award. He also appeared onstage in Follies, which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and Good News. Gene Nelson co-starred with Doris Day in "Lullaby of Broadway" in 1951, and played Will Parker in the film Oklahoma. Nelson directed 8 episodes of The Rifleman in the 1961-62 season, the original Star Trek, the first season of I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, The Silent Force, and The San Pedro Beach Bums. He directed the Elvis Presley films Kissin' Cousins (1964), which screenplay he wrote, and Harum Scarum (1965). He later taught in the Theater Arts Department at San Francisco State University in the late 1980's. For contribution to the motion picture industry, in 1990, Nelson was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nelson's star is located at 7005 Hollywood Boulevard. Nelson died of cancer, aged 76, in Los Angeles. He was married three times, and had three children (one from his first marriage, two from his second).