Quiz

For the film Il grande circo (1959), he had to learn how to be a catcher in a trapeze act. He later appeared professionally as a catcher.

In December 2002, he was stopped by a ticket agent at John Wayne Airport in Orange, CA, after letters in the name "David Nelson" were red flagged for terrorists. Two police officers recognized him and allowed him to board his flight.

Married June Blair at the Church of the Hills (Forest Lawn Memorial Park) in 1961. The couple had two sons, Daniel and James. After the marriage ended in divorce in 1975, Nelson remarried, and later adopted his second wife's three children from her previous marriage, including Teri Nelson Carpenter (later married to Chuck Woolery), and producer/assistant director John Nelson.

Son of Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson. Nephew of Don Nelson. Older brother of actor/singer Ricky Nelson. Uncle of Tracy Nelson, Matthew Nelson, Gunnar Nelson and Sam Nelson.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 1501 Vine Street in Hollywood, CA on May 9, 1996.

The radio show began without the Nelson boys. Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson were hesitant about steering them into show business. However, after a young friend, Lindsay Crosby, made a guest appearance on the radio program with his father, Bing Crosby, the boys campaigned to have their parents let them appear. Ozzie and Harriet eventually relented and the boys were a success, especially when the show transferred to television. David and Ricky Nelson were once dubbed "The Crown Princes of Radio" by Radio Life magazine. They made their film debuts in the family feature Here Come the Nelsons (1952), a comedy released about eight months before the family debuted on television. Growing up on his family's television series, David's character wound up becoming a lawyer before the series ended. In real-life, David Nelson took an interest in directing and cut his teeth directing a number of episodes for his father on the series.

Had seven grandchildren.

Following his death, he was cremated and interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, CA.

Profiled in the book "X Child Stars: Where Are They Now?" (2016) by Kathy Garver and Fred Ascher.