- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEugene Leander Berg
- Height1.83 m
- Gene Nelson was barely a teen when he saw the Fred Astaire movie Carioca (1933), which would change his life. It was then that he decided he would be a dancer. After graduating from high school, Nelson joined the Sonja Henie Ice Show and toured for 3 years before joining the Army in World War II. After he was discharged, he appeared in a handful of movies before 1950. He worked with Debbie Reynolds in The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950), Doris Day in No, No, Nanette (1950) and Virginia Mayo in La collégienne en folie (1952). He would be best known for his role of cowboy Will Parker in Oklahoma! (1955), where he would twirl the lasso to the tune of "Kansas City".
After his dancing days ended he turned to directing TV and films, including two Elvis Presley movies, Salut, les cousins (1964) and C'est la fête au harem (1965). For television he directed episodes of Jeannie de mes rêves (1965), Star Trek (1966), L'homme à la carabine (1958), The Donna Reed Show (1958) and many others.- IMDb mini biography by: Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com> (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
- SpousesJean Martin(July 1990 - 1994) (divorced)Marilyn Morgen(August 7, 1958 - May 1974) (divorced, 2 children)Miriam Nelson(December 22, 1941 - June 8, 1956) (divorced, 1 child)
- Born Eugene Leander Berg, he went to Superior Court in 1964 to change his legal name to Gene Nelson as he wanted to use this for himself and his family.
- He can be seen as one of the anonymous studio executives in the trailer for the original version of Le Miracle sur la 34ème rue (1947).
- Was romantically involved with Maureen Reagan for several years, although they never married.
- First wife Miriam Nelson (nee Frankel) was a specialty film dancer from Broadway ("Panama Hattie"). Married in 1941, she worked in Hollywood while Gene served in the United States Army. He joined her later and she was instrumental in helping him work up his innovative dance routines on film.
- Second wife Marilyn Morgen was a studio secretary he married in 1958. She was 12 years his junior.
- It's always the dancer who has to work overtime when nobody else does. I would say that 25% of the Broadway shows that have ever been done have been saved by dancers. Just think about it; if not saved, at least heightened.
- Film is a marvelous medium for dancing. The sky's the limit. You can do wonderfully imaginative things with film. It's like being a magician. In my heyday, I could only do about four pirouettes without starting to fall, but with film, I could do a dozen by cutting and editing. The magic of film is that you can create anything you want.
- I was happier directing than I've ever been doing anything else. That form of creativity is very rewarding and I liked it a lot. Both careers were incomplete. I feel unfulfilled in either one. I didn't become the star I wanted to be.
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