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.

Filmography

• Ozzie's Girls — Producer
• Bridget Loves Bernie — Director
• Night Gallery — Henry Millikan (segment "You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan")
• Love, American Style — Fred Garber, Reverend Harry Pickard
• Adam-12 — Ted Clover, Director
• 1968The Impossible Years — Herbert Fleischer
• The Mothers-in-Law — Owen Sinclair / Ozzie Snick
• 1965Love and Kisses — Director, Producer, Screenplay
• 1952Here Come the Nelsons — Ozzie Nelson, Writer
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet — Ozzie, Director, Teleplay, Screenplay, Writer
• 1946People Are Funny — Leroy Brinker
• 1944Hi, Good Lookin'! — Ozzie Nelson - Orchestra Leader
• 1944Take It Big — Ozzie Nelson
• 1944Wave-a-Stick Blues — Ozzie Nelson, Writer
• 1943Honeymoon Lodge — Ozzie Nelson - Band Leader
• 1943Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
• 1942Strictly in the Groove — Ozzie Nelson
• 1942The Big Street — Orchestra Leader
• 1941Sweetheart of the Campus — Ozzie Norton
• 1940Ozzie Nelson & His Orchestra — Ozzie Nelson

Appearances as themselves (7)

• The Barbara McNair Show — Self
• 1968The Movie Orgy — Self (archive footage)
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• 1959Disneyland '59 — Self
• This Is Your Life — Self
• What's My Line? — Self