Born Harriet Hilliard, July 18, 1914, in Des Moines, IA; died of congestive heart failure, October 2, 1994, in Laguna Beach, CA. Actress and singer. Nelson was best known for her role in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, portraying her real life role as the wife of Ozzie and mother of David and Eric ("Ricky") for the American public. The program began on radio in 1944 and aired on television from 1952 to 1966, becoming one of the longest-running shows intelevision history. Nelson was born into a theatrical family and made numerous onstage appearances as a child. Just before graduating high school, she joined the Corps de Ballet at Broadway's Capitol Theater, and at the age of seventeen she went into vaudeville, acting with such comedians as Ken Murray andBert Lahr. In 1932, she was hired by Ozzie Nelson to be a vocalist with his dance band, and after a period of successful duets with the band, the two weremarried in 1935. From 1936 to 1944 Nelson appeared in films as Harriet Hilliard, including Follow the Fleet, Cocoanut Grove, She's My Everything, Sweetheart of the Campus, The Falcon Strikes Back, and Swingtime Johnny. The Los Angeles Times once voted Nelson woman of the year in the field of entertainment,and from 1953-60 the readers of Television Radio- Mirror voted Ozzie and Harriet Nelson the best husband-wife team in television.
PERIODICALS
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