The last member of the Ozzie and Harriet family has died of colon cancer at age 74 in Los Angeles. He always played second banana to his younger brother, Ricky, but David was a comforting presence, and I must say I liked that show. As this obit points out, the Nelsons were doing a “sitcom-as-a-play on real life” decades before Larry David, and they even beat Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. (Ozzie had been a successful big-band leader, and Harriet a great singer for his band, and they had also had a radio show.) David Nelson had a few movie roles after the family show went off the air after 14 seasons, and he produced and directed too. For a time, he couldn’t fly because the TSA had a “David Nelson” on their no-fly list. May he rest in peace.
(Thanks to Mark Carroll)
1:27 pm on January 12, 2011
