Greensboro, N.C. — Prolific actor Ed Nelson, who spent decades as a leading man in movies (including several by Roger Corman) and is perhaps best known as a major player in famed nighttime soap “Peyton Place,” died here Aug. 9 of congestive heart failure. He was 85.MSTies will recall that he played Dave Randall in the movie in episode 701- NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST, a caveteen in the movie in episode 315- TEENAGE CAVEMAN, George Beldridge in the movie in episode K15- SUPERDOME, a police sergeant in the movie in episode 503- SWAMP DIAMONDS and the elusive Robert Denby in the movie in episode 814- RIDING WITH DEATH. He also helped make the costumes for episode 406- ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES, in which he was supposed to appear, but was called away for another role before filming started.
Here’s a nice long appreciation.
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Now Robert Denby, I mean Ed Nelson, will be truly elusive. Nelson was a real fixture on TV in the ’70s and ’80s. Well done, sir, and RIP.
Perhaps now Driscoll will finally let Denby rest in peace…
RIP, dear sir. I liked him in “Bucket of Blood” as well. He was great with fanmail and signed a couple cards for me this past year. He seemed happy that I enjoyed his career in B Pictures.
Ohh, Steve’s name was Dave!
Rest in Peace, sir.
RIP to Ed Nelson. I’ve seen both “Night of the Blood Beast” and “Superdome” several times, but it wasn’t until I happened to watch them back-to-back that I realized that Nelson was in both films. Quite a long and prolific career.
I’d like to attend his funeral, but knowing Robert Denby, I’ll never be able to find it.
@1 (MSTie)
Yes, for those of us of a certain age, he was a pretty familiar presence on network TV.
I suppose this makes Georgianna Carter the last surviving member of the “Night of the Blood Beast” cast.
You gotta love independent films.
You get a staring roll AND you get to do costumes and equipment management.
So, is he the third in the current three deaths of celebrities?
bummed.
@#9, the “deaths come in threes” thing is overrated. Celebrities die every day, and how are they rated newsworthy or important? Is it won-an-Oscar important? Is it my-favorite-star-ever important? Is it sheer-number-of-appearances important?
I don’t mean to sound harsh. I’m in a sad mood after reading of the death of Lauren Bacall and am having a bad day in general. Bah, humbug. :-(
Ed Nelson also played a lead role in the fun The Boneyard, which features a giant, monsterfied poodle. Worth a watch.
Yeah, I never understood the whole “deaths come in threes” thing, either. Unless a bunch of celebrities are all killed at the same time, each person’s passing is a discrete event, and you can group them together into threes (or any other quantity) any way you like.
Great, he’s found a way to be even more elusive. RIP.
Ed Nelson, of Ed Nelson Plumbing, free hot dogs for the kids…..always cracks me up.
Moriarity is free at last.
For second there I thought that was Jason from Dark Shadows…. Dennis Patrick (ty imdb). They look similar. But I do remember this actor as well. Excellent array of terrific MST3K eps he was in.
RIP
Always loved Ed Nelson. No matter what he appeared in, he fit the part perfectly.
A very high level chameleon was he.
This brings up an interesting question… What actor/actresses appeared in the most MST3K films? Was it Ed Nelson? (I assume someone has looked this up, likely with a numerically sorted list of the top ten). :-)
The final elusion. RIP
We’ve been working our way through our DVD set of “The Twilight Zone”, and coincidentally, tonight’s episode was “Valley of the Shadow”, a 1963 episode in which Ed Nelson was the guest star. As always, he delivered a solid performance.