Solid!

Born

• March 20, 1906
• Jersey City, NJ

Died

• June 3, 1975

Real Name

• Oswald George Nelson

Marriages / Children

• Harriet Hilliard (1935)
• David (b. 1936)
• Ricky (b. 1940)

Theme Song

• Loyal Sons of Rutgers

Ozzie Nelson

• BIOGRAPHY
• FILMOGRAPHY
• COMPOSITIONS

Though best remembered as one of television's most famous dads, Ozzie Nelson was also a celebrated bandleader during the heyday of swing. Born in Jersey City in 1906, Ozzie excelled in sports as a youth. In the 1920s he learned how to play the ukulele. He later switched to the banjo and formed a duo with pianist Frank Leithner. The two eventually became part of a quartet called the Syncopation Four, which played garden parties, local clubs and weddings, with Ozzie as singer. Ozzie also taught himself how to play the saxophone. In 1923 he entered Rutgers, where he played football and joined the boxing team. He later went to law school, leading a small dance orchestra and coaching football to earn tuition money.

Ozzie's resemblance to Rudy Vallee, both in looks and voice, helped boost his career. In 1930 he was given his own radio show. His big break came when the New York Daily Mirror ran a readers' poll on the most popular radio orchestra. His manager learned that newsdealers received credit for their unsold papers by returning only the front pages of the unbought copies, and realizing that the Mirror's ballots were on the back page he arranged to secure hundreds of unsold copies and send them in. When the voting was done Ozzie lead the poll over national stars Vallee and Paul Whiteman. Nelson's manager used the poll as leverage to book the band into the Glen Island Casino on Long Island. With that engagement also came a series of national radio network broadcasts. Ozzie was on his way to the top.

In 1932 Ozzie added female singer Harriet Hilliard to his outfit. She became only the second female vocalist featured in a big band (Mildred Bailey, with Whiteman, was the first). Ozzie and Harriet hit it off personally as well as musically and were married in October of 1935. Their first son, David, was born in 1936, followed by Ricky in 1940.

Ozzie's orchestra remained one of the most popular in the country during the 1930s and into the 1940s, with recordings for both Brunswick and Bluebird. The Nelson's real family life, however, began to figure into the image they presented, and in 1944 they gave up their music career to star in a radio situation comedy. In 1951 they made a feature film, Here Come the Nelsons, which preceded the debut of their television program. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet first aired in 1952 and ran for fifteen years on ABC, with Ozzie as producer and writer.

After the series ended Ozzie kept busy producing, directing and writing for both television and film. He also made several guest appearances on television and produced the syndicated Ozzie's Girls, an updated version of his old series. Ozzie Nelson died in 1975 from complications related to cancer.