Kenneth Nelson
Kenneth Nelson (born March 24, 1930 in Rocky Mount , North Carolina , † October 7, 1993 in London , England ) was an American actor .
Life
Kenneth Nelson began his acting career in various television and theater roles. On Broadway in Manhattan from 1951 he played in various plays such as Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen , a musical adaptation of The Teahouse of the August Moon , and in 1960 in the musical Die Romanticker and in the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off . He has been on US television since the late 1940s, including in the lead role of an idiosyncratic teenager in the television series The Aldrich Family .
Nelson played his probably best-known and perhaps most controversial role from 1968 in the play The Boys in the Band and in the 1970 film adaptation of the work: As a gay, alcoholic writer Michael , he organizes a birthday party at which he drunk the other gay guests and their weaknesses faced and angry. His portrayal of Michael in the film, directed by William Friedkin , even brought Nelson a nomination for the Golden Globe Award , but the big breakthrough in the cinema did not materialize. He then played mostly minor roles in television and cinema, including in the Clive Barker horror films Hellraiser - The Gate to Hell and Cabal - The Brut of the Night . In the 1970s Nelson moved to England, where he continued his career as a stage actor.
In 1993 Nelson died in his adopted home in London at the age of 63 of complications from AIDS .
Filmography (selection)
- 1949: Captain Video and His Video Rangers (TV series) - role: Ranger Colt
- 1952: The Aldrich Family (TV series) - roles: Henry Aldrich
- 1952: Borrowed luck (Invitation) - role: tennis player
- 1970: Die Harten und die Zarten (The Boys in the Band) - Role: Michael
- 1970: The Games - Role: Student in drinking competition
- 1977: The Brute - Role: Psychiatrist
- 1983: Career Through All Beds (The Lonely Lady) - Role: Bud Weston
- 1985: At the edge of darkness ( Edge of Darkness ; miniseries, 3 episodes) - Role: Jerry Grogan
- 1987: Hellraiser - The Gate to Hell (Hellraiser) - Role: Bill
- 1990: Cabal - The Brood of the Night (Nightbreed) - Role: Emergency doctor
- 1993: The Last Leaf (short film) - role: villagers
Awards and prizes (selection)
- Nomination for the 1971 Golden Globe Awards in the Young Actors category
Web links
- Kenneth Nelson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- New York Times: Screen: 'Boys in the Band': Crowley Study of Male Homosexuality Opens , March 18, 1970
- New York Times: Kenneth Nelson, Actor And Emigre, Dies at 63, October 9, 1993
Individual evidence
- ↑ New York Times: Screen: 'Boys in the Band': Crowley Study of Male Homosexuality Opens , March 18, 1970
- ^ New York Times: Kenneth Nelson, Actor And Emigre, Dies at 63, October 9, 1993
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Nelson, Kenneth |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-American actor |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 24, 1930 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Rocky Mount , North Carolina |
DATE OF DEATH | October 7, 1993 |
Place of death | London |