David nelson
- •
Weekly Newsletter
The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox!
The names “Ozzie and Harriet,” remind most people of the well-loved sitcom that ran from 1952 until 1966 and featured the titular duo and their two real-life sons, David and Ricky. Others recall it as the pad that launched Ricky Nelson to pop stardom. While all of those recollections are correct, the real story of Ozzie and Harriet, both on the air and off, goes back many more decades. The original Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio show debuted 75 years ago this week, but the story behind the duo goes back further, and continues to this day.
Ozzie Nelson might have seemed like an unlikely sitcom mastermind. Born in 1906, Nelson became an Eagle Scout, a high school and college football player, and a law student at Rutgers. He was also a musician, and when America fell into the Great Depression, he moved into a music career. Nelson formed The Ozzie Nelson Band (later The Ozzie Nelson Orchestra) in 1930 and produced a succession of popular records. Nelson frequently dueted with Harriet Hilliard.
- •
Harriet Nelson
American actress (1909-1994)
Harriet Nelson (formerly Hilliard; born Peggy Lou Snyder; July 18, 1909 – October 2, 1994) was an American actress.[1] Nelson is best known for her role on the sitcomThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Early life and career
Nelson was born Peggy Lou Snyder in Des Moines, Iowa,[2] the daughter of Hazel Dell née McNutt (1888–1971) and Roy Hilliard Snyder (1879–1953).[3] She appeared on the vaudeville stage when she was three years old and made her debut on Broadway in her teens.[4]
She frequented the Cotton Club, began smoking at age thirteen. She wed the comedian, Roy Sedley (1901-1989), in 1930. They were briefly married, but Roy was abusive and lived what has been described as "a high-flying life".[4] They separated a year later, and the marriage was annulled in 1933.[5] She left high school before graduating and joined the Corps de Ballet at the Capitol Theater, later dancing in the Harry Carroll Revue and working as a straight wo
- •
Nelson, Harriet Hilliard
(b. 18 July 1909 in Des Moines, Iowa; d. 2 October 1994 in Laguna Beach, California), actress characterized as the ideal American housewife and mother when she played herself on the long-running radio and television series the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
The future Harriet Nelson was born Peggy Lou Snyder, the daughter of actor Roy Hilliard (whose real name was Snyder) and actress Hazel McNutt. The Hilliards ran and starred in a midwestern stock company; their only child was supposedly first brought on stage at the age of six months. She had her first speaking role at age three. Educated at Saint Agnes Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, she traveled and acted with her parents on vacations.
When Roy and Hazel Hilliard separated in 1925, Harriet Hilliard moved with her mother to New York City, where she studied with choreographer Chester Hale and danced in his Capitol Theatre Corps de Ballet. At age seventeen, she appeared on the New York stage in a musical farce titled The Blonde Sinner. This work led her to vaudeville, touring with comedian
Copyright ©dewpant.pages.dev 2025