Ralph Nelson
Illustration — Ralph Nelson (1970) Ralph Leo Nelson (August 12, 1916 – December 21, 1987) was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing Lilies of the Field (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Charly (1968), films which won Academy Awards.
Ralph Nelson

RBNRP · I took this photo of my father. Previously published: none · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1916. · Queens.
- Died
- 1987. · Santa Monica.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- screenwriter, actor, film producer and director.
- Honours
- Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
- Languages
- English.
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Illustration — Ralph Nelson (1970) Ralph Leo Nelson (August 12, 1916 – December 21, 1987) was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing Lilies of the Field (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Charly (1968), films which won Academy Awards.
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Note VALÉORINE
Ralph Nelson (1916–1987) was an American actor, director and film actor, among other activities. Born in Queens, the actor died in Santa Monica. Ralph Nelson worked in United States.
Languages used include English. Works by the actor are held at Harvard Film Archive. Ralph Nelson received Emmy Award.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1559143 · wikipedia · Ralph Nelson
In this article
Early years
Early years
The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are United States. Work by Ralph Nelson is recorded in the collections of Harvard Film Archive. Distinctions recorded are Emmy Award and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
Born on August 12, 1916, in Long Island City, New York, Nelson was the younger of two children born to Swedish immigrants Edith Maria and Karl Leo Nelson. When he was 15 years old, Nelson's activities ranged from winning an oratory contest sponsored by The New York Times to hearing a judge describe him as "potentially the most dangerous juvenile criminal" in New York City. Before he was 16 years old he had been in jail for vagrancy and suspicion of burglary in 12 states. A freight train ride with hobos took Nelson to Los Angeles. He supported himself temporarily by selling programs for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, but a charge of attempted robbery put him in jail. Told that he had to either leave the city or serve 90 days, he chose neither option but went to the Union Rescue Mission. There he received food and housing and gained employment washing dishes at the Lido Hotel. He returned to New York, where he finished high school, ran errands for Broadway producers and actors, and studied acting. Nelson served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a fighter pilot and flight instructor during World War II.
Career
Career
After returning to Los Angeles, Nelson was an understudy for Leslie Howard as Hamlet at the Biltmore Theatre, and he later performed in that venue with a company headed by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. He toured with them for six years, working as actor and stage manager. Before the war ended, he had a play on Broadway: "The Wind Is Ninety" ran from June to September 1945. Kirk Douglas was in the cast. Nelson directed the acclaimed episode "A World of His Own" of The Twilight Zone (he should not be confused with The Twilight Zone's production manager, Ralph W. Nelson). He also directed both the television and film versions of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight. In 1958 Nelson directed The Nutcracker, on CBS, that network's only live color broadcast of the year. Time magazine said that he "kept the episodes sharp, the camera steady. Result: an overall sense of gaiety and space." He directed Charly, the 1968 film version of Flowers for Algernon, for which Cliff Robertson won an Academy Award, as well as several racially provocative films in the 1960s and early 1970s, including the Academy Award-winning Lilies of the Field,...tick...tick...tick..., Christmas Lilies of the Field, The Wilby Conspiracy, and Soldier Blue. The starring role in "Lilies" led to Sidney Poitier winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. Nelson also directed the Cary Grant comedy Father Goose, the offbeat Soldier in the Rain with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen, the crime story Once a Thief, and Rita Hayworth's last film, The Wrath of God. He both directed, and briefly appeared in, Duel at Diablo, starring James Garner and Sidney Poitier. Nelson's other credits include several episodes of TV's Starsky & Hutch, the '70s camp horror classic Embryo, and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich. A television drama about mounting the live show of Requiem for a Heavyweight called The Man in the Funny Suit was made in 1960, with Nelson both writing and directing. Nelson, Serling, Red Skelton, Keenan Wynn and Ed Wynn appeared in it as themselves. He returned to TV in the late 1970s with a string of TV movies, including a sequel to Lilies of the Field called Christmas Lilies of the Field which starred Billy Dee Williams, Maria Schell, and Fay Hauser.
Death
Death
Nelson's first wife was actress Celeste Holm. He died of complications of cancer in his lung and brain on December 21, 1987, at Care West hospice in Santa Monica, California, aged 71.
Recognition
Recognition
In 1957 Nelson received an Emmy Award for Best Director for his work on Requiem for a Heavyweight. In 1964, Nelson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing his 1963 film, Lilies of the Field.
Director
Director
• Film • Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) • Lilies of the Field (1963) • Soldier in the Rain (1963) • Fate Is the Hunter (1964) • Father Goose (1964) • Once a Thief (1965) • Duel at Diablo (1966) • Counterpoint (1968) • Charly (1968) •...tick...tick...tick... (1970) • Soldier Blue (1970) • Flight of the Doves (1971) • The Wrath of God (1972) • The Wilby Conspiracy (1975) • Embryo (1976) • A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1977) • Television • Ford Startime - "The Jazz Singer" (1959) • Playhouse 90 - "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956) • Blood Money (1957) • The Twilight Zone - "A World of His Own" (1960) • The Farmer's Daughter (1963) Episode: "The Speechmaker: Part 1" • The Man Who Bought Paradise (1965) • Lady of the House (1978) • Because He's My Friend (1978) • Christmas Lilies of the Field (1979) • You Can't Go Home Again (1979)
Actor
Actor
• Stump Run (1959) • Lilies of the Field (1963) - Mr. Ashton (uncredited) • Duel at Diablo (1966) - Col. Foster • Counterpoint (1968) - Belgian Officer (uncredited) • Charly (1968) - Convention Speaker (uncredited) •...tick...tick...tick... (1970) - New York driver caught in speed trap (uncredited) • Soldier Blue (1970) - Agent Long • The Wrath of God (1972) - Executed Prisoner (uncredited)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1987
Ralph Nelson died at Santa Monica.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Queens.
Birth place
Santa Monica.
Death place
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
* * • 1953 Time Magazine
![Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Amerikaanse filmregisseur Ralph Nelson in Amsterdam; Ralph Nelson Datum: 7 december 1970 Locatie: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden: filmregisseurs Fotograaf: Peters, Hans / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris: bekijk toegang 2.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Amerikaanse_filmregisseur_Ralph_Nelson_in_Amsterdam_Ralph_Nelson%2C_Bestanddeelnr_924-0749.jpg/800px-Amerikaanse_filmregisseur_Ralph_Nelson_in_Amsterdam_Ralph_Nelson%2C_Bestanddeelnr_924-0749.jpg)
Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Amerikaanse filmregisseur Ralph Nelson in Amsterdam; Ralph Nelson Datum: 7 december 1970 Locatie: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden: filmregisseurs Fotograaf: Peters, Hans / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende: Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort: Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris: bekijk toegang 2.
Hans Peters for Anefo
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rubin, Steven Jay (2018). The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press. p. 462. . "NELSON, RALPH LEO (August 12, 1916–December 21, 1987): Television and film director who helmed 'A World of His Own,' his only episode of The Twilight Zone. Nelson won an Emmy for directing Serling's award-winning script for the Playhouse 90 episode 'Requiem for a Heavyweight' (1956), which co-starred Ed and Keenan Wynn. In 1961, he was nominated for directing 'The Man in the Funny Suit.' Two years later, he was nominated for the Academy Award for directing Sidney Poitier (whom Nelson guided to an Oscar for Best Actor) in Lilies of the Field."
- 2."New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1925", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J666-HX7 : Thu May 14 05:32:03 UTC 2026), Entry for Ralph Leo Nelson, 8 November 1920.
- 3.Shipman, David. Ralph Nelson. The Independent. 25. January 6, 1988.
- 4."United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4P8-78R : Wed Jul 10 04:41:33 UTC 2024), Entry for Carl L Nelson and Edith M Nelson, 1930.
- 5.Miss Celeste Holm Is The Bride Of Ralph Nelson; Popular Deer Lake Players Wed Today At Summer Hill. Pottsville Republican. 16. January 6, 1988.
- 6."New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP8J-W25L : Fri Apr 11 23:16:25 UTC 2025), Entry for Carl Leo Nelson, 1914.
- 7.Ralph Nelson, director of TV, movie classics. The Advocate. Los Angeles Times. A 6. December 23, 1987.
- 8.Movie-TV director Ralph Nelson dies at 71. The Vancouver Sun. Associated Press. B 7. December 23, 1987.
- 9.Radio: The Three Prosceniums Time via Internet Archive. Archived December 22, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
- 10.Gardella, Kay. What's on?. Daily News. 55. October 26, 1954.
- 11.The Wind Is Ninety – Broadway Play – Original IBDB. www.ibdb.com.
- 12.Person List.
- 13.Television: The Busy Air. Time. January 4, 1959.
- 14.Sullivan, Ronald. Ralph Nelson, Early TV Director; Made 'Requiem for Heavyweight'. New York Times. 1987-12-25.
- 15.Hollywood director Ralph Nelson dies. The Daily Dispatch. United Press International. B 6. December 24, 1987.
- 16.Television: Emmys for '56. Time. March 24, 1957.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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