LORI NELSON BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Lori Nelson was born on August 15th, 1933 in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the birth name Dixie Kay Nelson. Her career in entertainment began at the young age of two when she performed as a dancer in local stage productions.
At the young age of four her family relocated to Hollywood, California and she entered a beauty contest and won the title of, 'Little Miss America' at age four. Nelson then found work as a fashion model still as a child and after a couple unsuccessful screen tests she was finally given the chance to work as an actress when she was signed with Universal Studios to a seven year film contract at the age of seventeen.
Some of her early film roles included appearances on, "Bend of the River" (1952) starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hunter, Jay C. Flippen, Howard Petrie, Chubby Johnson, Stepin Fetchit, Harry Morgan, Frances Bavier and Royal Dano, "Francis Goes to West Point" (1952) starring Donald O'Connor, Les Tremayne, David Janssen, William Reynolds and James Best, "All I Desire" (1953) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Carlson, Lyle Bettger, Maureen O'Sullivan, Richard Long and Billy Gray, "The All American" (1953) starring alongside Mamie Van Doren in her film debut, Tony Curtis, Richard Long, Barney Phillips, Stuart Whitman and Douglas Kennedy, "Tumbleweed" (1953) starring Audie Murphy, Chill Wills, Roy Roberts, Russell Johnson, Lyle Talbot, King Donovan, K.T. Stevens, I. Stanford Jolley, Madge Meredith and Lee Van Cleef, "Destry" (1954) starring alongside Audie Murphy, Mari Blanchard, Thomas Mitchell, Lyle Bettger, Edgar Buchanan, Alan Hale Jr. and Wallace Ford, "Underwater!" (1955) starring Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Jayne Mansfield, Gilbert Roland and Robert Keith, "Mohawk" (1956) co-starring Scott Brady, Rita Gann, Neville Brand, Allison Hayes and John Hoyt, the teen rebel film "Hot Rod Girl" (1956) also starring Chuck Connors, Frank Gorshin and John Smith and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (1957) starring Van Johnson, Claude Rains, Jim Backus, Kay Starr, Doodles Weaver and Stanley Andrews.
Along with breaking in to the film industry she also began to make quite a name for herself as a television actress appearing on such series as, "It's a Great Life", "Climax!", "How to Marry a Millionaire" starring Merry Anders, Lisa Gaye and Barbara Eden, which was based on the 1953 film of the same name which starred Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, "Sugarfoot", "Tales of Wells Fargo", "Lock Up", "Wagon Train", "Laramie", "Bachelor Father" and "Family Affair".
Most recently, Nelson has appeared on the 2005 film, "The Naked Monster" with Kenneth Tobey, Les Tremayne, John Agar, Gloria Talbott and Brinke Stevens. Nelson has married twice, first to Johnny Mann from 1961 through 1971. She is currently married to her second husband, Joe Reiner since 1983.
Filmography
2005 The Naked Monster
1998 Mom, Can I Keep Her?
1994 Secret Sins of the Father
1991 Black Gaucho
1971 Family Affair
1961 Armstrong Circle Theatre
1961 Whispering Smith
1961 Bachelor Father
1961 Laramie
1960-1961 The Tab Hunter Show
1961 Dante
1960 Lock Up
1959 Tales of Wells Fargo
1959 Sugarfoot
1959 G.E. True Theater
1959 The Millionaire
1959 Wagon Train
1959 The Texan
1959 Wanted: Dead or Alive
1957-1958 How to Marry a Millionaire
1957 The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957 Outlaw's Son
1957 The 20th Century-Fox Hour
1957 Untamed Yout
1955-1956 Climax!
1956 Hot Rod Girl
1956 Pardners
1956 Mohawk
1955 Day the World Ended
1955 I Died a Thousand Times
1955 Sincerely Yours
1955 Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
1955 Revenge of the Creature
1955 It's a Great Life
1955 Underwater!
1954 Destry
1953 Tumbleweed
1953 Walking My Baby Back Home
1953 The All American
1953 All I Desire
1952 Francis Goes to West Point
1952 Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952 Bend of the River
