Barry Nelson

Barry Nelson (born Robert Haakon Nielsen; April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond. Early life Nelson was born in San Francisco, the son of Norwegian immigrants, Betsy (née Christophersen) and Trygve Nielsen. His year of birth has been subject to some debate, but is listed as 1917 on both his 1943 Army Air Forces enlistment record and his 1993 voter registration records. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1941, where he performed as an actor in student theatre productions. Career With MGM, Nelson made his screen debut in the role as Paul Clark in Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, with Donna Reed. He followed that with his role as Lew Rankin in the film noir Johnny Eager (1942) starring Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. During his service in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Nelson debuted on the Broadway stage in Moss Hart's play Winged Victory (1943) in the role of Bobby Grills. His next Broadway appearance was as Peter Sloan, playwright, in Hart's Light Up the Sky (1948). He appeared on Broadway with Barbara Bel Geddes in the original Broadway production of The Moon Is Blue. During the play's run, he also starred in a CBS half-hour drama called The Hunter, premiering in July 1952. He played Bart Adams, a wealthy young American whose business activities involved him in a series of adventures. He also appeared with Lauren Bacall in the Abe Burrows comedy Cactus Flower in 1965 and with Dorothy Loudon in The Fig Leaves Are Falling in 1969. Nelson performed another Broadway role, that of Gus Hammer in The Rat Race (1949).