Barry Nelson

Nelson was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Norwegian immigrants, Betsy (née Christophersen) and Trygve Nielsen His year of birth has been subject to some debate, but his 1943 Army enlistment record and his 1993 voter registration records list 1917 as the year of his birth. He began acting in school at the age of 15. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1941 and, because of his theatrical efforts in school, was almost immediately signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.\n', '

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. He played the lead in A Yank on the Burma Road (1942).\n', '

During his service in the…