Harriet Nelson was an American singer and actress. Nelson is best known for her role on the long-running sitcom

Situation comedy

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...

.

Early life and career

She was born Peggy Lou Snyder in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

 to Roy Hilliard Snyder and Hazel Dell McNutt. By 1932, she was performing in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 when she met the saxophone-playing bandleader Ozzie Nelson

Ozzie Nelson

Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson was an American entertainer and band leader who originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons.-Early life:...

. Nelson hired her to sing with the band, under the name Harriet Hilliard. They married three years later.

Hilliard had a respectable film career as a solo performer, apart from the band. RKO Radio Pictures signed her to a one-year contract in 1936, and she appeared in three feature films, the most famous being the Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...

-Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....

 musical Follow the Fleet

Follow the Fleet

Follow the Fleet is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in small supporting roles...

. She was very much in demand during the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 years for leading roles in escapist musicals, comedies, and mysteries.

In Ozzie Nelson's book, he wrote that Harriet was quite popular during the short time at RKO and they wanted her to continue her solo film career, but decided that it was more important for her to continue with the band and subsequent radio show.

Although the couple occasionally appeared together in movies, either as a duo (in Honeymoon Lodge) or as separate characters (in Hi, Good Lookin), they are best known for their broadcasting efforts. In 1944, the Nelsons began a domestic-comedy series for radio, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...

. It was highly popular and made a successful transition to television. It was one of the stalwarts of the ABC-TV

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 schedule through 1966. The Nelsons' two sons, Ricky

Ricky Nelson

Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...

 and David

David Nelson (actor)

David Oswald Nelson was an American actor, director, producer. He was the elder son of bandleader/TV actor Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Hilliard and the older brother of singer Eric "Ricky" Nelson.-Career:...

, were featured continuously on the show.

In 1973, Ozzie and Harriet also appeared in the short-lived sitcom, Ozzie's Girls

Ozzie's Girls

Ozzie's Girls is an American sitcom spin-off of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran in first-run syndication during the 1973-74 season...

.

Later years

In the 1978, Harriet Nelson moved full-time to the Laguna Beach, California

Laguna Beach, California

Laguna Beach is a seaside resort city and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southwest of the county seat of Santa Ana...

 beach home the family had built in 1954. She died of congestive heart failure on October 2, 1994. She is interred with her husband and younger son Ricky (who died in a plane crash) in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...

 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

.

For her contribution to the television industry, Harriet Nelson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard

-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...

.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	The Campus Mystery	Wanda Perry
1936	Follow the Fleet Follow the Fleet Follow the Fleet is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in small supporting roles...	Connie Martin
1937	New Faces of 1937	Patricia "Pat" Harrington
1937	The Life of the Party	Mitzi Martos
1938	Cocoanut Grove	Linda Rogers
1941	Sweetheart of the Campus Sweetheart of the Campus Sweetheart of the Campus is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Cast:* Ruby Keeler as Betty Blake* Ozzie Nelson as Ozzie Norton* Harriet Hilliard as Harriet Hale...	Harriet Hale	Alternative title: Broadway Ahead
1941	Confessions of Boston Blackie Confessions of Boston Blackie Confessions of Boston Blackie is a 1941 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Cast:* Chester Morris as Boston Blackie* Harriet Hilliard as Diane Parrish* Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday* George E...	Diane Parrish
1942	Canal Zone	Susan Merrill
1942	Juke Box Jenny	Genevieve Horton
1943	Hi, Buddy	Gloria Bradley
1943	The Falcon Strikes Back The Falcon Strikes Back The Falcon Strikes Back is a 1943 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk.-Cast:* Tom Conway as Tom Lawrence* Harriet Hilliard as Gwynne Gregory* Jane Randolph as Marcia Brooks* Edgar Kennedy as Smiley Dugan* Cliff Edwards as Goldie Locke...	Gwynne Gregory
1943	Gals, Incorporated	Gwen Phillips	Alternative title: Gals, Inc.
1943	Honeymoon Lodge	Lorraine Logan
1943	Swingtime Johnny	Linda
1944	Hi, Good Lookin'!	Kelly Clark
1944	Take It Big	Jerry Clinton
1952	Here Come the Nelsons	Harriet	Alternative title: Meet the Nelsons
1952–1966	The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...	Harriet Nelson	434 episodes
1969–1973	Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...		3 episodes
1972	Night Gallery Night Gallery Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...	Helena Millikan	Episode: "You Can Come Up Now, Mrs. Millikan/Smile, Please"
1973	Ozzie's Girls Ozzie's Girls Ozzie's Girls is an American sitcom spin-off of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran in first-run syndication during the 1973-74 season...	Harriet Nelson	24 episodes
1976	Once an Eagle Once an Eagle Once An Eagle is a nine hour American television mini-series directed by Richard Michaels and E.W. Swackhamer. The picture was written by Peter S...	Harriet Nelson	Miniseries Miniseries A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
1976	Smash-Up on Interstate 5 Smash-Up on Interstate 5 Smash-Up on Interstate 5 is a 1976 made-for-tv disaster film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey. Based on the novel Expressway written by Trevor Dudley Smith, the film chronicles the aftermath of a 39 car smash-up in California.- Plot :...	June Pearson	Television movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
1977	NBC Special Treat After school special The American Broadcasting Company coined the term after school special in 1972 with a series of made for television movies, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be viewed by school age children, particularly...	Elderly shopkeeper	Episode: "Five Finger Discount"
1977	The Love Boat The Love Boat The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...	Henretta McDonald	Episode: "The Identical Problem/Julie's Old Flame/Jinx"
1978	Fantasy Island Fantasy Island Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...	Winnie McLaine	Episode: "The Over the Hill Caper/Poof! You're a Movie Star"
1979	Death Car on the Freeway Death Car on the Freeway Death Car on the Freeway is a 1979 made for television movie starring Shelley Hack. In a plot similar to Steven Spielberg's Duel, this tells the story of an unseen psycho driver who is dubbed the Freeway Fiddler....	Mrs. Sheel	Television movie
1979	A Christmas for Boomer		Television movie
1981	Aloha Paradise		Episode: "Best of Friends/Success/Nine Karats"
1982	Happy Days Happy Days Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....	Marge	Episode: "Empty Nest"
1982	The First Time	Charlotte	Television movie
1983	The Kid with the 200 I.Q.	Professor Conklin	Television movie
1987	Time Out for Dad	Mary McLaughlin	Television movie
1989	Father Dowling Mysteries Father Dowling Mysteries Father Dowling Mysteries is an American television mystery series that appeared between November 30, 1987 and May 2, 1991. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC network for its last two seasons...	Sister Agnes	Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery"

External links

• Iowa Rock'n Roll Music Association 2007 Hall of Fame Inductee