Hollywood Memorial

Son of famed entertainers Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. He made his first movie in 1947’s ‘Here comes the Nelsons.’ This lead to their family television show, ‘The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.’ The show became the first and longest running family sitcom and he grew up in front of America. Rick was also interested in Tennis and was ranked fifth in California among tennis player’s 15 years old and younger. He competed nationally, and at one time had ambitions to go professional. His first recording was his rendition of Fats Domino‘s ‘I’m Walkin’.’ The record flew out of the stores and sold one million copies in a week, completely unheard of at that time. Life magazine ran a cover story on him, and coined an original phrase to describe what he had become: a ‘Teenage Idol.’ At the age of 21 he had 9 gold records and his single hit that year, ‘Travelin’ Man,’ sold over 2 million copies and went to #1. Its flip side ‘Hello, Mary Lou’ proved to be his biggest hit ever, reaching #1 in 32 countries. For the television show, Ozzie overlaid Rick’s performance of ‘Travelin’ Man’ with some footage specially shot on location, making it the first conceptual rock video in history. He appeared in ‘Rio Bravo’ with John Wayne in 1959 and ‘The Wackiest Ship in the Army’ in 1960. On December 31, 1985, en route from Alabama to a New Year’s Eve show in Dallas, Nelson’s DC-3 crash-landed in a field near DeKalb, Texas. The burning plane trapped its passengers inside, killing all aboard, except the pilot and co-pilot, who escaped through the cockpit window. Alcohol and drugs may have contributed to the crash. Buried near his parents at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills, dead at age 45.