Barry Nelson in Casino Royale 1954.
Barry Nelson (April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.
Early Life
Nelson was born Robert Haakon Nielsen in San Francisco, California, of Norwegian ancestry, the son of Betsy (nee Christophsen) and Trygve Nielsen. (His year of birth has been reported variously, but his 1943 Army enlistment record and his 1993 voter registration records certify 1917 as the correct year of his birth.) He began acting in school at the age of fifteen. 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-Golden-Mayer Studios.\
Career
Nelson was the first actor (and the first non European before George Lazenby who was the second) to play James Bond on screen, in a 1957 adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale on the television anthology series Climax!. He preceded Sean Connery's interpretation of Bond in Dr. No by eight years. Reportedly this was considered a pilot for a possible James Bond television series, though it's not known if Nelson intended to continue playing the character. Nelson played James Bond as an American named "Jimmy Bond".
- "At that time, no one had ever heard of James Bond ... I was scratching my head wondering how to play it. I hadn't read the book or anything like that because it wasn't well known."
- ― Nelson in a 2004 interview with Cinema Retro.
Personal Life
Nelson had two wives, actress Teresa Celli, married in 1951 and later divorced, and Nansilee ("Nansi") Hoy, to whom he was married until his death. Nelson and his second wife divided their time between homes in New York and France. Until his death, Nelson could be seen publicly at American Civil War shows across America. He was a close friend of tenor Mario Lanza.
According to his widow Nansi, Barry Nelson died on April 7, 2007, while traveling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania nine days before his 90th birthday. The cause of death was not disclosed.