Los Angeles – Barry Nelson, an MGM contract player during the 1940s who later had a prolific theater career and was the first actor to play James Bond on screen, has died. He was 89.
Nelson died April 7 while traveling in Bucks County, Pa., his wife, Nansi Nelson, said Friday. The cause of death was not immediately known, she said.
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1941, he was spotted by a scout and signed to MGM. He was in “Shadow of the Thin Man,” “Johnny Eager” and “Dr. Kildare’s Victory,” among others.
Nelson entered the Army during World War II and went on the road with other actors performing the play “Winged Victory,” which was made into a movie starring Red Buttons, George Reeves and Nelson.
After the war, Nelson starred in a string of movies, including “Undercover Maisie,” “Time to Kill” and “Tenth Avenue Angel.”
He is the answer to the trivia question: Who was the first actor to play James Bond?
Nelson played the master spy in a one-hour TV adaptation of “Casino Royale” in 1954.
He later appeared on Broadway in “Seascape” “Mary, Mary” and “Cactus Flower.” He earned a Tony nomination in 1978 for “The Act.”
