Editing Ed Nelson (section)

== Career ==
Early in his career Nelson acted and did stunt work for B-movie producer [[Roger Corman]]<ref name="hsp">{{cite book| last1=Freese| first1=Gene Scott|title=Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s–1970s: A Biographical Dictionary| edition=2d| date=April 4, 2014| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-1-4766-1470-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLpqAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Edwin+Stafford+Nelson%22&pg=RA1-PA1974| access-date=24 November 2017| language=en}}</ref> on the films ''[[Swamp Women]]'' (1956), ''[[Attack of the Crab Monsters]]'' (1957), ''[[Rock All Night]]'' (1957), ''[[Carnival Rock]]'' (1957), ''[[Night of the Blood Beast]]'' (1958), ''[[The Cry Baby Killer]]'' (1958), ''[[Teenage Caveman (1958 film)|Teenage Cave Man]]'' (1958), and ''[[A Bucket of Blood]]'' (1959). In 1958, he acted in and produced actor-director Bruno VeSota's science-fiction/horror movie ''[[The Brain Eaters]]'', with Roger Corman as the executive producer. The same year, he was cast as the lead in ''[[Devil's Partner]]'', but the movie was not released until 1962. He also appeared in the 1960 thriller ''[[Valley of the Redwoods]]'' and the 1963 comedy drama ''[[Soldier in the Rain]]'', starring [[Steve McQueen]] and [[Jackie Gleason]].

Nelson's television career featured many guest-starring roles, such as the talented, arrogant Dr. Wade Parsons in the 1962 episode "Doctor on Horseback" of the western series ''[[The Tall Man (TV series)|The Tall Man]]''.

Nelson was cast in episodes of such other westerns as ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]'', ''[[Wagon Train]]'', ''[[Black Saddle]]'', ''[[Have Gun – Will Travel]]'', ''[[The Rebel (American TV series)|The Rebel]]'' (five times), ''[[Johnny Ringo (TV series)|Johnny Ringo]]'', ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', ''[[Tombstone Territory]]'', ''[[Bat Masterson (TV series)|Bat Masterson]]'', ''[[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]'', ''[[Bonanza]]'', ''[[Stoney Burke (TV series)|Stoney Burke]]'', ''[[The Dakotas (TV series)|The Dakotas]]'', ''[[The Rifleman]]'' and ''Redigo''. He appeared on drama and adventure series too, such as ''[[Combat! (TV series)|Combat!]]'', ''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'', ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', ''[[Flight (1958 TV series)|Flight]]'', ''[[The Silent Service]]'', ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'', ''[[Harbor Command]]'', ''[[Tightrope (TV series)|Tightrope]]'', ''[[Coronado 9]]'', ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]'', ''[[Thriller (U.S. TV series)|Thriller]]'', and ''[[Channing (TV series)|Channing]]''. He guest-starred on ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', [[Highway Patrol]], and military sitcom/drama ''[[Hennesey]]''.

He made two guest appearances on ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'', both times as the defendant; in 1961, he played Ward Nichols in "The Case of the Left-Handed Liar," and in 1964, he played Dirk Blake, father of the title character, in "The Case of the Missing Button". He played rival mystery writer Tom Keller opposite James Mason as Warren Barrow on ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' S1 E5 "Captive Audience" (1962).  He also portrayed an assistant district attorney on the TV series ''[[Adam-12]]'' in 1974.