Ricky Nelson

Eric Hillard “Ricky” Nelson was born on May 8, 1940 in Teaneck, New Jersey to Oswald George “Ozzie” Nelson and Peggy Louise “Harriet” Snyder Nelson. Ricky was their youngest child, about four years younger than his brother David Oswald Nelson. Ricky and six other individuals died in an aircraft accident near DeKalb, Texas on December 31, 1985. The aircraft was on its way to Dallas for a performance which had been scheduled for that evening.

Ricky became known for his role as a family member in the television series called “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” which was an early sitcom. Commonly called “Ozzie and Harriet,” the series began as a radio program which aired over 400 episodes. Prior to that, the parents had worked together in the musical entertainment business for many years. Harriet had been a singer and Ozzie was formerly a band leader. The transition of the show from radio to television resulted in a half hour series which began in the fall of 1952 and ran for fourteen seasons ending in April of 1966.

In addition to Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, the cast included David and Ricky along with a regular group of continuing characters, some of whom went on to their own long careers in film and television. The radio show had begun in 1944 with David and Ricky joining the cast in 1948 before the transition to television. One article noted that the radio show continued to air for several seasons after the start of the television series. A total of 435 television episodes were filmed at the rate of about thirty episodes per year. The series was known as a warm, family oriented show. According to broadcast records, it was a consistently popular program for most of its existence, even though it was never a leader in terms of viewers. Popularity of the genre waned in the 1960s and the series finally aired its last episode. For many years it held the record for the most recorded episodes in a television series. At the moment, all fourteen seasons of “Ozzie and Harriet” are available on at least one streaming platform.

Ricky dropped the “y” from his stage name and began to go by Rick Nelson in the early 1960s as his recording career began to blossom. The start of his singing career can be credited to the television series. The episodes sometimes featured his musical numbers as early as 1957. As the boys grew older the plots changed with them. David and Rick both eventually married in real life. Each of their wives, June and Kristen, were written into the scripts. June Blair, David’s wife, was a model and an actress. Kristen Harmon, Rick’s wife for 19 years, was the daughter of athlete and broadcaster Tom Harmon and the sister of actor Mark Harmon. She also had an acting career.

Rick began to release records in 1958 and had numerous charted songs early on, about the same time as Elvis Presley. At least for a time, Nelson probably had as many charted songs as did Presley, though quite possibly this had to do with Presley’s gap in recording during his well publicized military service. As far as it is known, Rick did not serve in the military. Nelson also began to appear in other television and film projects including his role as Colorado Ryan in the John Wayne film “Rio Bravo.” In fact, his film and television career might now seem lengthy to some, although it is dominated by the 435 episodes of the “Ozzie and Harriet” series.

In addition to “Rio Bravo,” Nelson appeared in the following films: “Here Come the Nelsons,” “The Wackiest Ship in the Army,” “Love & Kisses,” “The Over-the-Hill Gang,” “Swing Out, Sweet Land,” “Fol-de-Rol,” “Three on a Date” and “High School U.S.A.” Most of the latter ones were released during the time when made for television films were popular. Nelson also made about a dozen appearances in various television series including one date on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” The television and film career of Elvis Presley was different. Presley, in contrast, did few television appearances and most of his films featured him as a lead actor. Neither Rick Nelson nor Elvis Presley appeared on the long running music/dance television program “American Bandstand” due to career management decisions.

Nelson’s discography is extensive. His singles include “Poor Little Fool,” “Be-Bop Baby,” “Never Be Anyone Else But You,” “Teenage Idol,” “Lonesome Town,” “Travelin’ Man,” ” Hello, Mary Lou,” “Fools Rush In,” “Garden Party” and “Dream Lover.” He recorded dozens of singles and many albums. It is not unusual for a teen star to have a somewhat abbreviated career and to experience a popularity curve. In Nelson’s case, after such a strong start, his performance opportunities began to fall off in the 1970s, although he continued to release recordings. He began to tour with a group of players known as the Stone Canyon band and their playlist had more of a country-rock flavor.

Nelson and his band had begun a comeback tour in 1985. They had made two appearances in recent days and were scheduled to appear in North Dallas at a location then known as the Park Suite(s) Hotel. Nelson and his band had started their tour in late December with an appearance in Orlando, Florida followed by an engagement in Guntersville, Alabama. The appearance in Alabama had been at a small club called P. J.’s Alley, owned by a former member of Nelson’s band. Nelson’s 14 passenger DC-3 departed Guntersville around noon on December 31 in route to Dallas reportedly after some difficulty with the engines. After the Dallas appearance, they were planning to continue on to California for two engagements scheduled for the middle of January.

Published timelines of the last minutes of the flight note that at about 5:00 p.m. the pilots reported a problem aboard and requested an alteration of the flight plan to land at another location, most likely Texarkana, around 30-40 miles away. Texarkana is located about 175 miles northeast of Dallas. There was another transmission soon afterward reporting smoke in the cabin, possibly from an onboard heater. Reports note that the aircraft circled, trailing smoke, before dropping off radar and crashing into woods near DeKalb. According to an article on January 1, 1986 in the Santa Ana-Orange County Register, the only survivors were the two members of the flight crew who suffered burns and other injuries. Their last names were listed as Rank and Ferguson and they had exited the crashed aircraft through the cockpit windows. The fatalities were listed as Nelson, 45; Helen Blair (Nelson’s fiance), 27; Bobby Neal, 38; band members Patrick Woodward, 35, Rick Intveld, 22 and Andy Chapin, along with sound man Clark Russell, 35.

The article noted that the accident was to be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board. Initial reports were that the aircraft had come in contact with a power line when it crashed and burst into flames. A witness reported while he was feeding his livestock, the plane had passed over his location, apparently trying to land in an open field, but overran the field and fell into a stand of trees.

Later reports speculated that there was evidence of the use of controlled substances by one or more of the passengers, but in the spring of 1987 the Associated Press reported a finding of a federal investigation that attributed the on board fire and resulting crash to a malfunctioning gasoline-powered heater in the cabin. Drug use was ruled out as being a contributing factor of the accident.

Nelson’s funeral was held on January 6, 1986 at the Church of the Hills at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills, California. The service was officiated by Rev. Frank Parrish and attended by 1,000 people. Nelson was survived by his four children, his brother and his mother. His father Ozzie had predeceased him in 1975. Rick was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

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