Frank Nelson was one of the premier actors of radio. In the 1980s, he compiled this list of his radio and TV appearances (the first appearance on each program). The list is part of a larger summary of his career that appears elsewhere on this site.
| 1934 | |
| Feb. 7 | Burns & Allen |
| April 8 | Hall of Fame |
| May 6 | Chase & Sanborn |
| June 1 | Jack Benny (38 years) |
| Oct. 3 | Log Cabin |
| 1935 | |
| Feb. 13 | Mary Pickford Show |
| Feb. 26 | Bing Crosby Show |
| March 8 | Hollywood Hotel (Leading Man for Motion Picture Stars) |
| June 4 | Red Trails |
| June 29 | Shell Chateau (Announced show for two years) |
| 1936 | |
| March 1 | Leslie Howard |
| March 13 | First Nighter |
| June 1 | Lux Radio Theatre (Announcer for two years) |
| Oct. 1 | Joe E. Brown Show (Featured Performer during run of show) |
| 1937 | |
| Jan. 4 | Amos ‘N Andy |
| Jan. 12 | The Al Jolson Show |
| Jan. 24 | Walter Winchell |
| Feb. 16 | Jack Oakie College |
| Feb. 17 | Frank Morgan Show |
| March 16 | Alka-Nox |
| April 25 | Eddie Cantor Show |
| June 5 | Grace Moore Show |
| Aug. 5 | Showboat |
| Sept. 29 | One Man’s Family |
| Nov. 14 | Silver Theatre |
| 1938 | |
| Jan.16 | Tyrone Power Show |
| April 1 | Lum ‘N Abner |
| April 30 | I opened the new CBS studios on Sunset Blvd., as I started every show starting a 6 AM and finishing at midnite. Charlie Vanda of CBS hired me for the day for $50.00. I later told him that had AFRA been in existence, it would have cost him a couple of thousand. To which he replied – “Hell, if AFRA had been in, I wouldn’t have hired you!” |
| July 3 | Passing Parade |
| Sept. 29 | Good News of 1938 |
| Oct. 5 | Texaco Star Theatre |
| Nov. 17 | The MGM Show |
| 1939 | |
| Jan. 10 | The Hedda Hopper Show |
| Jan. 30 | Those We Love |
| Jan. 31 | Fibber McGee & Molly |
| June 7 | Kay Kyser’s Kollege |
| June 13 | Big Town |
| July 24 | Blondie (I was Herb Woodley, the next-door neighbor 6 yrs.) |
| Sept. 7 | Good News of 1939 |
| Nov. 6 | Sherlock Holmes |
| Nov. 10 | Sunkist Show |
| Dec. 23 | Arch Oboler Show |
| Dec. 30 | Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch |
| 1940 | |
| July 21 | Signal Carnival |
| Oct. 18 | I Want a Divorce |
| Oct. 24 | Rudy Vallee Show |
| 1941 | |
| March 24 | Point Sublime |
| April 24 | Tommy Riggs Show |
| Sept. 12 | 3-Ring Time (39 weeks with Milton Berle) |
| Sept. 14 | Great Gildersleeve |
| Oct. 12 | Flagg and Quirt Show |
| Dec. 17 | The Dizzy Duncans (Starred in show) |
| Dec. 30 | Horace Heidt Show |
| 1942 | |
| Feb. 2 | Orson Welles Show |
| March 29 | The Screen Guild Show |
| 1943 | |
| Feb. 18 | The Bob Burns Show |
| Feb. 28 | The Ransom Sherman Show |
| June 30 | Date With Judy |
| July 22 | Roma Wine Show |
| Sept. 7 | Judy Canova Show |
| Sept. 30 | The Maxwell House Show |
| 1944 | |
| Jan. 4 | Red Skelton Show |
| Jan. 13 | Sealtest Show (Featured Performer over 2 years) |
| Jan. 23 | Life of Riley |
| Feb. 23 | Frank Sinatra Show |
| Feb. 26 | Corliss Archer |
| March 3 | People Are Funny |
| April 12 | Dr. Christian |
| June 8 | Dinah Shore Show |
| July 18 | The Philip Morris Show |
| Sept. 14 | The Joan Davis Show |
| Sept. 17 | Toasties Time |
| Oct. 1 | Hall of Fame |
| Oct. 29 | Ozzie and Harriet |
| 1945 | |
| Jan. 6 | The Danny Kaye Show |
| April 25 | The Billie Burke Show |
| May 20 | The Eddie Bracken Show |
| May 30 | The Jack Carson Show |
| June 20 | The Saint |
| July 19 | Maisie |
| Sept. 23 | The Fannie Brice Show |
| Oct. 25 | Abbott & Costello |
| Nov. 30 | Durante-Moore Show |
| 1946 | |
| Jan. 6 | The Baby Snooks Show (worked weekly thru entire series) |
| March 15 | The Ginny Simms Show |
| May 3 | Duffy’s Tavern |
| June 7 | The Alan Young Show |
| June 8 | The Jack Kirkwood Show |
| Oct. 3 | The Dick Haymes Show |
| Oct. 8 | Bob Hope Show |
| Oct. 13 | The Phil Harris Show |
| Nov. 19 | My Friend Irma |
| 1947 | |
| May 12 | The Victor Borge Show |
| May 28 | The Dennis Day Show |
| Oct. 19 | Meet Me At Parky’s (Featured Performer thruout Series) |
| Nov. 26 | The Jack Paar Show |
| 1948 | |
| Jan. 30 | The Danny Thomas Show |
| Feb. 4 | The Tony Martin Show |
| Feb. 11 | The Jimmy Durante Show |
| March 24 | Beulah |
| June 17 | Hallmark Theatre |
| June 26 | Steve Allen Show |
| Sept. 27 | Our Miss Brooks |
| Oct. 16 | My Favorite Husband |
| 1949 | |
| Jan. 30 | Life With Luigi |
| April 5 | Martin & Lewis |
| 1950 | |
| Jan. 27 | Screen Directors Playhouse |
| June 15 | Sara’s Caper |
| 1951 | |
| March 28 | Dr. Christian |
| 1952 | |
| Feb. 3 | Donald O’Connor Show (TV) |
| Feb. 27 | Eb & Zeb (TV) |
| March 9 | Jack Benny (TV) |
| April 11 | I Love Lucy (TV) |
| May 21 | Edgar Bergen Show |
| Oct. 17 | Corliss Archer |
| 1953 | |
| April 5 | Life With Luigi (TV) |
| June 16 | My Little Margie |
| June 27 | Saturday Nite Revue (TV) |
| 1954 | |
| Jan. 11 | The Ray Milland Show |
| Jan. 30 | The Roy Rogers Show |
| March 9 | Suspense |
| 1955 | |
| July 28 | Make Room for Daddy (TV) |
| 1956 | |
| Feb. 1 | Private Secretary (TV) |
| June 28 | Climax (TV) |
| 1957 | |
| Oct. 14 | Sally (TV) |
| 1958 | |
| Feb. 13 | Shower of Stars (TV) |
| Feb. 19 | The Betty White Show (TV) |
| Nov. 19 | The Real McCoys (TV) |
| 1959 | |
| Feb. 26 | I Married Joan (TV) |
| 1960 | |
| April 8 | The Flintstones (TV) |
| July 28 | Dennis the Menace (TV) |
| Sept. 22 | Oh, Those Bells (TV) |
| 1961 | |
| Feb. 15 | Angel (TV) |
| Dec. 12 | Pete & Gladys (TV) |
| 1964 | |
| Jan. 2 | The Phil Silvers Show |
| Aug. 27 | The Addams Family (TV) |
| 1966 | |
| Dec. 13 | Petticoat Junction (TV) |
The following credits were obtained from TV and film reference sources:
Films
Down Memory Lane (1949)
The Milkman (1950)
You Never Can Tell (1951)
Bonzo Goes to College (1952)
Remains to be Seen (1953)
So You Want to Know Your Relatives (1954)
It Should Happen to You (1954)
Kiss Them for Me (1957)
The Malibu Bikini Shop (1984)
Television
The Jack Benny Show
…..Regular performer
The Hank McCune Show
…..Regular performer
The Betty White Show (1958)
…..Regular performer
I Love Lucy
…..”Lucy Gets Ricky on the Radio”
…..”The Great Train Robbery”
…..”Ricky and Fred are TV Fans”
…..”Lucy Changes Her Mind”
…..”The Quiz Show”
…..”The Million Dollar Idea”
…..”Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation”
…..”Ricky’s Movie Offer”
…..”Return Home From Europe”
…..”Lucy Gets Chummy with the Neighbors”
…..”Country Club Dance”
Frank also did voice work in a number of animated projects.
Another TV guest appearance was the 1982 Tim Curry episode of Saturday Night Live.
More credits can be found at Frank Nelson’s IMDB page
I watched an old movie recently on TV. It was titled “Kiss Them for Me” starring Cary Grant, Suzy Parker, Jayne Mansfield, Ray Walston, and a supporting role actor who looked very familiar. He played the part of the hotel manager. I thought it was the guy who used to be on Jack Benny’s radio and TV shows occasionally with his familiar line, “Eeee-Yeeeeessssss?” (he didn’t use this line in the movie). I did a little research and found out it was Frank Nelson. Your helpful website supplied the missing link that he was, indeed, in “Kiss Them for Me.” Thanks!