21 Facts About Bek Nelson

Bek Nelson was born Doris Dee Stiner in Goin, Tennessee.

Bek Nelson's parents were Ralph Stiner and Mae Cole Stiner.

Bek Nelson had four younger brothers and a younger sister.

Bek Nelson's father worked as a metal sander and then later as an inspector for Timken Roller Bearing Company.

Bek Nelson attended Lincoln High School from 1941 thru 1945.

Bek Nelson's specialty was modeling swimsuits, for which she became well known through newspaper photos and ads.

Bek Nelson first lived in Manhattan, then moved to Newark, New Jersey, as her swimsuit career built up.

Bek Nelson won a number of small, local beauty contests, which again brought her newspaper publicity.

Bek Nelson served as a model for publicizing events and trade shows.

Bek Nelson's first night was a disaster, as the presence of the audience rattled her.

Bek Nelson appeared on camera for an episode of a ZIV-produced television program, Science Fiction Theatre, which was first broadcast in August 1956.

Bek Nelson had no lines and the two-minute part was uncredited, but it clearly establishes that her screen debut came prior to her contract with Columbia.

Bek Nelson did TV commercials prior to being signed by Columbia.

Bek Nelson then co-starred in a Columbia comedy short Tricky Chicks with Muriel Landers, playing nightclub hostesses suspected of being foreign agents.

Bek Nelson had a small, uncredited part as a dance-hall girl in Cowboy, then a feature role as a stewardess in the disaster film Crash Landing.

Bek Nelson's successors let her contract finish up in 1958 with lending her out for television shows.

Bek Nelson had no professional vanity about her billing status, but like other television actresses of the time, found doing Westerns to be limiting.

Bek Nelson was married now, her husband had a successful acting career, and they were hoping to start a family.

Bek Nelson's career did pick up some in 1964 and 1965; she had a small part in her husband's award-winning indie film The Lollipop Cover and a brief recurring role on Peyton Place, for most episodes of which she was shown just talking on the phone, without directly interacting with the other actors.

Bek Nelson's final acting job was a pro bono bit in 1966 for Insight, a syndicated show usually shown on Sundays.

However, actor Don Gordon and Bek Nelson did not take out a marriage license until much later.