Alberta Nelson (August 14, 1937 – April 29, 2006) was an American television and film actress. After several dramatic parts in television in the early 1960s, she made four appearances on ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

''.

Early years

Nelson was born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

, to Frank Alton Nelson (1909–1959) and Katherine Storkel Stephens Nelson (1900–1982). Her only sibling was a half-sister, Irene Stephens McAleer (1919–1994). After graduating from the Andrews School for Girls in

Willoughby, Ohio Willoughby is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 23,959 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropol ...

, in 1955, she briefly attended St. John's Hospital School of Nursing in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. In the late 1950s, she moved to New York City, where she modeled and did theatre acting.

Career

With the urging and assistance of her cousin, the theatrical producer John Kenley (February 20, 1906 – October 23, 2009), Nelson ventured into acting with the Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pennsylvania, and eventually played the lead in a production of ''The Seven Year Itch''. She went on to appear in Broadway plays including ''Once There Was a Russian'', ''The Wall'', and ''The Gang's All Here''. Nelson appeared in seven movies in the 1960s as one of Eric Von Zipper's "mice" in the American International '' Beach Party'' series. She made four appearances on ''

'' (and one on '' Mayberry RFD''), all but one as waitress Flora Malherbe. In 1965 she appeared in a memorable episode of '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' ("Go Tell The Birds And The Bees") as Ritchie's teacher, Miss Reshovsky. Nelson starred in 1970s '' The Wild Scene'' as Dr. Virginia Grant, a female

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

who talks graphically about her tawdriest cases. This and a 1970 appearance on ''

Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an American anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from September 29, 1969, to January 11, 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a pa ...

'' would be Nelson's last credited roles.

Personal life

Nelson married Ryan MacDonald (Machunas) around 1956 in Erie, Pa. Their son Adam Ryan was born in New York City around 1957, but died of

SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

at two months of age. Adam is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pa., where Ryan's family lived. Alberta had no other children with MacDonald. Ryan and Alberta divorced around 1962 and after acting success in New York City, she moved to California, where she pursued an acting career. She remarried, to Herbert Lester Gilman (b. November 19, 1922 – June 29, 2007), on February 14, 1971, in Erie. She and Gilman had no children together but Herbert had three adult children from his first marriage.

Death

Nelson fought cancer of the jaw/throat for several years, dying on April 29, 2006, at age 68, in Erie, Pennsylvania.The book ''Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture'' says that she died in Pennsylvania. But according to her death certificate she died at Herbert Gilman's daughters house in Willoughby, Lake County Ohio. She was buried next to her mother and father at Laurel Hill Cemetery,

, on May 2, 2006. Herbert Gilman died on June 29, 2007. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery on July 1, 2007.

Filmography

* '' Beach Party'' (1963) – rat pack member * '' Muscle Beach Party'' (1964) – muscle girl (Lisa) * '' Bikini Beach'' (1964) – Puss/Alberta (Rat Pack member) * '' Pajama Party'' (1964) – Alberta (Rat Pack member) * '' Beach Blanket Bingo'' (1965) – Puss (Rat Pack member) * '' How to Stuff a Wild Bikini'' (1965) – Puss * '' Sergeant Deadhead'' (1965) – NASA secretary * '' Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine'' (1965) – "bad robot" reject #12 * '' The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini'' (1966) – Alberta / Puss * '' The Wild Scene'' (1970) – Dr. Virginia Grant (final film role)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Alberta 1937 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actors from Erie, Pennsylvania Actresses from Cleveland Deaths from cancer in Ohio 21st-century American women