Free Republic

Ed Nelson, a star of the 1960s primetime soap “Peyton Place” and an actor with almost 200 credits, mostly in television, died on Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. He was 85. Nelson had most recently appeared in the 2003 courtroom thriller “Runaway Jury,” starring Gene Hackman. He had a more significant role as General Sherman in the 1998 Jackie Chan vehicle “Who Am I.” On “Peyton Place,” he played Dr. Michael Rossi during the entire five-year run of the series — 436 episodes. He returned in 1985 for reunion telepic “Peyton Place: The Next Generation.” But Nelson was already a TV...

Ed Nelson, a prolific actor who became a familiar face to American television audiences over 40 years, notably as a star of the prime-time soap opera "Peyton Place," died on Saturday in Greensboro, N.C. He was 85. Asta Hansen, a daughter-in-law, confirmed the death. Handsome at six feet tall, Mr. Nelson had a prominent role on "Peyton Place" as Michael Rossi, a New York doctor who sets up practice in the fictional town of the show’s title and is quickly caught up in its romantic intrigues. The show, which ran from 1964 to 1969 on ABC, was widely regarded as...