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Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American band leader, actor, television director and producer. Nelson originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, a radio and long-running television series with his wife Harriet and two sons David and Ricky Nelson.

The Nelsons really were a family, not assembled by a casting director, and Ricky and David literally grew up right in front of our eyes. When David and Rick (as he was known in later shows) got married, their actual wives even became series regulars. Ozzie and Harriet has become, a buzz term for a way of life that sums up all of the black and white family shows of the 1950s and '60s, yet it's unlike any of them. Ozzie supposedly based the show's "Adventures" on things that happened around his own house or to people he knew. That's...