Felix Nelson

Felix Bradford Nelson (August 13, 1913 – February 17, 1998 ) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best known for his work in Gordon Parks' The Learning Tree and Ruth Woodman's "Land of the Free" (Death Valley Days'  acclaimed Season 1 finale.) Nelson also appeared as Jim from Huckleberry Finn on both radio and television, and, alongside Sammy Davis Jr. and a mostly African American cast, in Aaron Spelling's groundbreaking 10th Cavalry-themed TV western, Mission.

Early life and career
A native of Franklin, Texas, the older of two sons born to John Nelson and Dove Biggers, Nelson ran away from home at the age of 13, joining the J. R. Roberton Circus as a dancer, performing the Charleston and Black Bottom. From 1937 through 1940 and again from 1945 through 1948, he appeared with the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts, portraying painter Elihu Vedder's "African Sentinel." In the interim, he served with the United States Army for 3½ years during World War II, in China, India, and Burma, and was awarded the Purple Heart in 1945.

In 1949, Nelson became the first African American graduate of CBS's radio drama school. The following year, he appeared as Jim—alongside Dean Stockwell's Huck and Jerry Farber's Tom—on NBC University Theater, in Ernest Kinoy's adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He also appeared that year on TV in Your Show Time's adaptation of Bret Harte's short story, "Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff," and onstage in a revival of the Broadway musical Carmen Jones, staged at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Personal life and Death
On June 3, 1948, the California Eagle reported that Nelson was residing in Laurel Canyon with his "pretty blue eyed wife." As of 1950, however, his United States Census form lists him as single (albeit "room[ing]" with a female head of household), and a 1953 profile in the Los Angeles Sentinel refers to him as "a bachelor."

On February 17, 1998, Nelson died of undisclosed causes. His remains are interred at Riverside National Cemetery. His gravestone, while citing Nelson's service in World War II, makes no mention of surviving relatives.