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Bek Nelson

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Bek Nelson
Nelson in Man with a Camera (1958)
Born
Doris Dee Stiner

(1927-05-08)May 8, 1927
Goin, Tennessee, US
DiedMarch 28, 2015(2015-03-28) (aged 87)
Watsonville, California, US
EducationLincoln High School (Canton, Ohio)
OccupationActress
Years active1956–1966
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1979)​
Children1

Bek Nelson (born Doris Dee Stiner; May 8, 1927[1] – March 28, 2015) was an American model and showgirl who turned to acting at age 29, making seven films and two dozen television shows in her first three years.

Early life

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She was born Doris Dee Stiner[fn 1] in Goin, Tennessee.[fn 2][2][3][4] Her parents were Ralph Stiner and Mae Cole Stiner.[3] She had four younger brothers and a younger sister.[5]

The family moved from Tennessee to Canton, Ohio, when Stiner was 18 months old.[6] Her father worked as a metal sander and then later as an inspector for Timken Roller Bearing Company.[3][7][6] At age 10, Stiner won a "Cutest Child" contest.[8] She attended Lincoln High School from 1941 thru 1945.[2] While in high school, she was active in dramatics, chorus, and student government, and had roles in the junior- and senior-class plays.[2]

New York

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After graduation, Stiner and a girlfriend moved to New York City, where Stiner found work as a Powers model.[9] Her specialty was modeling swimsuits, for which she became well known through newspaper photos and ads.[10] She first lived in Manhattan, then moved to Newark, New Jersey, as her swimsuit career built up.[11][8] She won a number of small, local beauty contests, which again brought her newspaper publicity.[12] She also served as a model for publicizing events and trade shows.[13]

By 1951, however, she decided to take on a regular performing gig as a dancer with the Copacabana chorus line. Her first night was a disaster, as the presence of the audience rattled her. She credited the nightclub's manager for her recovery:

I went completely to pieces when I saw the audience, but Mr. Entratter, an understanding man, told me to sit at a table and watch the show. The next night I went on and performed like a pro, otherwise my career would have ended before it began.[9]

Stiner did well enough to hold her job for two years. While at the Copacabana, comic strip artist Milton Caniff picked her out to be his model for the character Miss Mizzou in Steve Canyon.[5] Years later, the Knoxville Journal ran an old photo of her posing for Caniff, with a large sketch of the character and the artist's hands and distinctive signature visible in the foreground.[14]

In 1953, new owners took over the Copacabana, and Entratter left to be general manager of the Sands Hotel. Stiner and four other Copacabana dancers were let go, and all five decided to follow Entratter to Las Vegas to be showgirls.[6] Entratter billed them as the "CopaGirls", using them for publicity that encouraged other young women to try out for a contest to become a CopaGirl at $150 a week.[15]

Columbia contract

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Stiner was at the Sands for at least three years. According to her later recounting with interviewers, she was performing there when Cinerama filmed the floor show.[6] A talent scout for Columbia Pictures saw the film, noticed her, and signed her to a contract with that studio. However, her first work with Columbia, filming Pal Joey, did not start until April 1957,[16] while newspaper photos from one year earlier show her doing a modeling assignment in Los Angeles as "Bek Nelson".[fn 3][17][18] This is the earliest verifiable use of her stage name. Columnist Lowell E. Redelings said "there's quite a story to how she got that unusual first name", but didn't see fit to share it with his readers.[19]

Bek Nelson appeared on camera for an episode of a ZIV-produced television program, Science Fiction Theatre, which was first broadcast in August 1956. She 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. She also did TV commercials prior to being signed by Columbia.[20]

While filming Pal Joey during April and May 1957, Bek was used for an uncredited bit as a nurse in Operation Mad Ball, which was also in production on the Columbia lot.[21] She then co-starred in a Columbia comedy short Tricky Chicks with Muriel Landers, playing nightclub hostesses suspected of being foreign agents. According to columnist Hedda Hopper, Columbia head Harry Cohn was "giving Bek Nelson a big, big build-up."[22]

Cohn had Columbia cast her in four more films made in 1957, to be released in 1958. She 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.[23] Bek told the Knoxville Journal that the ocean rescue scene was filmed at the studio lake, with the director requesting "Please don't anyone stand up in the water... we don't want anyone to know our ocean is only three feet deep."[5] Next came another comedy short, with The Three Stooges in Flying Saucer Daffy. Finally, she went back to an uncredited dance-hall girl bit in Gunman's Walk[24]

Bek's next film for Columbia, Bell, Book and Candle, was made and released in 1958.[25] It was also her last film; Harry Cohn died of a heart attack at the end of February that year. His successors let her contract finish up in 1958 with lending her out for television shows.

Television 1957-1966

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When she was not making films, Columbia lent Bek out to television production companies, including the associated Screen Gems. As 1957 was top-heavy with film work, she did only two TV programs that year, but 1958 had her doing 15 episodes, a large number for anyone not playing a series regular. Included among these were 9 episodes of the ABC series Lawman, where she had a recurring role as a widowed restaurant owner. Columnist Jack Gaver mused, "It is difficult to decide which name is odder -- Bek Nelson or Dru Lemp. The former plays the latter ..."[26] An unknown TV Key Mailbag editor found the name confusing. A letter writer asked who played the mean guy, "tall, with strange eyes, and an unusual face" on "The Deputy" episode of Lawman. The editor replied, "the villain on that show was an actor named Bek Nelson".[fn 4][27]

By 1959, Bek Nelson was an independent actress, represented by the Harold L. Gefesky Agency, with whom she remained throughout her show-business career.[28] Once again she appeared on 15 episodes of shows, including another small recurring bit on four episodes of The Third Man. Guest star, feature player, and bit part were all represented in her resume of parts that year, and for years to come. She had no professional vanity about her billing status, but like other television actresses of the time, found doing Westerns to be limiting.[29]

A girl in a television horse opera can be typed as a dance-hall hostess, a rancher's wife, a rancher's daughter, a gambling-hall queen, or a gal from the East visiting the rugged West. And the last choice is that of the frontier town's restaurant owner, which I currently fill.

For 1960 and 1961, the number of television roles she accepted were reduced to half or less of previous years. She was married now, her husband had a successful acting career, and they were hoping to start a family. Subsequent years had her sometimes do only two shows a year. Her 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. Her final acting job was a pro bono bit in 1966 for Insight, a syndicated show usually shown on Sundays.[30]

Personal life

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According to an article in TV Guide, Bek was married shortly after moving to New York in 1945, with the marriage being annulled.[6]

Reporting the aftermath of a fire in Laurel Canyon during July 1959, the Los Angeles Times cited a Mrs. Bek Nelson Gordon as saying several houses near hers on Willow Glen Road had been lost.[31] However, actor Don Gordon and Bek Nelson did not take out a marriage license until much later. They were married under her birth name on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles.[32] At that time, a cohabitating single actress could suffer a serious career setback if the situation became widely known.

This was Gordon's third marriage and Bek's second. Gordon told an interviewer in October 1960, "she doesn't want to be an actress, and I'm glad. I think women should stay home, keep house, and have babies."[33] Bek evidently agreed, for she stopped acting after the couple adopted a daughter in 1966. The couple remained married for 20 years, divorcing in 1979.

Filmography

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Film (by year of first release)
Year Title Role Notes
1957 Pal Joey Lola Bek is a "Sex-Tet", the six girl chorus line backing Frank Sinatra in this adaption of the Broadway musical[16]
Operation Mad Ball Nurse Uncredited; she was put in this while also filming Pal Joey on another sound stage at Columbia
Tricky Chicks Bek One of the last Columbia shorts produced by Jules White has Bek as a nightclub hostess
1958 Cowboy Charlie's Girl Uncredited; she played a dance hall girl involved with cowpoke Dick York
Crash Landing[fn 5] Nancy Arthur First feature role has her as a stewardess on board a plane that crashes in the Atlantic[23]
Flying Saucer Daffy Tyrin Columbia Three Stooges short; Bek plays a peaceful alien who befriends Joe Besser
Gunman's Walk Dance Hall Girl Uncredited; Tab Hunter sings to Bek [24]
Bell, Book and Candle Tina She plays Jimmie Stewart's secretary in her last Columbia film[25]
1965 The Lollipop Cover Waitress B/W Indie film co-written by and starring Bek's husband; won award at Chicago Film Festival[34]
Invisible Diplomats Jackie Short educational film produced by AT&T about telephone switches
Television (in original broadcast order)
Year Series Episode Role Notes
1956 Science Fiction Theatre Living Lights Herself Uncredited; she silently assists host Truman Bradley during the intro
1957 Tales of the Texas Rangers Panhandle Claire Tatum
Playhouse 90 The Edge of Innocence Fran Pauling
1958 Telephone Time Man of Principle Daphne, dau of Hiero II Bek spurs Archimedes (Jonathan Harris) to explain a fraud[35]
Panic! Twenty-Six Hours to Sunrise
Lawman The Deputy Dru Lemp Bek plays widow of previous Laramie marshal[36]
The Prisoner Dru Lemp
The Joker Dru Lemp
Behind Closed Doors Trouble in Test Cell 19 Kitty [37]
Flight The Dart Lorraine
Lawman Wanted Dru Lemp Bek helps Marshal Troop (John Russell) track down a killer[38]
M Squad The Big Kill Ruby Angel
Lawman Bloodline Dru Lemp [39]
The Intruders Dru Lemp
Short Straw Dru Lemp [40]
Lady in Question Dru Lemp [41]
The Master Dru Lemp
The Restless Gun The Way Back Dixie Starr
1959 Mike Hammer Accentuate the Negative Sergeant Maureen Hurley
The Third Man Sparks from a Dead Fire Janet
State Trooper Carson City Kitty Sara Williams
The Third Man The Indispensable Man Linda
The Third Man How to Buy a Country Linda
Buckskin I'll Sing at Your Wedding Melissa Jenkins Bek was on this program the same night (May 4).....[42]
Peter Gunn The Family Affair Virginia Carter .....that she was on this show [43]
The Third Man Five Hours to Kill Linda
Bonanza Death on Sun Mountain Glory Dance hall girl Bek has unscrupulous boy friend[44]
Tightrope! Thousand Dollar Bill Judy Elevator operator Bek helps recover 100 thousand dollar bills[45]
Man with a Camera The Killer Nurse Purdy [46]
Bachelor Father Kelly: The Golddigger Sheila Maybrook
Men Into Space Moonquake Jane Farrow
Shotgun Slade Mesa of Missing Men Kathy
Mike Hammer The Big Drop Dorothy Webb
1960 Wanted Dead or Alive The Monster Hannah S2 E19 Circus acrobat who adopts orphaned "Indian Boy" and elephant
77 Sunset Strip The Legend of Crystal Dart Marie Lang
The Deputy The Chain of Action Claudia Another dance hall girl role[47]
Bourbon Street Beat Deadly Persuasion Myra Norton Bek is a politician's wife whose young brother is in prison[48]
The Brothers Brannagan Her Brother's Keeper Nancy Randolph
The Best of the Post Treasury Agent Mrs. Kearns [49]
1961 Westinghouse Playhouse Amateur Mother Airline Stewardess
Lock-Up Fugitive from Fear Naomi Matson
Dante Pick a Peck of Diamonds Cara Chandler
Bat Masterson Episode in Eden Martha Yale
Perry Mason The Case of the Jealous Journalist Miriam Coffey
Perry Mason The Case of the Pathetic Patient Janice Edley
The Joey Bishop Show Five Brides for Joey Annabelle Johnson
1962 Cain's Hundred The Debasers Frances Colerane Bek plays wife of publisher's flack (Robert Vaughn)
The Hathaways It's in the Cards
1963 Sam Benedict Not Even the Gulls Shall Weep Beverly Reade
Hazel Dorothy Takes a Trip Dr. Phyllis Gordon
1964 Ben Casey The Only Place They Know My Name Christine Stevens [50]
Breaking Point A Land More Cruel Mady [51]
Perry Mason The Case of the Antic Angel Dana Kent
The Donna Reed Show Quads of Trouble Mrs. Gayley Bek has quadruplets[52]
Burke's Law Who Killed the Swinger on a Hook Miss Smith [53]
1965 Peyton Place (1965-11-25) Phyllis Sloan Bek phones this one in[54]
Episode Phyllis Sloan
Episode Phyllis Sloan
1966 Peyton Place (1966-01-27) Phyllis Sloan Bek finally gets to interact with other characters[55]
Insight Prometheus Bound Carole Bek has affair with her boss until his wife gives birth[30]

Notes

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  1. ^ Census takers in both 1930 and 1940 used the more familiar spelling of "Steiner", but her high-school yearbook and newspaper accounts show it as "Stiner"
  2. ^ Goin (pronounced like "going") in Claiborne County is what Bek told reporters and publicity agents was her birthplace, while a cousin in Tennessee told the Knoxville Journal it was Sharp's Chapel in Union County. The two unincorporated areas are separated by only 3 miles in rugged, rural terrain
  3. ^ This was to promote a new imported Sunbeam auto called the Rapier, for which the ad agency had Bek Nelson dress like a musketeer complete with a rapier
  4. ^ There were three "mean guys" in this episode, but the main mean guy fitting this description, the actual actor playing the main villain, was Jack Elam. The other two meanies were Lee Van Cleef and Edd Byrnes.
  5. ^ Working title was Rescue at Sea

References

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  1. ^ Everett Aaker. Television Western Players, 1960–1975. p. 318.
  2. ^ a b c U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 for Doris Dee Stiner, Ohio > Canton > Lincoln High School > pages 120 and 142, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  3. ^ a b c Doris Steiner in the 1930 United States Federal Census, Ohio > Stark > Canton > District 0023, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  4. ^ Suhrheinrich, Jeanne (May 25, 1957). "Front Row Center". Evansville Courier. Evansville, Indiana. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Home Girl Bek Nelson Gets Bigger Film Pact". Knoxville Journal. Knoxville, Tennessee. October 4, 1957. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Vroommm and off you go". TV Guide. Radnor, Pennsylvania: Triangle Publications. October 17, 1964. pp. 20–21.
  7. ^ 1940 United States Federal Census for Doris Steiner, Ohio > Stark > Canton > 90-59, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  8. ^ a b "Experienced Judge". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. August 12, 1950. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b "Looking & Listening". The Daily Record. Dover, Ohio. November 15, 1958. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Style Show! (ad)". The Plain Speaker. Hazleton, Pennsylvania. February 19, 1952. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Showing How Its Done (photo caption)". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. May 22, 1949. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Taffy Sweet". Daily News. New York City, New York. June 3, 1951. p. 122 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Luckiest Gal". The Garfield Guardian. Garfield, New Jersey. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "From Sharps Chapel (photo caption)". Knoxville Journal. Knoxville, Tennessee. August 11, 1958. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Prettiest EP Girl Has Chance at Stardom". El Paso Times. El Paso, Texas. September 30, 1957. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b "Before the Cameras". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. April 27, 1957. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Rapier Girl". Mirror News. Los Angeles, California. April 24, 1956. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "To The Point". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. April 27, 1956. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Redelings, Lowell E. (May 31, 1957). "The Hollywood Scene". Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News. Hollywood, California. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Commercials on TV Aided Film Widow". Courier Post. Camden, New Jersey. January 10, 1959. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Before the Cameras". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. May 11, 1957. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Hopper, Hedda (June 19, 1957). "Looking at Hollywood". The Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b "Before the Cameras". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. Hollywood, California. August 17, 1957. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ a b "Before the Cameras". Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News. Hollywood, California. December 21, 1957. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ a b "Before the Cameras". Los Angeles Evening Citizen-News. Hollywood, California. February 15, 1958. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Gaver, Jack (December 4, 1958). "Dane Clark Tells Episode in Role Hunt". Austin American Statesman. Austin, Texas. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "TV Key Mailbag Notes". The Decatur Herald. Decatur, Illinois. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Leading Women". Academy Players Directory. No. 83. Hollywood, California: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 1959. p. 184.
  29. ^ "6 Roles Open for Girl Stars Doing Westerns". Austin Daily Herald. Austin, Minnesota. January 17, 1959. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ a b "Tuesday, February 15, 1966 (TV Listings)". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. February 12, 1966. p. 65 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "43 Homes Burned in Laurel Canyon". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. July 12, 1959. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Doris D Stiner in the California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959, retrieved from Ancestry.com
  33. ^ Heffernan, Harold (November 1, 1959). "I Heard Today in Hollywood". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Dusheck, George (November 19, 1965). "Lollipops, Love Went Into Film". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "'Man of Principle' Logged Tuesday on Channel 4". Daily Herald. Provo, Utah. March 24, 1958. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Sunday, October 5 (TV listings)". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. October 5, 1958. p. 226 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "Television Log: Thursday, October 30, 1958". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 30, 1958. p. 65 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "For Law and Order (photo caption)". The Marion Star. Marion, Ohio. November 15, 1958. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ "Youth Wants to Kill His Father". St. Joseph News-Press. St. Joseph, Missouri. November 29, 1958. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Gunmen Draw Straws To Kill Marshal Troop". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. December 14, 1958. p. 35 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Boy-Girl Talk (photo caption)". The South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. December 13, 1958. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "Monday: Tough Task for Frolicsome Angel". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. May 3, 1959. p. 128 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ "Tycoon Hires Gunn to Trace Note". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. May 3, 1959. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ "Indian War Almost Started on Bonanza". The Lima Citizen. Lima, Ohio. March 12, 1960. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ "Tuesday (TV Listings)". Battle Creek Enquirer. Battle Creek, Michigan. October 10, 1959. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ^ "Camera Sleuth Series Returns". The Fresno Bee. Fresno, California. October 18, 1959. p. 112 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ "Saturday Previews". The Times. Munster, Indiana. May 6, 1960. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  48. ^ "Calhoun Involved in Prison Break". The Times-Tribune. Scranton, Pennsylvania. May 7, 1960. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ^ "Wednesday November 23 (TV listings)". The Tampa Times. Tampa, Florida. November 19, 1960. p. 35 – via Newspapers.com.
  50. ^ "Wednesday, January 15 (TV Listings)". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. January 12, 1964. p. 462 – via Newspapers.com.
  51. ^ "Monday, January 27, 1964 (TV listings)". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. January 25, 1964. p. 77 – via Newspapers.com.
  52. ^ "Thursday, December 3, 1964 (TV listings)". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. November 28, 1964. p. 68 – via Newspapers.com.
  53. ^ "Wednesday, August 25 (TV listings)". The Morning Call. Paterson, New Jersey. August 21, 1965. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  54. ^ "Thursday, November 25, 1965". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. November 20, 1965. p. 95 – via Newspapers.com.
  55. ^ "Tonight's Television Highlights". New Castle News. New Castle, Pennsylvania. January 27, 1966. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
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