Craig T. Nelson Biography

Craig Theodore Nelson (born April 4, 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his Emmy-winning role as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, Deputy Ward Wilson in the 1980 film Stir Crazy, Steven Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist, the Warden in My Name is Earl, and Mr. Incredible in the 2004 film The Incredibles. He currently stars in the TV series Parenthood.

Early life

Nelson was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Vera Margaret (née Spindler), a dancer, and businessman Armand Gilbert Nelson. Nelson has a brown belt in karate and attended the University of Arizona and Central Washington University.

Career

Nelson began his show business career as a comedian. He was an early member of The Groundlings comedy troupe. Nelson, Barry Levinson, and Rudy De Luca formed their own comedy team and were regular performers at The Comedy Store. Nelson left the comedy world to focus on acting.

Because Craig Richard Nelson was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild, he registered as Craig T. Nelson.

He has appeared in numerous motion pictures (most notably the Poltergeist series) and had featured roles in five television shows (Coach, Call to Glory, The District, My Name Is Earl, and Parenthood). Coach ran from 1989 to 1997, with Nelson starring as college football coach Hayden Fox.

He voiced Mr. Incredible in the 2004 animated film The Incredibles.

During the early 1990s, he made a guest appearance in the music video for country singer Garth Brooks's song "We Shall Be Free". Nelson made a three-episode guest appearance on CSI: NY as a "nemesis" to Gary Sinise's Taylor.

His most recent films include 2009's The Proposal as Ryan Reynolds' skeptical father and 2010's The Company Men as a greedy CEO. He currently stars in the 2010 television show Parenthood as Zeek Braverman, the family patriarch.

Personal life

Nelson is a motorsports fan and an avid racer. He first participated in the 1991 Toyota Celebrity Long Beach Grand Prix and finished third. He founded Screaming Eagles Racing in 1994 with John Christie and entered and drove a Toyota-engined Spice SE90 in the IMSA 1994 WSC, a Lexus-engined Spice SE90 in 1995 and a Ford-engined Riley & Scott MkIII in the 1996 and 1997 championships.

Craig is also a golf enthusiast and is a member at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Nelson's son, Noah, was married to actress Ashley Jones in 2003. They divorced in 2009.

Appearing on the Glenn Beck show on Fox television in 2009, Nelson opined: "What happened to society? I go into business, I don't make it, I go bankrupt. I've been on food stamps and welfare, did anybody help me out? No. No."

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Return of Count Yorga	Sgt. O'Connor
1973	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Charlie	Episode: "Mary Richards and the Incredible Plant Lady"
1974	Flesh Gordon	The Monster	Uncredited
1979	...And Justice for All	Frank Bowers
1980	Stir Crazy	Deputy Ward Wilson
1980	Where the Buffalo Roam	Cop on Stand
1980	Private Benjamin	Capt. William Woodbridge
1980	The White Shadow	Father Phil	Episode: "A Christmas Story"
1982	Chicago Story	Kenneth A. Dutton	13 episodes
1982	Poltergeist	Steven Freeling
1983	Silkwood	Winston
1983	All the Right Moves	Nickerson
1983	The Osterman Weekend	Bernard Osterman
1984–1985	Call to Glory	Col. Raynor Sarnac	23 episodes
1984	The Killing Fields	Major Reeves
1986	Alex: The Life of a Child
1986	Poltergeist II: The Other Side	Steven Freeling
1986	The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story	Senator Edward Kennedy	Television movie
1989	Red Riding Hood	Sir Godrey
1988	Action Jackson	Peter Dellaplane
1989	Born on the Fourth of July	Marine Officer
1989–1997	Coach	Coach Hayden Fox	199 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Musical or Comedy (1992-95) Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1990-91)
1989	Turner & Hooch	Chief Howard Hyde
1989	Troop Beverly Hills	Fred Nefler
1991	The Josephine Baker Story	Walter Winchell	Television movie
1993	The Fire Next Time	Drew Morgan	Television movie
1994	Ride with the Wind	Frank Shelby	Television movie
1996	Ghosts of Mississippi	Ed Peters
1996	I'm Not Rappaport	The Cowboy
1997	The Devil's Advocate	Alexander Cullen
1997	Wag the Dog	Senator John Neal	Uncredited
1998	Creature	Scientist	Television movie
2000	The Skulls	Litten Mandrake
2000	Dirty Pictures	Simon Leis	Television movie
2001	All Over Again	Cole Twain
2000–2004	The District	Chief Jack Mannion	89 episodes Nominated"?Prism Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama
2004	The Incredibles	Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible
2005	The Family Stone	Kelly Stone	Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture
2007	Blades of Glory	Coach
2007	My Name is Earl	Warden Jerry Hazelwood	4 episodes
2009	The Proposal	Joe Paxton
2008–2009	CSI: NY	Robert Dunbrook	3 episodes
2009	Monk	Judge Ethan Rickover	2 episodes
2010–present	Parenthood	Zeek Braverman	68 episodes Prism Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series
2010	The Company Men	James Salinger
2011	Soul Surfer	Dr. Robinsky
2013	Hawaii Five-0	Tyler Cain	'He welo 'oihana'