Bob Nelson

Bob Nelson, born in Massapequa, is an American comedian and actor whose act relies on rubber-faced characters, a Jacques-Yves Cousteau impression, and a football routine parodying College Football All-Star team introductions. He started in comedy clubs during his theater studies at Nassau Community College in the late 1970s, then spent eight years as Rodney Dangerfield's opening act and appeared in two of Dangerfield's HBO showcases. Those appearances led to HBO specials of his own, including Nelson Schmelson. He also performed with the Identical Triplets, a comedy group with Eddie Murphy and Rob Bartlett, and was a repeat guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. On screen, he had a supporting role in Nora Ephron's directorial debut This Is My Life (1992) and starred in Brain Donors (1992), an update of the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera. Earlier, he won an Emmy Award in Philadelphia for writing and starring in the children's show Double Muppet Hold the Onions.