Lori Nelson

Lori Nelson, a model who turned to acting, worked in the 1950s and early 1960s. She was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as Dixie Kay Nelson and began performing in local theater as a small child. After working as a model, she signed a seven-year contract with Universal-International in 1950 when a studio scout saw her onstage. Her first film was the Western Bend of the River (1952), and she went on to supporting parts in the science fiction sequel Revenge of the Creature (1955) and the underwater adventure Underwater! (1955). She had a featured role in the 1955 remake I Died a Thousand Times and led the cast of the street-racing film Hot Rod Girl. On television she was one of three leads in the sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire. Nelson left acting for ten years starting in 1961, returned in 1971, and later appeared in Mom, Can I Keep Her? (1998). She died in 2020.