Barry Nelson

Barry Nelson, the likable, average-Joe star of some of the biggest Broadway comedies of the '50s and '60s, died April 7, 2007, while traveling in Bucks County, PA, it was reported. The cause was not immediately known. He was 86. Blonde, square-jawed and pleasantly handsome, he was frequently cast in mildly risqué romantic comedies in which he was thrown into a volatile situation with a spunky, unconventional female. In The Moon Is Blue, his first major Broadway hit, his partner was Barbara Bel Geddes, who played the upfront actress Patty O'Neill, who speaks frankly about the possibility of losing her virginity to Mr. Nelson's architect, Donald Gresham. The Otto Preminger-directed comedy ran 924 performances.