John Allen Nelson

For other people named John Nelson, see John Nelson (disambiguation).

John Allen Nelson
Born	(1959-08-28) August 28, 1959 San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Åse Samuelsson (1988-2005) (divorced) 2 children Justine Eyre (2007-present)

John Allen Nelson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor and screenwriter.

Early life

John Allen Nelson was born in San Antonio, Texas. He spent his first three years in Germany with his three siblings, David, Nancy and Diana where his father was stationed as a doctor for the U.S. Air Force.

Career

Nelson portrayed original series character Warren Lockridge on the American soap opera Santa Barbara from August 1, 1984 to April 29, 1986. He starred as the title character in the low-budget 1987 comedy-fantasy Hunk where a nerd was transformed into a golden-tanned, muscular hunk after "leasing" his soul to the Devil.

Nelson co-starred with Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, Royal Dano and John Vernon in the 1988 cult/sci-fi epic Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

Nelson co-starred in the early seasons of the series Baywatch as "John D. Cort," a lifeguard who is ultimately forced to retire because of retinitis pigmentosa. Later, Nelson co-starred with fellow Baywatch alum Gena Lee Nolin in the syndicated Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

Nelson also co-wrote the screenplay for the martial arts-yarn Best of the Best 2, which was released in 1993, as well as American Yakuza starring Viggo Mortensen. The following year, in 1994, Nelson co-wrote and co-starred in the movie Criminal Passion which featured Joan Severance and Anthony Denison.

Nelson's most critically acclaimed television success was in the role of Walt Cummings in 24, followed by the role of Senator Jeffrey Collins in the 2006 Fox drama Vanished.

Nelson also appeared as Paul, Monica Geller's boyfriend (aka "The Wine Guy") in the first episode of Friends.

Personal life

Nelson married Åse Nelson in 1988. They separated in 2003 and divorced in 2005. His two children from that marriage—son Axel (b. 1990) and daughter Linnea (b. 1994)—live with their mother in Sweden. He married actress Justine Eyre in a four-day fairytale wedding at Château de Farcheville outside Paris, France in September 2007 and they have a son born in August 2009.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1987	Saigon Commandos	Timothy Bryant
	Hunk	Hunk Golden
1988	Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell	Deathstalker
	Killer Klowns from Outer Space	Dave Hanson
1993	Taking Liberty
1994	Criminal Passion	Connor Ashcroft
1996	Follow Me Home	Perry
1998	Marry Me or Die
	Shelter	Martin Roberts
2009	Feast 3: The Happy Finish	Shitkicker
2010	The Town	HRT/FBI Swat Commander
201?	Fire Bay	John F. Kennedy

Television

Year	Program or series	Role	Notes
1983	Loving	Duke Rochelle
1984	The Edge of Night	Jack Boyd
1984–1986	Santa Barbara	Warren Lockridge
1987	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Brian Dubinski
	Hunter	Dr. Tim Donaldson
	Buck James	Buddy Cronin
1988	Heartbeat	Bobby
1989	Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson	Frank Wellman Jr.
	Quantum Leap	Capt. Bill 'Bird Dog' Birdell
1989–1990	Booker	Ronald Arrizola
1989–1993	Matlock	Terry Maslin Bill Parker	two episodes
1989–1995	Baywatch	John D. Cort
1990	Rich Men, Single Women	Travis
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Tod Sterling
1994	XXX's & OOO's	Andy St. James
	Friends	Paul, The Wine Guy
	Sweet Justice	Logan Wright
1997	Pensacola: Wings of Gold	Captain Tom Redding
1998	Seven Days	Mike Clary
	Early Edition	Ricky Brown
1999	V.I.P.	FBI Agent Lambert
2000–2002	Sheena	Matt Cutter
2003	Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding	John D. Cort
2005	CSI: Miami	Mike Rydell
2005–2006	24	Walt Cummings
2006	Vanished	Senator Jeffrey Collins
2007	Close to Home	William Sheffield
	Saving Grace	Buck Crussing
2008	Burn Notice	Lesher
	Without a Trace	Mark Duncan
	Knight Rider	Congressman Childress
	Grey's Anatomy	Arthur Saltonoff
2008–2009	Privileged	Arthur Smith
2009	Inside the Box	Special Agent Tompkins
	Criminal Minds	Dan Murphy
	Drop Dead Diva	D.A. Callahan
2013	Castle	Walter Dennis
2014-present	Crisis	President DeVore	Recurring

External links

• John Allen Nelson at the Internet Movie Database