Kristin Nelson
Encyclopedia
Kristin Nelson, also Kristin Nelson Tinker, (born Sharon Kristin Harmon on June 25, 1945) is an American primitive
painter, actor, and author. She was married to Rick Nelson.
player Tom Harmon
and actress Elyse Knox
. Actor Mark Harmon
is her brother and actress Kelly Harmon is her sister.
as a regular cast member, first appearing in the episode, "Rick's Wedding Ring".
In 1965, she co-starred with Nelson in the romantic comedy, Love and Kisses, in which they demonstrate the troubles of a young couple of school age who get married—an "inspired casting," according to one critic.
Subsequently, she played Officer Jim Reed's wife Jean on Adam-12
, guest-starred on other series and appeared in a few theatrical films, including The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
, which won an Academy Award for best live action short film.
She retired from acting in 1982 following Liar's Moon.
, who asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She told him, "I want to paint."
She made her living as an artist, receiving a career boost when Jacqueline Kennedy purchased one of her paintings. She became of a favorite of several Hollywood collectors including Mia Farrow
, Tyne Daly
, and Dwight Yoakam
. Her work, which is "widely acclaimed", is in the primitive
genre, and has been likened to that by Grandma Moses
.
Her paintings are conceived without perspective
and are brightly colored with many figures included. Judy Blundell said, "Any symbolism is straightforward and honest. As an artist she is not concerned with being clever or elusive; she is simply using her talent as a means of true visual documentation."
Subjects include When the Kennedys Were in the White House (1964) and The Day He Died (1990), a memorial to her father which is painted on a window frame and depicts a country church and clouds raining. In 1999, Nelson's paintings were published in a coffee-table-sized autobiography, Out of My Mind. The paintings document her life story and are supplemented with diary entries and poems.
During the winter holiday season of 1962-63, the couple announced their engagement, and were married on April 20, 1963, in St. Martin of Tours Church in Hollywood before 400 guests in a 30-minute Catholic ceremony. Harmon was pregnant, and Nelson later described the union as a "shotgun wedding". Nelson, a non-practicing Protestant, received instruction in Catholicism at the insistence of the bride's parents, and signed a pledge to have any children of the union baptized in the Catholic faith. The newlyweds honeymooned in the Bahamas.
In 1975, the Nelsons were on the verge of breaking up but Harmon would have had no parental support—the Harmons strongly disapproved of divorce. Nelson and Harmon each had affairs outside the marriage. Nelson engaged in one night stands on the road and Harmon's closer-to-home liaisons included athletes and musicians. In 1976, Harmon and 17-year-old Ronald Reagan, Jr. were discovered having sex in his parents' bed by Secret Service agents. When Nelson returned from a tour in 1977, he discovered Harmon had moved him out of their home and into a rented house. In less than a month, she found him there with two Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders. Nelson later said she set him up to use the incident against him in court.
In October 1977, Harmon filed for divorce and asked for alimony, custody of their four children, and a portion of community property. The couple temporarily resolved their differences but Harmon retained her attorney to pursue a permanent break. Both spent enormous sums of money—Harmon on parties, Nelson on renting a private Lear jet.
In April 1980, they bought Errol Flynn
's 1941 Mulholland Drive
estate for $750,000. Harmon wanted Nelson to give up music, spend more time at home, and focus on acting, but the family enjoyed a recklessly expensive lifestyle, and Harmon's extravagant spending forced Nelson to tour relentlessly. The impasse over Nelson's career created unpleasantness at home. Nelson toured as often as possible. Harmon began drinking heavily and left the children in the care of household help.
In October 1980, Harmon moved into an upstairs room at Mulholland Drive house, and again filed for divorce. She was determined to take everything she possibly could and leaving Nelson ruined. Attempts to negotiate a preliminary settlement agreement were unsuccessful. In January 1981, Harmon's attorney noted that Nelson's assets were insufficient to warrant lengthy proceedings, and recommended a quick settlement. Harmon replaced her lawyer with a more aggressive attorney. In February 1981, Harmon was temporarily granted custody of the children and $3,600 in spousal support. Nelson was required to pay a number of family expenses such as property taxes, doctor bills, and school tuitions. Harmon and her lawyers believed Nelson had a hidden cache of wealth, but such a thing did not exist. Nelson was almost broke. Accusations of drug and alcohol use and poor parenting were exchanged between the Nelsons, and, after two years of acrimony, they were divorced in December 1982. The divorce was financially devastating for Nelson with attorneys and accountants taking over $1 million.
, born six months after the wedding on October 25, 1963, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California
. She weighed four pounds, one ounce and was slightly premature. As a preschooler, she appeared in Yours, Mine, and Ours
with Lucille Ball
. In her teens, she attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls. During her parents' marital difficulties, she did not get along with her mother and stayed with her father in the Flynn house despite the temporary divorce agreement. In 1982, she told People
her parents were too young when they started a family. She recalled dressing up like a mermaid for an entire week as a child in an attempt to attract their attention. Nelson left his estate to his four children.
Twin sons Gunnar Eric Nelson
and Matthew Gray Nelson
were born on September 20, 1967. Gunnar and Matthew performed as the band Nelson
.
Their fourth child, Sam Hilliard Nelson, was born August 29, 1974. At six years, he was placed in the care of his maternal grandparents, Tom and Elyse Harmon of Brentwood, because of Harmon's alcohol abuse, unpredictable behavior, and sporadic suicidal tendencies. Sam came to call his grandfather, "Pop".
and his wife, Pam Dawber
petitioned for custody of Sam based on the grounds that Kristin was incapable of good parenting. Sam's psychiatrist testified the thirteen-year-old boy depicted his mother as a dragon, and complained about her mood swings and how she prevented him from being with his siblings. Mark Harmon dropped his custody bid when Kristin's lawyer insinuated witnesses could be produced who had snorted cocaine with Harmon's wife, Pam Dawber
. Kristin was given custody, with Mark Harmon being granted visitation rights. The two siblings and Sam entered family counseling.
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
painter, actor, and author. She was married to Rick Nelson.
Early life
Kristin Nelson, born Sharon Kristin Harmon, is the daughter of American footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player Tom Harmon
Tom Harmon
Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in American college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors...
and actress Elyse Knox
Elyse Knox
-Early life:Born Elsie Lillian Kornbrath to Frederick and Elizabeth Kornbrath in Hartford, Connecticut, she studied at the Traphagen School of Fashion in Manhattan then embarked on a career in fashion design...
. Actor Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in American television programs and films since the mid-1970s, after a career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series NCIS.-Early life:Harmon was born Thomas...
is her brother and actress Kelly Harmon is her sister.
Acting
Following her marriage to Rick Nelson in 1963, Harmon joined the Nelson family television show The Adventures of Ozzie and HarrietThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
as a regular cast member, first appearing in the episode, "Rick's Wedding Ring".
In 1965, she co-starred with Nelson in the romantic comedy, Love and Kisses, in which they demonstrate the troubles of a young couple of school age who get married—an "inspired casting," according to one critic.
Subsequently, she played Officer Jim Reed's wife Jean on Adam-12
Adam-12
Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
, guest-starred on other series and appeared in a few theatrical films, including The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy is a 1970 live action short Western film, starring Johnny Crawford. It won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.-Plot:...
, which won an Academy Award for best live action short film.
She retired from acting in 1982 following Liar's Moon.
Art
In 1988, she met director-producer Mark TinkerMark Tinker
Mark Tinker is an American television producer and director. Tinker was an executive producer and regular director on the HBO original series, Deadwood. Prior to Deadwood, Tinker served as a director/producer on NYPD Blue which was co-created by Deadwood writer, David Milch. Tinker has also...
, who asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She told him, "I want to paint."
She made her living as an artist, receiving a career boost when Jacqueline Kennedy purchased one of her paintings. She became of a favorite of several Hollywood collectors including Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
, Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...
, and Dwight Yoakam
Dwight Yoakam
Dwight David Yoakam is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music...
. Her work, which is "widely acclaimed", is in the primitive
Naïve art
Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique. While many naïve artists appear, from their works, to have little or no formal art training, this is often not true...
genre, and has been likened to that by Grandma Moses
Grandma Moses
Anna Mary Robertson Moses , better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses,"...
.
Her paintings are conceived without perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
and are brightly colored with many figures included. Judy Blundell said, "Any symbolism is straightforward and honest. As an artist she is not concerned with being clever or elusive; she is simply using her talent as a means of true visual documentation."
Subjects include When the Kennedys Were in the White House (1964) and The Day He Died (1990), a memorial to her father which is painted on a window frame and depicts a country church and clouds raining. In 1999, Nelson's paintings were published in a coffee-table-sized autobiography, Out of My Mind. The paintings document her life story and are supplemented with diary entries and poems.
Marriage to Rick Nelson
At Christmas 1961, Harmon began dating Rick Nelson. The Nelson and Harmon families had long been friends; The couple had much in common: quiet dispositions, Hollywood upbringings, and high-powered, domineering fathers.During the winter holiday season of 1962-63, the couple announced their engagement, and were married on April 20, 1963, in St. Martin of Tours Church in Hollywood before 400 guests in a 30-minute Catholic ceremony. Harmon was pregnant, and Nelson later described the union as a "shotgun wedding". Nelson, a non-practicing Protestant, received instruction in Catholicism at the insistence of the bride's parents, and signed a pledge to have any children of the union baptized in the Catholic faith. The newlyweds honeymooned in the Bahamas.
In 1975, the Nelsons were on the verge of breaking up but Harmon would have had no parental support—the Harmons strongly disapproved of divorce. Nelson and Harmon each had affairs outside the marriage. Nelson engaged in one night stands on the road and Harmon's closer-to-home liaisons included athletes and musicians. In 1976, Harmon and 17-year-old Ronald Reagan, Jr. were discovered having sex in his parents' bed by Secret Service agents. When Nelson returned from a tour in 1977, he discovered Harmon had moved him out of their home and into a rented house. In less than a month, she found him there with two Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders. Nelson later said she set him up to use the incident against him in court.
In October 1977, Harmon filed for divorce and asked for alimony, custody of their four children, and a portion of community property. The couple temporarily resolved their differences but Harmon retained her attorney to pursue a permanent break. Both spent enormous sums of money—Harmon on parties, Nelson on renting a private Lear jet.
In April 1980, they bought Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
's 1941 Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...
estate for $750,000. Harmon wanted Nelson to give up music, spend more time at home, and focus on acting, but the family enjoyed a recklessly expensive lifestyle, and Harmon's extravagant spending forced Nelson to tour relentlessly. The impasse over Nelson's career created unpleasantness at home. Nelson toured as often as possible. Harmon began drinking heavily and left the children in the care of household help.
In October 1980, Harmon moved into an upstairs room at Mulholland Drive house, and again filed for divorce. She was determined to take everything she possibly could and leaving Nelson ruined. Attempts to negotiate a preliminary settlement agreement were unsuccessful. In January 1981, Harmon's attorney noted that Nelson's assets were insufficient to warrant lengthy proceedings, and recommended a quick settlement. Harmon replaced her lawyer with a more aggressive attorney. In February 1981, Harmon was temporarily granted custody of the children and $3,600 in spousal support. Nelson was required to pay a number of family expenses such as property taxes, doctor bills, and school tuitions. Harmon and her lawyers believed Nelson had a hidden cache of wealth, but such a thing did not exist. Nelson was almost broke. Accusations of drug and alcohol use and poor parenting were exchanged between the Nelsons, and, after two years of acrimony, they were divorced in December 1982. The divorce was financially devastating for Nelson with attorneys and accountants taking over $1 million.
Children
Harmon and Nelson had four children. Their first was a daughter, blue-eyed, blonde-haired Tracy Kristine NelsonTracy Nelson (actress)
Tracy Kristine Nelson is an American actress.-Early life:Tracy Nelson is a third generation performer; her parents were Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Nelson and actress/artist Kristin Nelson . She has three younger siblings: Matthew Nelson, Gunnar Nelson of the '90s rock group Nelson,...
, born six months after the wedding on October 25, 1963, at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. She weighed four pounds, one ounce and was slightly premature. As a preschooler, she appeared in Yours, Mine, and Ours
Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film)
For the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson...
with Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
. In her teens, she attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls. During her parents' marital difficulties, she did not get along with her mother and stayed with her father in the Flynn house despite the temporary divorce agreement. In 1982, she told People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
her parents were too young when they started a family. She recalled dressing up like a mermaid for an entire week as a child in an attempt to attract their attention. Nelson left his estate to his four children.
Twin sons Gunnar Eric Nelson
Gunnar Nelson
Gunnar Eric Nelson is an American musician, singer, and songwriter and international multi-platinum recording artist.-Family:...
and Matthew Gray Nelson
Matthew Nelson
Matthew Gray Nelson is an American singer-songwriter, musician and international multi-platinum recording artist. He is the son of actress Kristin Harmon and the late teen idol Ricky Nelson. Along with his twin brother Gunnar, he has been a member of Nelson since 1990. Their single, " Love and...
were born on September 20, 1967. Gunnar and Matthew performed as the band Nelson
Nelson (band)
NELSON is a American hard rock band founded by singer/songwriters Matthew and Gunnar Nelson . NELSON featuring the twin lead front men had a No. 1 hit in the United States with " Love and Affection" during the week of September 29, 1990...
.
Their fourth child, Sam Hilliard Nelson, was born August 29, 1974. At six years, he was placed in the care of his maternal grandparents, Tom and Elyse Harmon of Brentwood, because of Harmon's alcohol abuse, unpredictable behavior, and sporadic suicidal tendencies. Sam came to call his grandfather, "Pop".
Custody case
In 1987, two years after Nelson's death, Harmon was undergoing drug rehab when her brother Mark HarmonMark Harmon
Mark Harmon is an American actor who has been starring in American television programs and films since the mid-1970s, after a career as a collegiate football player with the UCLA Bruins. Since 2003, Harmon has starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS series NCIS.-Early life:Harmon was born Thomas...
and his wife, Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam .-Life and career:...
petitioned for custody of Sam based on the grounds that Kristin was incapable of good parenting. Sam's psychiatrist testified the thirteen-year-old boy depicted his mother as a dragon, and complained about her mood swings and how she prevented him from being with his siblings. Mark Harmon dropped his custody bid when Kristin's lawyer insinuated witnesses could be produced who had snorted cocaine with Harmon's wife, Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber
Pam Dawber is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell in Mork & Mindy and Samantha Russell in My Sister Sam .-Life and career:...
. Kristin was given custody, with Mark Harmon being granted visitation rights. The two siblings and Sam entered family counseling.