Craig Theodore Nelson (born April 4, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Hayden Fox in the ABC sitcom Coach (for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series), Deputy Warden Ward Wilson in Stir Crazy (1980), Steve Freeling in Poltergeist (1982), Burt Nickerson in All the Right Moves (1983), Peter Dellaplane in Action Jackson (1988), Chief Howard Hyde in Turner & Hooch (1989), Alex Cullen in The Devil's Advocate (1997), Chief Jack Mannion in the CBS drama The District (2000–2004), Coach Goddard in Blades of Glory (2007), The Warden in the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl (2007), and the voice of Mr. Incredible in the 2004 film The Incredibles and its 2018 sequel.
Nelson also starred as Zeek Braverman in the NBC drama series Parenthood (2010–2015) and recurred as Dale Ballard in the CBS sitcoms Young Sheldon (2019–2024) and its spin-off Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (2024–present).
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Early life
Craig Theodore Nelson was born on April 4, 1944, in Spokane, Washington. His parents were Vera Margaret (née Spindler), a dancer, and Armand Gilbert Nelson, a businessman.
Nelson attended Lewis and Clark High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball. Following high school, Nelson studied at Central Washington University. After flunking out, Nelson went to Yakima Valley College where he was inspired to study acting by his drama teacher, Mr. Brady. From Yakima, he went on to study drama at the University of Arizona on a scholarship.
In 1969, Nelson dropped out of school and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. After first moving to California, he took up a job as a security guard at a soap factory until finding work as a comedy writer.
Career
Early career
Nelson began his show business career as a comedian. He was an early member of The Groundlings improv and sketch comedy troupe. Nelson, Barry Levinson, and Rudy De Luca formed their own comedy team and were regular performers at The Comedy Store and on the short-lived The Tim Conway Comedy Hour (1970). In 1973, Nelson left the comedy world, explaining "the standup comedy life was pretty unfulfilling for me" and he settled in Montgomery Creek, California where there was no electricity and no running water; "it was contentment, The Waltons", he said. Nelson had different jobs during that time including janitor, plumber, carpenter, surveyor, and high school teacher in Burney, CA. He returned to acting five years later.
Film
Nelson was featured as a prosecuting attorney who opposes Al Pacino in the 1979 film ...And Justice for All, co-written by Levinson. He then played Capt. William Woodbridge in Private Benjamin (1980), Deputy Warden Ward Wilson in Stir Crazy (1980), and Steve Freeling in Poltergeist (1982), returning to the role for the sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986). In 1983, Nelson appeared in Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep. That same year, he played the high school football coach of Tom Cruise in the drama All the Right Moves and was one of the stars of director Sam Peckinpah's final film, The Osterman Weekend. He appeared in many other motion picture roles including Major Reeves in The Killing Fields (1984), Peter Dellaplane in Action Jackson (1988), Chief Howard Hyde in Turner & Hooch (1989), Ed Peters in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and Alex Cullen in The Devil's Advocate (1997).
Television
Nelson's first TV series was the short-lived ABC series Call to Glory from 1984 to 1985. He became well-known when he starred as college football coach Hayden Fox in the ABC sitcom Coach from 1989 to 1997, and for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He also directed many episodes of the show. He then starred as chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department Jack Mannion in the CBS drama The District from 2000 to 2004. He went on to play the role of the Prison Warden in the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl in 2007.
Later career
Nelson provided the voice of Bob Parr (also known as Mr. Incredible) in the animated film The Incredibles (2004), and returned to the role for its long awaited sequel, Incredibles 2 (2018). Nelson also reprised the role again in the video games Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure and in the Disney Infinity video game series, except for the video game and The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer, where he was replaced by actor Richard McGonagle.
Nelson's subsequent films include 2005's The Family Stone as Diane Keaton's husband, 2007's Blades of Glory as an ice skating coach, 2009's The Proposal as Ryan Reynolds's skeptical father, 2010's The Company Men as a greedy CEO, and 2018's Book Club.
Nelson made a three-episode guest appearance on CSI: NY from 2008 to 2009 as a "nemesis" of Gary Sinise's Taylor. From 2010 to 2015, he starred in the NBC comedy-drama Parenthood as Ezekiel "Zeek" Braverman, the family patriarch. His production company is Family Tree Productions.
From 2019 to 2024, Nelson was part of the cast of Young Sheldon playing Dale Ballard, a local sports store owner, Missy's baseball coach, and Meemaw's boyfriend. In 2024, he continued the role on its spin-off Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage.
Personal life
Nelson has three children from his first marriage to Robin McCarthy, though they later divorced. His second wife Doria Cook-Nelson is a freelance writer, president of a martial arts association, karate instructor, tai chi teacher, and a former film and television actress who had a featured role in the movie musical Mame.
Nelson is a motorsports fan and an avid racer. He first participated in the 1991 Toyota Celebrity Long Beach Grand Prix and finished ninth. In 1992, he founded Screaming Eagles Racing with John Christie and entered and drove a Toyota-engined Spice SE90 in the IMSA 1994 WSC, a Lexus-engined Spice SE90 in 1995 and a Ford-engined Riley & Scott Mk III in the 1996 and 1997 championships.
Nelson has voiced support for conservative beliefs and politicians. During the 2008 United States presidential election, he endorsed John McCain. In 2009, Nelson appeared on The Glenn Beck Program to announce that he was considering no longer paying income tax. In the same year, he appeared on Hannity to criticize government expansion.
Early in his career, Nelson struggled with alcohol and substance addiction. Nelson is a Christian and runs more than one addiction recovery program through his church.
Nelson is also a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan. On January 5, 2025 he sang the National Anthem at Lambeau Field. He would later tell reporters "Me and the Packers go way back."