Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor and former stand-up comedian who voiced Mr. Incredible in The Incredibles, Incredibles 2, Auntie Edna, Kinect Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure and the Disney Infinity franchise. He is best known for his role as Hayden Fox on the ABC sitcom Coach from 1989 to 1997.
Early life and career[]
Nelson was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Vera Margaret (née Spindler; 1906–1971), a dancer, and Armand Gilbert Nelson (1900–1964), a businessman. Nelson began his show business career as a stand-up comedian, and was an early member of The Groundlings comedy troupe. 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. He returned to acting five years later.
He was featured as a prosecuting attorney who opposes Al Pacino in the 1979 film ...And Justice for All, co-written by Levinson. In 1983, Nelson appeared in Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep, as the high school football coach of Tom Cruise in the drama All the Right Moves and as one of the stars of director Sam Peckinpah's final film, The Osterman Weekend. He has appeared in many other motion pictures (most notably the Poltergeist series) and had featured roles in five television shows (Coach, Call to Glory, The District, My Name Is Earl, and Parenthood). Coach ran from 1989 to 1997, with Nelson starring as college football coach Hayden Fox.
Trivia[]
- He added his middle initial "T" to avoid confusion with fellow actor Craig Richard Nelson, who had registered his name first with the Screen Actors Guild.
- He was considered for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. However, Ewan McGregor was cast at the end.