Frank Nelson, The Man Who Said “Yes”

Today is the birthday of Frank Nelson (1911-1986). You just THINK you don’t know who he is. He’s that guy who had endless cameos and guest shots on sit-coms and commercials, who made a career out of saying “EEE-Yeeeeeesssssss?”

Some of Nelson’s earliest work was on the Marx Brothers’ radio show, Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (1932-33). He first gained lasting fame (of its kind) for doing his “yes” turn on Jack Benny’s radio show in the 40s (and later the tv version). In the 1950s he was frequently on I Love Lucy. Performances of his I enjoyed as a kid in the ’70s included appearances on Sanford and Son, and voice-over work on cartoons like The Flintstones and The Oddball Couple. Nelson was still rocking this routine in the 80s, when he did a memorable series of McDonald’s commercials. The popularity of this little bit wasn’t just luck — Nelson was very funny. His character would usually follow up that memorable introduction with dry wisecracks, and it never went out of style.

Nelson’s final credit was in the youth oriented sex comedy The Malibu Bikini Shop (1986). A clear indication that his guiding principal was the old actor’s dictum: “always say ‘yes'”.

To find out more about show business past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.