Barry Nelson (born April 16, 1920) is an American actor. Born Robert Haakon Nielsen, of Scandinavian (Norwegian) descent, in San Francisco, California, he began acting in school at age 15, playing an 80 year old man.
He was the first actor (and, to date, the only American) to play James Bond on screen, in a 1954 adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale on the TV anthology series Climax! (preceding Sean Connery’s interpretation in Dr No by eight years). Reportedly this was considered a pilot for a possible James Bond television series, though it’s not known if Nelson intended to continue playing the character. Nelson played James Bond as an American; the programme also featured Peter Lorre as the primary villain.