Mark Nelson (born September 26, 1955) is an American actor, director, and teacher.
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Biography
Nelson grew up in Westwood, New Jersey, in a Jewish family. Nelson graduated from the Horace Mann School before attending Princeton University, graduating in 1977. He later studied acting under Uta Hagen.
Nelson made his feature film debut in the slasher film Friday the 13th (1980). He appeared on Broadway in Angels in America, The Invention of Love, After the Fall, and Three Sisters at Roundabout Theatre Company, and the original casts of A Few Good Men, Rumors, Biloxi Blues, and Amadeus. For his performance as Einstein in Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile, he received the Obie, Drama League, Carbonell, and San Francisco Critics Awards. He played Herr Schultz in the 2016 national tour of Cabaret and acted off-Broadway in My Name is Asher Lev for which he received a Lortel nomination.
Other roles include Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at The Shakespeare Theater, Uncle Vanya (in Bartlett Sher's production at the Intiman Theatre), Matt in Talley's Folly (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Bluntschli in Arms and the Man (Long Wharf Theatre) and two solo pieces: I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright (Carbonell Award) and Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger (Connecticut Critics Award).
His TV work includes roles on Unforgettable, Law & Order, and Spin City. He teaches acting at Princeton University, Circle in the Square Theatre School, and at New York City's HB Studio. He has directed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Drama Dept., McCarter Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Chautauqua Theatre Company, and is a frequent guest director at the Juilliard School.
In 2013, he received a Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship.