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The Nelson family got here dangerously near dropping one in every of Hollywood’s most iconic properties.
After the sudden dying of their father, Rock and Roll Corridor of Famer Ricky Nelson, platinum-selling twins Gunnar and Matthew Nelson had been pressured into an sudden struggle to avoid wasting the household legacy.
Hundreds of thousands in debt threatened to strip them of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” and their father’s music catalog, however the brothers refused to let the property be dismantled.
As a substitute, they quietly paid off the money owed themselves, holding all 435 episodes of the basic collection and their father’s catalog totally intact — a uncommon win in an leisure world the place household legacies are sometimes offered off piece by piece.
Nelson twins, Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, saved “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” from chapter after Ricky Nelson’s dying left their household tens of millions in debt. (Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Photos)
Gunnar solely instructed Fox Information Digital the household was getting ready to dropping all of it after his father’s dying.
“Effectively, it was fairly shut. I imply, when our father handed away, the property was tens of millions in debt, and folks do not know that. However that was actually form of the factor that Nelsons additionally did — we did not air our soiled laundry in public,” Gunnar emphasised.
“We got here from a distinct time frame, you already know, we had been the anti-Kardashians, so to talk. We weren’t the form of folks that might take photos of ourselves and movie what we ate.”
Gunnar stated sustaining privateness and defending the household’s fame was all the time a precedence. Satisfaction, he defined, ran deep within the Nelson household — from his grandparents all the way down to his father.
“It was simply form of a kind of issues that grandpa and grandma had a number of pleasure. And our father did as nicely. I imply, he lived and died for rock and roll. He was taking part in as much as 300 exhibits a 12 months up till the day he died within the aircraft crash,” he continued.
WATCH: GUNNAR NELSON SAYS FAMILY FACED MILLIONS IN DEBT AFTER FATHER’S FATAL PLANE CRASH
On New Yr’s Eve 1985, Ricky Nelson died in a aircraft crash in DeKalb, Texas. He was 45. Six others on board additionally perished. Forty years later, his kids mirrored on that tragedy.
“What that meant was, after he handed away, this was a man that struggled financially his total life to supply for the household.”
The Nelson twins with their dad, Ricky Nelson. Ricky died on New Yr’s Eve 1985. (Nelsons)
Slightly than declare what they referred to as a “dishonorable” chapter — which might have thrown the household’s property into the palms of the best bidder — Gunnar and his twin brother, Matthew, took on the debt themselves. This allowed the Nelson identify, their father’s legacy and the TV basic to stay totally within the household.
The Nelson twins, performing as “Nelson,” grew up steeped in Hollywood royalty. Their lineage consists of grandparents Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Nelson, father Ricky Nelson, sister Tracy Nelson and uncle Mark Harmon.
“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” aired on the ABC TV community from 1952 till 1966. Pictured are Ozzie, Ricky, David and Harriet Nelson. (Robert Alexander/Getty Photos)
Gunnar stated defending the household’s legacy wasn’t simply monetary — it was about preserving a long time of hard-earned pleasure and artistry.
The Nelson brothers had been very younger when their father died, instantly dealing with tasks they hadn’t imagined.
“Matthew and I had been a few children. We had been simply 18, and our dad was our greatest buddy. So we had been form of coping with all of that stuff. After which, on the similar time, we received hit by the double whammy of the funds.”
“Matthew and I had been a few children. We had been simply 18, and our dad was our greatest buddy. So we had been form of coping with all of that stuff. After which, on the similar time, we received hit by the double whammy of the funds,” Gunnar stated.
Ricky had all the time shielded his children from the household’s struggles.
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The Nelson Twins at 12 years outdated, stand at a studio microphone throughout a recording session. (Nelsons)
“Our father was a superb father. He wished to cover all the challenges. It was his function, he felt, to permit his kids to have a superb life… However after we really opened up the books… it was sobering, and it pressured my twin brother and I to develop up instantly.”
“It was sink or swim, and I’m truthfully proud to say that everyone acted with integrity, and our father’s good identify was preserved,” he added.
Now exploring streaming alternatives for “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” the brothers have one “non-negotiable.”
WATCH: NELSONS REFUSE TO SELL ‘OZZIE AND HARRIET’ RIGHTS IN ‘NON-NEGOTIABLE’ STANCE
“Promoting it. No, we do not promote. We lease, we lease, we license. That was the one lesson that I believe our grandfather handed alongside to us was the household present must belong to the household so far as possession is worried. However we’re searching for an exquisite residence to license it to. And it is all about mutual profit and all that however I believe that is the one non-negotiable factor.”
Gunnar referred to as out the fashionable leisure business, the place huge conglomerates snap up catalogs and properties at such a quick tempo, warning that “Ozzie and Harriet” would by no means be a part of that cycle.
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Singer and actor Ricky Nelson poses for a portrait along with his household whereas getting his star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame on Sept. 17, 1975. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Photos)
“A few of the offers that they are throwing round are big. And that is effective. I believe that is nice for most individuals. However I believe for this explicit household and this explicit property, that might in all probability be a no-go so far as the present’s involved,” he stated.
Gunnar and Matthew are in talks with main streaming platforms, seeking to convey “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” to a brand new technology.
Gunnar and Matthew Nelson paid off tens of millions in household debt to protect Ricky Nelson’s music catalog and all 435 episodes of “Ozzie and Harriet.” (Rick Diamond/Getty Photos)
“There’s quite a bit for us to be happy with as a household and we all know that the present means a lot extra to so many individuals than simply one other tv present,” Gunnar instructed Fox Information Digital. “And I’m actually really grateful to be a part of this household and be the one which’s on the market representing what the household actually does stand for as a result of, once more, I believe it issues in a time the place all the pieces’s disposable.”
The 12 months 2026 marks two milestones for the Nelson household — 40 years since Ricky’s dying and 60 years for the reason that last episode of the popular series.
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For the brothers, it’s a uncommon second to spotlight resilience and why household legacies are price combating for.
The well-known Nelson brothers penned their story and their very own rise to fame of their newest memoir, “What Happened to Your Hair?”
Fox Information Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
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