Profile Text
Birth Name: Nelson Ackerman Eddy
Date of Birth: June 29, 1901
Place of Birth: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Date of Death: March 6, 1967
Place of Death: Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, some Dutch, distant Scottish and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, 1/256 Polish, remote French
Nelson Eddy was an American singer, baritone, and actor. A star of musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, his roles include Broadway to Hollywood , Dancing Lady , Naughty Marietta , Rose Marie (1936), Maytime , Rosalie (1937), The Girl of the Golden West , Sweethearts (1938), Let Freedom Ring , Balalaika (1939), New Moon , Bitter Sweet (1940), The Chocolate Soldier , I Married an Angel , Phantom of the Opera (1943), Knickerbocker Holiday , Make Mine Music , and Northwest Outpost . He was also a star of the opera and concert stage, radio, and television, and in nightclubs; he was known at one point as the highest-paid singer in the world. He often worked with Jeanette MacDonald .
Nelson was the son of Isabel (Kendrick), a church soloist, and William Darius Eddy, who was a machinist, toolmaker, and stagehand at the Providence Opera House. He was raised in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and New Bedford, Massachusetts, and later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nelson was married to Ann Denitz Franklin, until his death. Ann had a son with her former husband, director and producer Sidney Franklin.
Most of Nelson’s ancestry was Colonial American, particularly English, with some Dutch from his maternal grandmother. He had deep roots in Rhode Island. He was a descendant of 1600s-born Polish immigrant Wojciech Zarborovoskii/Zabriskie.
Nelson’s paternal grandfather was Isaac Nelson Eddy (the son of Darius Eddy and Esther Ann Irons). Isaac was born in Olneyville, Providence, Rhode Island. Darius was born in Rhode Island, the son of George Eddy and Nancy Anne/Ann Salisbury. Esther was born in Burrillville, Providence, the daughter of Elisha Irons and Hannah Sayles.
Nelson’s paternal grandmother was Martha Perry Gardner (the daughter of William H. Gardner and Charlotte E. Read). Martha was born in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. Charlotte was born in Newport, Newport Co., Rhode Island, the daughter of William H. Read and Hannah Butts.
Nelson’s maternal grandfather was Edward Stillman Kendrick (the son of Samuel Stillman Kendrick and Emily Herbert Fryer). Edward was born in Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia. Samuel was born in Vermont, the son of Clark Kendrick and Esther Thompson. Emily was born in Georgia, the daughter of Zachariah Louis Fryer, whose father was English, and of Sarah Matthews.
Nelson’s maternal grandmother was Caroline Netta “Carrie” Ackerman (the daughter of James/Joseph Chandler Ackerman and Belinda Sophia van Buren). Caroline was born in Alabama, and was an oratorio singer. She was of mostly Dutch descent. James was born in New York, the son of Lawrence Ackerman and Cynthia Robinson, who herself was born in Windsor, Hants, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nelson’s great-grandmother Belinda was born in New Jersey, the daughter of Pieter Jacobus van Beuren and Magdalena van Earle.
Sources: Genealogies of Nelson Addy – https://famouskin.com https://www.geni.com