The Name’s Nelson. Barry Nelson.

“He is the answer to the trivia question: Who was the first actor to play James Bond?” writes the Associated Press’ Greg Risling in an obituary for veteran U.S. actor Barry Nelson, who died last Friday, April 7, at age 89. “Before Sean Connery was tapped to play the British agent on the big screen in 1962’s ‘Dr. No,’ Nelson played Bond in a one-hour TV adaptation of ‘Casino Royale’ in 1954.” To date, Nelson is the only American to have played Ian Fleming’s renowned Agent 007 on the big or small screens.

The AP recaps a bit of Nelson’s history as a performer:

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1941, Nelson was spotted by a talent scout and signed to MGM. He appeared in a number of films for the studio in 1942, including “Shadow of the Thin Man,” “Johnny Eager” and “Dr. Kildare’s Victory.” He also landed the leading role in “A Yank on the Burma Road,” playing a cab driver who decides to lead a convoy of trucks for the Chinese government.

Nelson entered the Army during World War II and went on the road with other actors performing the wartime play “Winged Victory,” which was later made into a movie starring Red Buttons, George Reeves and Nelson.

After the war, Nelson starred in a string of movies, including “Undercover Maisie,” “Time to Kill” and “Tenth Avenue Angel.” ...

Nelson switched to the stage during the 1960s and 1970s, appearing on Broadway in “Seascape,” “Mary, Mary” and “Cactus Flower.” He earned a Tony nomination in 1978 for his role in “The Act,” which also starred Liza Minnelli.

According to Wikipedia, the rendering of Fleming’s 1953 novel, Casino Royale, in which Nelson starred was featured as part the CBS suspense/mystery anthology series Climax! “Reportedly this was considered a pilot for a possible James Bond television series,” the online encyclopedia explains, “though it’s not known if Nelson intended to continue playing the character. Nelson played James Bond as an American named ‘Jimmy Bond’; the program also featured Peter Lorre as the primary villain. Originally broadcast live, the production was believed lost to time until a kinescope emerged in the 1980s. It was subsequently released to home video, and is currently available on DVD as a bonus feature with the 1967 film adaptation of the novel,” which starred Peter Sellers and David Niven.

Over his lengthy career, Nelson also guested on such TV crime series as The Name of the Game, Longstreet, Cannon, Magnum P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and the considerably less memorable David Cassidy--Man Undercover. He is survived by his second wife, the former Nansilee (Nansi) Hoy, whom he married in 1992.

READ MORE: “Climax!--‘Casino Royale’” (TV Obscurities); “Behold the Original Bond Babe,” by J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet).