Craig T. Nelson's Real Name: Craig T. Nelson

Quick answer: The actor works under his own name, Craig T. Nelson, middle initial included. The Television Academy lists his birthday as April 4 and his birthplace as Spokane, Washington, and the University of Arizona says he is "originally from Spokane." The sources used here do not spell out the middle name behind the "T."

Real name and early life

The Television Academy's biography page gives "Birthday: April 4" and "Birthplace: Spokane, Washington." The University of Arizona, which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, says he is "originally from Spokane, Washington." A Library of Congress record uses the heading Nelson, Craig T., matching his screen credits. Encyclopaedia Britannica's topic page also lists him under that name.

In a 2015 Television Academy "Me and My Emmy" feature, Nelson said, "My dad was a drummer and my mom was a dancer," and that their introductions to performing first interested him in acting. The University of Arizona says he drove his 1956 Studebaker from Spokane to Tucson in the fall of 1965 to attend the university on a drama scholarship, studied under theater head Peter R. Marroney, and left in 1969, before finishing his degree, to take a professional acting job in Hollywood.

Career highlights

The University of Arizona lists film credits including Poltergeist (1982), in which he starred, Silkwood, All the Right Moves, The Osterman Weekend, The Family Stone, The Proposal, and Book Club. It says he voiced Mr. Incredible in Pixar's The Incredibles (2004), and Britannica's coverage of the film names him as the voice of Bob Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible.

The Television Academy records three Emmy nominations for playing Hayden Fox on ABC's Coach, in 1990, 1991, and 1992, with a win for lead actor in a comedy series in 1992. In the Academy feature he said he had been racing cars in Vancouver and flew back to Los Angeles for the ceremony, and that the win was "a complete shock." The 2015 feature also mentions an NBC order for a 13-episode Coach sequel.

The University of Arizona says he played Zeek Braverman on Parenthood, which he told the Academy ran for "six incredible years," appeared on Broadway in Ah, Wilderness!, and spent five seasons as Dale Ballard, the love interest of Meemaw, on CBS's Young Sheldon. It says the university named its renovated Marroney Theatre stage the Craig T. Nelson Stage.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Craig T. Nelson, Craig Nelson, or the Coach star's middle name are looking for the same actor. Hayden Fox, Zeek Braverman, and Mr. Incredible are characters, not his names.