Nelson could also make sure we didn't like him much at all, sucker punching the harmless Sterling Holloway in "Machine", or kidnapping Inspector Henderson's beleaguered son in The Talking Clue.

Born a New Yorker in1903, Nelson's work in films began 30 years later. He often toiled anonymously, with fully half of his 82 roles at IMDB listed as uncredited. His films of the 1930s and ‘40s were themselves obscurities, 1945’s Anchors Aweigh being a notable exception (Nelson goes uncredited as a sailor).

His TV efforts covered more familiar territory—with turns in Lassie, Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Highway Patrol, Death Valley Days, and TAOS among others—and represented a busy stretch during the 1950s. But very little came after. Nelson’s last listing—an uncredited toughie in Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles— is in 1961. With this talented actor’s name going so often unnoted, we can hope he particularly enjoyed his final TAOS credit in The Big Forget as Knuckles Nelson!

Billy Nelson died in 1973 at the age of 70, his status as the bad guy fans could almost like firmly fixed in TAOS history.