Os Angeles (CNN) -- David Nelson, the older brother in TV's Ozzie and Harriet Nelson family, died Tuesday after a battle with colon cancer, publicist Dale Olson said Wednesday. Nelson was 74.Nelson died at his Century City, California, home with his wife of 36 years, Yvonne, at his side, Olson said.
He was 16 in 1952 when he joined his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and younger brother Rick on the radio show "Here Come the Nelsons," which soon became television's "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet."
The TV show was shot in the family's real Hollywood Hills home and was based on the real family.
The sons' roles were originally played by actors when the radio show began, but David and Rick persuaded their parents to let them join the cast in its first year.
David Nelson directed and produced several episodes of the series during its five-year run, Olson said.
Read More: David Nelson, last of TV's 'Ozzie and Harriet,' is dead
