Trivia: He had to add the "T" as a middle initial to avoid confusion with the actor, Craig Richard Nelson, who had registered his name first with the Screen Actors Guild. This strapping American Everyman endeared himself to movie audiences as the besieged patriarch in Poltergeist (1982), his first substantial film role. A former radio performer and stand-up comic whose pals included writer-director Barry Levinson. Wanted to be a Hydroplane racer before he became an actor. His dad doubted this and said it would be an impossible feat, like becoming an actor. Loves race car driving. Attended University of Arizona. Attended Central Washington University. Father-in-law of Ashley Jones, who plays Bridget Forrester on "The Bold and the Beautiful" (1987).