Don-Martin Nielsen (’72), Burbank, CA
Don-Martin Nielsen (r) with husband, Aldo.
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As a kid growing up in Monrovia, Don-Martin Nielsen (’72) watched a lot of television and hoped that one day he might work in the industry. When it came time to choose a college, he picked San Diego State for its telecommunications and film major.
"It turned out very, very well," says the retired assistant director. “The program was absolutely the best."
Among his instructors was Desi Arnaz, the actor, musician and producer best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo in the groundbreaking television series, “I Love Lucy.” A Del Mar resident at the time, Arnaz taught a course in directing during the spring semester of 1972.
“It was great,” Nielsen says. “The guy was amazing.”
“CRUSHED”
Nielsen remembers being sick with a high fever and calling Arnaz’s secretary to cancel a meeting he had scheduled with the instructor. Just minutes after hanging up, Nielsen’s phone rang. It was Arnaz.
Nielsen's original diploma was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan and reads, "California State University, San Diego."
When the university's name was changed, Nielsen ordered a second diploma that reads, "San Diego State University." It was signed by Governor Jerry Brown.
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“He chewed me up one side and down the other (saying), 'You never cancel meetings’ and this and that,” Nielsen recalls. “I was crushed. I knew I had to go to class and I was scared to death the next day when he spotted me coming through the door.
“He came over and he put his arm around me and said, 'Amigo, I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to give you a taste of what it's going to be like when you work in Hollywood.’ That was one of the most valuable things he ever taught me, although at the time it was terrible."
Nielsen credits Arnaz with arranging a student trip to observe a production in Hollywood where he met a producer who helped him secure a position as a Universal Studios tour guide. It was the beginning of his career in the television and film industry.
Arnaz was just one of the many San Diego State instructors Nielsen credits with helping to prepare him for his career. "They were very creative and it was a great department," he says.
THE LUCKIEST GUY IN THE WORLD
Nielsen went on to work for such shows as "Six Million Dollar Man," the original "Hawaii Five-0," and "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and with stars Lee Majors, Jack Lord, Kate Jackson, Suzanne Somers and many more. The one he most admired?
“Greer Garson was an amazing woman,” he says of the Oscar-winning actress. “I did a TV movie with her and she was very, very smart and just a lovely lady. She arrived like a movie star in a Bentley with those little flower vases holding a rose and with a chauffer. She was so work-oriented that she wouldn't let anything interfere with her performance."
Nielsen during show night at 20th Century Fox on the set of "Dharma and Greg."
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Although he says he hasn’t visited campus “in decades,” Nielsen says he has fond memories of hanging out at Aztec Center and attending Aztec football games. He says he still follows Aztec teams and even when he attends games at USC (where he earned a graduate degree), he wears an Aztec for Life shirt under his Trojan garb.
"I always think, 'A little bit of San Diego State football is here in the Coliseum,'" Nielsen says. As the latest winner of the Aztec for Life Monthly Prize Giveaway, he’ll now have a lifetime member fleece to keep him warm.
Nielsen says he always encourages alumni he meets to become members of the SDSU Alumni Association. “It's important that you show support and you'd be surprised at how many people in television and film working at the studios are from San Diego State,” he says.
A member of both The Directors Guild of America and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Nielsen spends a lot of time these days at his Burbank home with his husband, Aldo, and their rescue dog, Blondie, a Cocker Spaniel mix. He says now that he has more time, he might consider a visit to the campus that helped launch the career he has always enjoyed.
“I always thought I was the luckiest guy in the world,” he says. “I'm proof positive that if you go to the right place and you get the grades, you'll get the opportunity and there you go.
“San Diego State was, for me, the place that showed me that everything was possible with hard work and a bit of luck. I Believe.”
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