Sharon Christine Nelson, nee Christine Harmon, is an American primitive artist, actress and writer. Most of all, she became famous for becoming the wife of actor and musician Ricky Nelson.
Biography
Christine Harmon was born on June 25, 1945 into a stellar family. Father - famous American football player Tom Harmon, mother - actress Elise Knox. The family and Christine had a younger sister, Kelly Harmon, who later became an actress, and a younger brother, Mark Harmon, who later became an actor.
In 1963, at the age of 17, Christine married Ricky Nelson and joined the Nelson family television show as an actress. During the marriage, the couple will have four children, but Christine will never find marital happiness. The fact is that Rick Nelson's extravagant lifestyle included long tours, which put a lot of pressure on the marriage.
Christine has been seeking a divorce for a long time, and Ricky provided it to her shortly before his death in a plane crash in 1985.
After her divorce from Ricky, Christine became addicted to drugs and in 1987 underwent drug addiction rehabilitation.
In 1988, Christine remarried director and producer Mark Tinker, who awakened her passion for drawing. Christine quickly became a renowned painter of the primitive genre. Her works were often purchased by Jacqueline Kennedy, Mia Farrow and other celebrities.
In 200, Christine and Mark divorced.
Christine died on April 27, 2018 at the age of 72 from a heart attack. This was announced on Facebook by her daughter, actress Tracy Nelson.
Career
Immediately after her marriage to Rick Nelson, Christine began appearing on her husband's TV show "The Adventures of Ozzy Harriet" as a regular actress, first appearing in the episode "Rick's Wedding Ring".
In 1965, Christine and her husband starred in the romantic comedy Love and Kisses, dedicated to the problems of a young school-age couple who first began to live together.
Christine also played the wife of an officer in the film "Adam-12", played roles in TV shows and theatrical films. One of her films, Broncho Billy Raising, won an Oscar for Best Short Film.
In 1982, Christine refused any filming and roles.
Creation
In 1988, together with her second husband, Christine began to paint.
As an artist, Christine quickly grew professionally and became famous among Hollywood collectors after one of her works was bought by Jacqueline Kennedy. After that, such famous personalities as Mia Farrow, Mystery Daly and Dwight Yoakam became among the regular customers of Christine.
According to critics, her works belong to the primitive genre of painting, are distinguished by their bright colors and lack of perspective as such. Her paintings are always filled with many figures. As an artist, Christine doesn't care about being smart or elusive, she just uses her talent to visually document.
Her most famous paintings were "When the Kennedy were in the White House" (1964) and "The day he died" (1990). The last work is dedicated to Christine's father.
In 1990, all of her paintings were published in the autobiography "From My Mind" - a publication the size of a coffee table, in which her paintings seem to tell the story of her life, supplemented by diary entries and poems.
Personal life
Christine began dating Ricky Nelson for a long time. First as friends, and since 1961 they declared themselves a couple. In 1962, the young people got engaged.
Christine Harmon and Ricky Nelson's wedding took place on April 20, 1963 at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Christine was then already pregnant and Ricky later described their union as "a wedding with a shotgun at the temple."
Nelson was a deviant Protestant, but for the sake of his wife he converted to the Catholic faith and signed a pledge to baptize all his children as Catholics.
By 1975, the marriage was on the verge of collapse. When Ricky returned from his next tour in 1977, he unexpectedly discovered that Christine and her children had moved into a rented house.
In 1977, Christine started a divorce proceedings, trying to sue alimony, custody of her four children and part of the joint property. However, the process ended with the reconciliation of the parties.
In 1980, the couple purchased the estate for $ 750,000. Christine wanted her husband to quit music and spend more time at home, to become an actor. But Nelson continued to tour the entire time. This created a nuisance in the family.
In 1980, the divorce proceedings began anew. The couple did not manage to agree peacefully, so they got a divorce only in 1981. Christine received custody of children and child support in the amount of $ 3,600. In addition, Nelson was ordered to pay taxes on the property of children, bills for their treatment and education.
The divorce was a big financial shock for Nelson. By 1982, when all the divorce cases were fully concluded, Ricky's expenses for accountants and lawyers exceeded $ 1 million.
The spousal estate, bought for 750 thousand dollars, was left in the ownership of the children.
Children
Married to Rick Nelson, Christine Harmon gave birth to four children.
Tracy's first daughter was born in 1963, 6 months after the wedding. In preschool age, she starred in the film Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball. As a teenager, she attended the exclusive Westlake girls' school. During the divorce proceedings, she lived with her father.
Twin sons Gunnar Eric and Matthew Gray were born in 1967. After the death of their father in 1985, they formed their own music group, Nelson, which continues to perform today.
The fourth child - Sam Hilliard was born in 1974. At the age of 6, he was placed under the care of the Harmon grandparents.
In 1987, when Sam was only 13 years old, his mother Christine was undergoing drug addiction treatment. Christine's brother Mark tried to obtain custody of the underage Sam in court, arguing that the addicted Christine was incapable of a good upbringing of a child.
The process ended in a rather unexpected way. Mark dropped his lawsuit after it was revealed that his wife, Pam Dober, also abuses cocaine.
