Once the custody battle was over, Kristin maintained custody of her youngest son with Ricky. Uncle Mark Harmon was allotted visitation rights and Kris, Sam, and Mark all agreed to go to family therapy. As he grew older, Sam would appear as himself in documentaries about his family.
Nowadays, the internet reports that Sam is an actor. He reportedly started a band called H is Orange. He also has written two books called The Addict, which “cuts through gender, racial, and generational gaps to expose the cause of addictions,” and Quandles: An Introduction to the Algebra of Knots.
The Case Was Taken to Court
The custody battle between Kristin and her brother Mark over young Sam was so brutal that they eventually were ordered to appear before a judge. Mark Harmon requested custody over Sam, under the premise that Kristin wasn't fit to raise him on her own. The trial was highly publicized.
Kristin appeared “dressed neatly and [wearing] a calm, pleasant expression throughout the proceedings,” answering rude and difficult questions with respect and class. According to People, “Mark scowled most of the time and icily ignored all reporters. By the end of Day One, the press had cast him as the heavy and Kris as the heroine, and the coverage next morning reflected the feeling.”
“Too Much Blood Has Been Spilled”
The trial got so intense to the point where Mark Harmon's wife, actress Pam Dawber was accused of being a drug addict herself. The trial was eventually called off on day three after those involved realized that it would be detrimental to their careers in show business to continue.
Mark apparently went up to Kristin’s attorney and said, “We don’t want to go any further with this. Too much blood has been spilled.” After word got out about this, people who watched the trial said things like, “They’re obviously more concerned about their own careers than they are about the boy’s welfare” and, “This was a typical family dispute and it should have been settled around the dining room table.”
The Other Nelson Grandchildren
Not all of Ricky and Kristin's children were caught up in the family drama. Their first three kids all managed to escape much of the family drama since they were much older. Their first child, daughter Tracy Nelson, followed similarly in her family’s footsteps and became an actress.
She got started with her acting career before other people even start crawling, considering that at the age of three months old, she appeared on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. At the age of four, she was once again on television when she played in Yours, Mine and Ours as the daughter of Lucille Ball. She eventually went on to study ballet for 17 years and studied dance in college.
Tracy Nelson
Tracy acted on the sitcom Square Pegs alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1980's. She played the “valley girl” Jennifer DeNuccio. During this time, she experienced her breakthrough role in film after she starred in Paul Mazursky’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills. She gained more popularity after starring in The Father Dowling Mysteries, in which she played the role as Sister Stephanie.
As a member of television’s Nelson family, she would go on to guest star in other classic family sitcoms such as Family Ties, The Nanny, 7th Heaven, Melrose Place, Seinfeld, and St. Elsewhere. But eventually, Tracy's life would take a turn for the worse...