David Nelson, who played a role on his parents’ popular television show entitled “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” has died at age 74, according to a family spokesman.

Nelson was battling from complications of colon cancer when he died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, the family spokesman and long time Hollywood publicist Dale Olson said.

David was the last remaining member of the famous TV show that was hosted by the Nelsons family. The show included David’s father Ozzie, which was an actor and bandleader; his mother and singer Harriet Hilliard; and his late teen idol brother, Rick Nelson.

The Nelsons TV family began as a radio series, “Here Come the Nelsons” in 1952. The show was subsequently aired on TV from 1952 to 1966 as “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” with a total of 320 episodes. David Nelson even produced and directed several episodes of the show.

Singer Gunnar Nelson, a son of Rick Nelson, made a statement on Wednesday telling that his uncle’s death was a great loss to the Nelson family. He also said that they will all miss his uncle’s laughter and evolved sense of humor.

David was born in New York City. He attended formal education at Hollywood High School and the University of Southern California. He was given with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the motion picture industry on May 9, 1996 at 1501 Vine Street.

His wife, Yvonne survived him with his four sons and one daughter, and seven children. A service will be held on Thursday at Pierce Brothers Westwood Mortuary.

According to scientists, getting people to eat a healthy diet, exercise more, avoid smoke, and cut down alcohol consumption could likely prevent about one-fourth of the 1.2 million cases of colon cancer that are diagnosed each year.

Denmark researchers found that by following the guidelines on physical activity, waist circumference, alcohol intake, smoking and diet could decrease a person’s risk to develop colon cancer by as much as 23 percent.

According to Anne Tjonneland, the scientist who led the study from the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology at the Danish Cancer Society, the study reveals the importance of a public health message that even the slightest differences in lifestyle can make a substantial effect on the risk of colorectal cancer.

There are about half million people worldwide that die each year due to colorectal cancer, also referred to as colon or bowel cancer.

The study was made among 55,487 men and women at the ages of 50-64 years old that had not been previously diagnosed with cancer and tracked them along for almost 10 years.

The participants were presented with lifestyle and diet questionnaires and the researchers made a healthy lifestyle index based on the recommendations from various health institutions.

The results showed that 678 people were diagnosed with bowel cancer during the follow-up period. The results are now published in the British Medical Journal.

According to the researchers’ analysis, if the participants followed five lifestyle tips, 13 percent of colon cancer cases might have been avoided while 23 percent of cases could have been prevented if they followed one more extra guideline.

Experts suggest that people should be convinced to follow a good diet and healthy lifestyle to prevent the risk of colon cancer.