| Denise Nicholas | |
|---|---|
Nicholas in January 2011 |
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| Born | Donna Denise Nicholas July 12, 1944 Detroit, Michigan United States |
| Years active | 1968-2004 |
| Spouse | Jim Hill 1981-1984 (divorced) Bill Withers (1973-1974) (divorced) Gilbert Moses 1964-1965 (divorced)[1] |
Denise Nicholas (born Donna Denise Nicholas; July 12, 1944)[1] is an American actress and social activist who was involved in the American Civil Rights Movement. She is known primarily for her role as high school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series Room 222, and for her role as Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the NBC/CBS drama series In the Heat of the Night.
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Nicholas was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Louise Carolyn and Otto Nicholas.[1] She spent her early years in Detroit. With the remarriage of her mother to Robert Burgen, she then moved to Milan, Michigan, a small town south of Ann Arbor. At the age of 16 she appeared on the August 25, 1960 cover of Jet Magazine as a future school teacher prospect at the National High School Institute at Northwestern University.[2] She graduated from Milan High School in 1961. Nicholas is the middle child of three, an older brother, Otto, and a younger sister, Michele, now deceased.
She entered the University of Michigan as a pre-law major. While at Michigan she switched her major to Latin-American politics, Spanish and English. She subsequently transferred to Tulane University where she pursued a major in fine arts. Her acting debut was in an all-Spanish play that was presented by her language class.[2] She left college early to join the Free Southern Theater, during the turbulent days of the civil rights movement. After spending two years touring the deep south with the FST, Nicholas went to New York and joined the Negro Ensemble Company participating in its rigorous training program and working in all productions during the first season of that acclaimed theater ensemble. From the stage of the St. Marks Playhouse in New York, Nicholas was cast as, "Liz McIntyre," the Guidance Counselor on the soon to be very popular and innovative ABC series, "Room 222." Nicholas received her BA in Drama, from the University of Southern California, after living in Southern California for a number of years.
Nicholas began her television acting career in 1968, with an episode of It Takes a Thief. She has since appeared in many popular movies and television shows. She is probably best known for her role as, "Liz McIntyre," on the show Room 222 (1969–1974), as well as her role as, "Harriet DeLong," on In the Heat of the Night (1989–1995). Nicholas wrote six episodes of the dramatic show, "In the Heat of the Night," and thus began her second career as a writer. When that show was cancelled, she enrolled in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California, eventually finding her way to the Journeymen's Writing Workshop under the tutelage of author Janet Fitch. She worked with Fitch for five years. Nicholas also attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshop, and the Natalie Goldberg Workshop, in Taos, New Mexico.
Her first novel, Freshwater Road, was published by Agate Publishing, in August 2005, to critical acclaim, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly. It was selected as one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsday and The Chicago Tribune. The novel won the Zora Neal Hurston/Richard Wright Award for debut fiction in 2006, as well as the American Library Association's Black Caucus Award for debut fiction the same year. Freshwater Road was reprinted by Pocket Books.
Brown University commissioned Nicholas to write a staged adaptation of Freshwater Road, which was presented in May 2008.
She continues to do book events and speaking engagements around the country and is at work on her second novel.
In 1973, Nicholas married American singer-songwriter Bill Withers during her stint as the main actress of Room 222. The couple divorced the next year. Nicholas was later married to former football player and current CBS sports anchor Jim Hill but they are now divorced. She has no children and continues to make her home in Southern California.
Ritual
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Dame Lorraine[1] | Angela Moulineaux | Los Angeles Actors Theatre | |
| 1968 | Song of the Lusitanian Bogey[3] | St. Mark's Playhouse | Revival of earlier production. | |
| Daddy Goodness[4] | Lena | St. Mark's Playhouse | ||
| Kongi's Harvest[5] | Praise Singer | St. Mark's Playhouse | ||
| Song of the Lusitanian Bogey[6] | St. Mark's Playhouse | |||
| 1967 | One Last Look[7] | April Baylor | Old Reliable Theater Tavern | |
| 1966 | Viet Rock[8] | Martinique Theatre |