Name
Fayard Nicholas
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1914-10-20
Deathday
2006-01-24 (92 years old)
Place of Birth
Mobile, Alabama, USA
Biography
Fayard Antonio Nicholas was an American choreographer, dancer and actor. He and his younger brother Harold Nicholas made up the Nicholas Brothers tap dance duo, who starred in the MGM musicals An All-Colored Vaudeville Show, Stormy Weather, The Pirate, and Hard Four. The Nicholas brothers also starred in the 20th Century-Fox musicals Down Argentine Way, Sun Valley Serenade, and Orchestra Wives. In 1932, when he was 18 and his brother was only 11, they became the featured act at Cotton Club in New York City. The brothers earned fame with a unique style of rhythm tap that blended "masterful jazz steps with daredevil athletic moves and an elegance of motion worthy of ballet". They appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway and in London they worked with jazz choreographer Buddy Bradley. The performances led them to a career in film. Nicholas appeared in over 60 films, including the 1943 musical Stormy Weather with their signature staircase dance.
His career was interrupted from 1943 to 1944 when he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Nicholas achieved the rank of Technician fifth grade while in WWII.
After his dance career ended, Nicholas and his wife, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas, embarked on a lecture tour discussing dance. In 2003, Nicholas served as "Festival Legend" at the third "Soul to Sole Tap Festival" in Austin, Texas.
Nicholas was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2001.
Known For
7.358
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's ...
6.8
A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from its origins after the invention of th...
6.1
A successful African American businessman has a quarrel with a white policeman, suspecting...
7.1
When Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort its pianist Ted Scott is smitten wi...
6.8
The relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospect...
6.5
Connie Ward is in seventh heaven when Gene Morrison's band rolls into town. She is swept o...
4.8
Two elderly criminals spend their final night in Los Angeles, California at the Golden Eag...
5.8
Two-bit radio station owner Spud Miller doubles as the station's sole announcer. On the ve...
- 1940 Down Argentine Way as One of the Nicholas Brothers
- 1935 An All-Colored Vaudeville Show as Self
- 2007 Hard Four as Ulysses
- 1988 Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1935 The Big Broadcast of 1936 as Dot
- 2022 Nicholas Brothers: Stormy Weather as Self (archival footage)
- 1937 Calling All Stars as Himself
- 1932 Pie, Pie Blackbird as Child with Nina / Dancer (as The Nicholas Brothers)
- 1936 The Black Network as Dancer (uncredited)
- 1974 That's Entertainment! as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2002 Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story as Self (uncredited)
- 1933 Barber Shop Blues as Self - Dancer - One of the Nicholas Brothers
- 1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones as Benny Smith
- 1942 Orchestra Wives as Dancer (as Nicholas Brothers)
- 1935 Coronado as Dance Specialty (uncredited)
- 1941 Sun Valley Serenade as Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
- 1940 Tin Pan Alley as Dancer
- 2016 Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops as Self
- 2002 Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer as Self
- 1936 Don't Gamble with Love as Specialty Dancer
- 1956 Hello Kathrin
- 1992 The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We Dance as Himself
- 1975 Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
- 1953 El misterio del carro express as Bailarín
- 1944 Take It or Leave It as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1943 Stormy Weather as Dancer
- 2002 It's Black Entertainment as Self
- 2003 Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty as Self
- 1985 That's Dancing! as From 'Down Argentine Way' (archive footage)
- 2007 The Pirate: A Musical Treasure Chest as Self (archive footage)
- 1939 My Son Is Guilty as Specialty Act
- 2003 Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There as Self
- 2002 Night at the Golden Eagle as Mr. Maynard
- 1953 El mensaje de la muerte as Bailarín
- 1948 The Pirate as Performer
- 1934 Kid Millions as Dancer on Ship
- 1941 The Great American Broadcast as Railroad Station Dancer
- 1998 Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood as Self
- 2019 Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back as Self (archive footage)
- 1952 Abbott and Costello Christmas Show as Himself
- 1964 The Hollywood Palace ( 1 episode ) as Self - Tap Dancer
- 1976 The Jacksons ( 1 episode ) as El mismo
- 1978 The Kennedy Center Honors ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 2 episodes ) as self
