Fayard Antonio Nicholas (October 20, 1914 – January 24, 2006) was an American choreographer, dancer and actor. He and his younger brother

Harold Nicholas Harold Lloyd Nicholas (March 27, 1921 – July 3, 2000) was an American dancer specializing in tap. Nicholas was the younger half of the tap-dancing pair the Nicholas Brothers, known as two of the world's greatest dancers. His older brother was ...

made up the Nicholas Brothers

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

duo, who starred in the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

musicals ''An All-Colored Vaudeville Show'' (1935), '' Stormy Weather'' (1943), '' The Pirate'' (1948), and ''Hard Four'' (2007). The Nicholas brothers also starred in the 20th Century-Fox musicals ''

Down Argentine Way ''Down Argentine Way'' is a 1940 American musical film made in Technicolor by Twentieth Century Fox. It made a star of Betty Grable in her first leading role for the studio although she had already appeared in 31 films, and it introduced American ...

'' (1940), ''

Sun Valley Serenade ''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. ...

'' (1941), and '' Orchestra Wives'' (1942).

Early life

Nicholas was born in Alabama, but grew up primarily in Philadelphia. He learned to dance while watching vaudeville shows with his brother while their musician parents played in the orchestra. His father, Ulysses D. Nicholas, was a drummer and his mother, Viola Harden Nicholas, was a pianist.FAYARD NICHOLAS
The History Makers, May 14, 2004

Career

In 1932, when he was 18 and his brother was only 11, they became the featured act at Cotton Club in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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.Minister of Grace Dance Legend Fayard Nicholas Joins the Soul to Sole Tap Festival
The Austin Chronicle, June 6, 2003 His career was interrupted from 1943 to 1944 when he served in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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.

Personal life

Nicholas was married three times. He remained friends with his first wife, Geraldine Pate, after their divorce. His second wife was Barbara January, and they remained married until her death in 1998. He married dancer Katherine Hopkins in 2000. He was a member of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

. Nicholas died of pneumonia following a stroke in 2006 at age 91. His widow Katherine died in 2012.

References

External links

Nicholas Brothers official website
* * * *
Fayard Nicholas's oral history video excerpts
at The National Visionary Leadership Project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Fayard 1914 births 2006 deaths Actors from Mobile, Alabama African-American male dancers African-American dancers American male dancers African-American Bahá'ís American choreographers American male film actors African-American male actors American tap dancers Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Kennedy Center honorees Tony Award winners American male stage actors Male actors from Alabama Male actors from Philadelphia 21st-century Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís 20th-century American male actors United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army non-commissioned officers Deaths from pneumonia in California 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people