Nicolle Rochelle (born May 10, 1979), often credited professionally as Nicole Leach, is an American actress, dancer, and jazz singer, best known for her appearances on television including ''

Shining Time Station ''Shining Time Station'' is an American children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the Ame ...

'', '' The Babysitters Club'', and made for television movies ''The Vernon Johns Story'' starring James Earl Jones and after school special ''Summertime Switch''.

Early life

Rochelle grew up in West Orange and Montclair, New Jersey. She attended Montclair High School, and graduated early after three years and went on to earn her Linguistic Anthropology degree from Brown University.Jaeger, Barbara
"N.J. child actresses take their roles to heart: Musical benefits the AIDS fight"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and ...

'', April 28, 1995. Accessed September 17, 2007. "Last year, Leach, a sophomore at Montclair High School, participated in 'Kids Care,' which she said helped raise approximately $25,000 for the AIDS battle."

Career

Rochelle has appeared in several TV shows, usually under the name "Nicole Leach", including the first season of ''

'' with former Beatles member Ringo Starr as the granddaughter of the workshop's operator, several seasons of '' The Babysitters Club'' series, and four episodes of ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'' as a friend of the youngest Huxtable child. She also had guest roles on Nickelodeon's ''

Clarissa Explains It All ''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart), is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happenin ...

'' as "Olivia DuPris", '' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego'', ''

Third Watch ''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...

'', and '' Law & Order''. Rochelle has performed on and off-Broadway in such shows as ''Dangerous Games'', '' Fame on 42nd Street'', ''Miracle Brothers'', and a 2004 production of ''Limonade Tous le Jours'' starring Alan Alda. In 2003 she played

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This c ...

's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

''. In 2005, she played the title role in the musical ''

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in which ...

'' in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

. Rochelle starred in role of the new

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

in the musical ''A la recherche de Josephine'', produced by

Jérôme Savary Jérôme Savary (27 June 1942 – 4 March 2013) was an Argentinian-French theater director and actor. His work has democratized and widened the appeal of musical theater in France, drawing together and blending such genres as opera, operetta, and ...

, in Paris and touring Europe and the US from 2006 to 2010. Starting in 2010, Rochelle has toured internationally with the French electro-swing group "Ginkgoa" , French musician/singer/songwriter Julien Brunetaud with their blues/jazz group "Nikki & Jules", and been invited to sing with bands across the world from Austria to Germany, Ukraine to Hungary, Argentina, Switzerland to the US, and is currently releasing her new artist/activist project called "Modern GEAIsha", hip-hop fusion music with a message,

Benefit

In 1995, while still in high school, Rochelle participated in a musical to benefit the fight against

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Legal issues

On April 9, 2018, Leach was arrested and charged for disorderly conduct after jumping a barrier fence during a protest at Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania for the first day of Cosby's sexual assault retrial. She was topless and her body was covered with the writing "Women’s Lives Matter" and the names of the comedian's accusers. Leach jumped over when Cosby was close to the courthouse's entrance just before 9am ET, with security apprehending her afterwards. Cosby, along with spokesperson Andrew Wyatt, was blind and had a slight reaction while Wyatt was shocked in surprise. Leach had planned to attend other trial protests that day but was recommended by authorities not to and said that her intention was to make Cosby uncomfortable and that because she used to look up to him that his actions towards others had "felt personal to me."

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Nicole 1979 births American expatriates in France 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses African-American actresses American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses Living people Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Montclair, New Jersey Brown University alumni American child actresses American women's rights activists 20th-century African-American women singers American jazz singers American dancers 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians