Paul Nicholas
Encyclopedia
Paul Nicholas is an English
actor
and singer who has had considerable success on stage
, screen
and in the pop
charts.
, England
. His grandfather — who originated from Belgium
— had been a chef
in the merchant navy during World War II
, before becoming Head Chef on The Union-Castle Line
ships between England and South Africa
. His maternal grandfather was a London docker.
Nicholas' father Oscar Beuselinck, a fomer MI6 agent, became a highly esteemed entertainment lawyer
, whose clients included: MGM, Jack Hylton, John Osborne
, The Rolling Stones
, Tony Richardson
, Richard Harris
, Sean Connery
, Yes
, Robert Stigwood
, and The Who
.
The family spent holidays at his maternal grandparents' home on the Isle of Sheppey
, until Nicholas was 10. After his parents divorced when he was 12, his father's family home was at Letchmore Heath, Watford
opposite the Bhaktivedanta Manor
. Nicholas' paternal grandparents, Winnie and Oscar, lived in a small cottage on the grounds.
rocker
, Screaming Lord Sutch
. It was here that Sutch first noticed the young Nicholas, who was soon to become vocalist and pianist with The Savages.
Still using the name Paul Dean, Nicholas released two solo
singles
in 1965-66. After taking a new stage name, Oscar, he began a long association with the Australia
n-born entrepreneur
, Robert Stigwood
. In 1966, Nicholas signed with Stigwood's Reaction Records
label
and his first single under his new name, "Club of Lights", scraped into the lower reaches of the Radio London
Fab Forty chart.
The second Oscar single was a version of a Pete Townshend
song "Join My Gang", which The Who
never recorded. His third single, a novelty song called "Over the Wall We Go" (1967) is notable for being written and produced by a young David Bowie
and it gained a degree of notoriety because of Bowie's tongue-in-cheek lyrics concerning escaped prisoners and incompetent policemen, which satirised a rash of highly publicised prison
break-outs in the UK
and was banned by the BBC.
After settling on the stage name Paul Nicholas, Nicholas eventually found success in the UK in musicals
, beginning with the leading role of Claude in Hair
(which Stigwood produced) before winning the title role in the original London production of Jesus Christ Superstar
. The part of Danny to Elaine Paige
's Sandy made them the first British couple to play the leads in Grease
. He joined The Young Vic
under Frank Dunlop
and played Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing
and appeared in Crete and Sgt. Pepper by John Antrobus
. He appeared as the Bully of the Boulevard in Richard O’Brien’s T-Zee at London's Royal Court Theatre
. He also performed in Prospect Theatre Company's Carl Davies musical Pilgrim. It was while touring with O'Brien in Hair in 1970 that he first heard songs from the yet to be produced Rocky Horror Show and made the first professional recording with O'Brien singing "That Ain't No Crime". On the b-side
was a song entitled "Very 50s", where O'Brien introduces the characters Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott (In 2005 Nicholas sent O'Brien a CD copy of the recordings with a view to releasing them as an historical record). Thereafter Nicholas returned to the West End
starring in Harold Fielding
's revival of Charlie Girl
with Cyd Charisse
.
Nicholas' film career began in 1970 in a French film with Serge Gainsbourg
and Jane Birkin
called Cannabis. Whatever Happened To Jack and Jill followed, in which he played Mona Washbourne
's character's ungrateful grandson. He followed this as a psychotic
killer in Richard Fleischer
's Blind Terror
. In 1975, he gained international attention when he played the cameo role of the title character's sadistic Cousin Kevin in Robert Stigwood
and Ken Russell
's film Tommy
. He worked again for Russell in Lisztomania, playing Richard Wagner
.
In 1976, he embarked on a short-lived but high profile pop career, with three Top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart
"Reggae Like It Used To Be", "Dancing With The Captain", and "Grandma's Party", the last two of which reached the Top 10. He released the single "Heaven on the 7th Floor" in 1977. This only just reached the UK Top 40, but reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
listings in the US
. He followed this with "On The Strip" which entered the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to enter the UK chart. In the mid 1970s he hosted his own pop show on children's TV, titled Paul.
In 1978, he co-starred in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
as Dougie Shears. Further films followed including Nutcracker
with Joan Collins
, Yesterday's Hero with Ian McShane
and Susan Summers, The World Is Full of Married Men with Carol Baker, the romantic lead in Invitation To A Wedding, and the loutish punk
singer in The Jazz Singer
.
Having done the workshop with Andrew Lloyd Webber
, Nicholas returned to the West End
stage in 1981 to create the role of the capricious cat Rum Tum Tugger
in Webber
's musical
Cats
. He followed this originating the title role in Blondel
by Sir Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver. That same year he starred in Two Up, Two Down
, a short-lived sitcom co-starring Su Pollard
. Then in 1983, Nicholas got his first high-profile television role (he had acted in plays and one-off roles through the 1970s on TV) in which he was cast as Vince Pinner in the BBC TV sitcom Just Good Friends
, written by John Sullivan
.
The show, for which Nicholas also sang the theme tune, was a success. He was also nominated for a BAFTA. It ended in 1986 with the marriage of the two main characters in Paris
. Nicholas went on to star in two highly successful series for ITV
. In the major drama series Bust he was nominated Best Actor. He acted in two series of Close to Home, a sitcom about a vet. During this period Nicholas was seldom off television with many appearances including four Royal Variety Shows. He also appeared in TV commercials for Rougemont Castle British wine, and magazine advertisements for Farah slacks.
Nicholas returned to the theatre playing numerous roles on screen in both movie and television projects. He starred as The Pirate King in Joseph Papp
's version of The Pirates of Penzance
at the London Palladium
and the Manchester Opera House
, touring again in the same role in the late 1990s. Nicholas starred in Barnum
in the first national tour and followed this with a highly successful season at The Dominion Theatre in the West End. At the end of 1991, while touring with Barnum
, Nicholas was the subject of This Is Your Life
. For his services to show business and charity, Nicholas was awarded a Silver Heart from the Variety Club of Great Britain and a Gold Badge Award from BASCA. Nicholas then starred in the national tour of Singin' in the Rain
, which was directed by Tommy Steele
.
In June 1996, Nicholas played the role of King Arthur
in the Covent Garden Festival’s production of Camelot
. He repeated his role of King Arthur in a BBC Radio 2
production of Camelot. Other radio work included Gracie Field's husband Bert in BBC Radio 4
's Gracie
. Nicholas then hosted two series of BBC Radio 2's Mad About Musical, as well as his own hour long TV special, Paul and Friends, for Thames Television
. Nicholas fronted the Radio 4 children's series Cat's Whiskers during the 1980s.
Nicholas was also the narrator of the children's animated series The Adventures of Spot, part of the Spot the Dog
franchise, in 1985. Although he was briefly replaced by Peter Hawkins for the first phase of It's Fun To Learn With Spot, Nicholas reprises the role in time with the production of a second season of The Adventures of Spot in 1992, and also performed the narration for the second phase of It's Fun To Learn With Spot. His involvement with the franchise ended in 1996, with his last credited appearance in the series being in the special Spot's Magical Christmas. Such was Nicholas' association as the narrator of the franchise that he also narrated four stories featuring Spot the Dog that was released directly to cassette and CD in the late 1980s, and was also the voice featured on the Spot the Dog children's ride, which was first manufactured in 1995.
In 1997, Nicholas starred as the anti-hero of Karoline Leach
's The Mysterious Mr. Love at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. Nicholas continued to appear as the lead in numerous straight roles thereafter: Simon Gray
's Stagestruck, a national tour of Michael Cooney’s The Dark Side with Jenny Seagrove
, Catch Me if You Can with Christopher Eccleston
, and two plays by Eric Chappell
: Mixed Feelings, in which he played a transsexual, and Snakes and Ladders with Ian Ogilvy
. Nicholas starred as John Smith in the original production of Caught In The Net. He then co-produced, with Bill Kenwright
, a new musical based on Charles Dickens
' novel A Tale of Two Cities
, in which he starred as Sidney Carton. The musical then played Windsor with a Christmas season in Birmingham.
In 2000, Nicholas appeared in the BBC television comedy drama Sunburn
, playing the role of David Janus, owner of the self-titled holiday company that the series centered around. He also played the role of Ronnie Buchan in the new police drama series Burnside. Further television work followed with parts in The Bill and Holby City. Nicholas then played the title role in the national tour of Doctor Dolittle
and followed this with the role of Tevye in UK Productions' national tour of Fiddler On The Roof
.
In the summer of 2006, he was a celebrity showjumper
in the BBC's Sport Relief
event Only Fools on Horses
, as well as appearing in Doctors, Heartbeat and Holby City. That autumn, Nicholas was attached to star in the British film Cash and Curry
, and also in that year he co-produced and starred in the musical Jekyll & Hyde
in a UK national tour.
In 2007, Nicholas and his business partner David Ian took part in a search for Danny and Sandy in the ITV1
show Grease is the Word. David Ian was a judge and Nicholas the acting coach to the contestants. He performed with his son Alex Beuselinck in Schwartz Stories, a new musical at the Kings Head. Also in 2007 Nicholas produced and directed Keeler, a new play based on Christine Keeler
's autobiography 'The Truth At Last'.
At the beginning of 2007, Nicholas starred as Julian Marsh in the UK tour of 42nd Street
, directed by the author Mark Bramble
. Nicholas left prematurely so that he could film the new daily ITV1
medical series The Royal Today
in which he played the consultant surgeon Mr. Woods. In 2008 Nicholas played Alan Boon in BBC Four's Consuming Passions - a hundred years of Mills and Boon. He also directed and produced A Tale of Two Cities
at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. In 2009 Nicholas played Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard
for the Carl Rosa Opera Company
at the Tower of London Festival. He co-produced Jest End, Garry Lake's take on the West End musical at the Jeremyn Street Theatre. In 2010 Nicholas returned to BBC Television with an appearance in Missing. Nicholas undertook a UK tour playing the Pirate King in the Carl Rosa Opera Company production of The Pirates Of Penzance
. In November 2010, Nicholas and Sean Maguire starred in a new play, The Haunting. The Haunting continued in 2011 with Nicholas and Charlie
Clements. In September 2011 Paul will produce and direct a UK Tour of 'Keeler' a new play written by Gill Adams based on Christine Keeler's book 'The Truth At Last' starring Alice Coulthard as Christine Keeler.
in a production of The Pirates of Penzance
at the London Palladium, Nicholas offered Ian a partnership in co-producing and starring in a touring production of the New York Shakespeare Festival
version of the popular Gilbert and Sullivan
opera
. Paul Nicholas & David Ian Associates Ltd were formed to produce the 20th anniversary production of Jesus Christ Superstar on a UK-wide tour, which sold out. They then produced a nightly fully staged version of The Pirates of Penzance in which Nicholas starred and again they sold out.
The company has since produced numerous shows making both partners millionaires, including:
In January 2008 Nicholas launched Paul Nicholas Community Arts, a project designed to engage disenfranchised children in the arts. The pilot scheme will be funded for fourteen weeks by Wyre Borough Council in the North West of England. A twelve week scheme began on the 28 May 2008 in Blackpool
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and singer who has had considerable success on stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, screen
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and in the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
charts.
Biography
Nicholas was born as Paul Oscar Beuselinck in PeterboroughPeterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His grandfather — who originated from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
— had been a chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
in the merchant navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, before becoming Head Chef on The Union-Castle Line
Union-Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a prominent British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line...
ships between England and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. His maternal grandfather was a London docker.
Nicholas' father Oscar Beuselinck, a fomer MI6 agent, became a highly esteemed entertainment lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, whose clients included: MGM, Jack Hylton, John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
, Richard Harris
Richard Harris
Richard St John Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer....
, Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
, Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood is an impresario and entertainment entrepreneur who relocated to England in 1954...
, and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
.
The family spent holidays at his maternal grandparents' home on the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
, until Nicholas was 10. After his parents divorced when he was 12, his father's family home was at Letchmore Heath, Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
opposite the Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England in the village of Aldenham near Watford. The Manor, as it is called by those familiar with it, is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as ISKCON or the...
. Nicholas' paternal grandparents, Winnie and Oscar, lived in a small cottage on the grounds.
Career
Nicholas began his pop career as early as 1960. Adopting the stage name Paul Dean, he formed Paul Dean & The Dreamers who were booked to support The Savages, the backing band for the BritishGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
rocker
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, Screaming Lord Sutch
Screaming Lord Sutch
David Edward Sutch , also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom...
. It was here that Sutch first noticed the young Nicholas, who was soon to become vocalist and pianist with The Savages.
Still using the name Paul Dean, Nicholas released two solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in 1965-66. After taking a new stage name, Oscar, he began a long association with the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-born entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood is an impresario and entertainment entrepreneur who relocated to England in 1954...
. In 1966, Nicholas signed with Stigwood's Reaction Records
Reaction Records
Reaction Records was an independent British record label, run by music executive Robert Stigwood in 1966 and 1967. Although Reaction released only three albums, one EP and eighteen singles in its brief existence, its roster included two of the most popular British bands of the time, The Who and Cream...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
and his first single under his new name, "Club of Lights", scraped into the lower reaches of the Radio London
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
Fab Forty chart.
The second Oscar single was a version of a Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
song "Join My Gang", which The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
never recorded. His third single, a novelty song called "Over the Wall We Go" (1967) is notable for being written and produced by a young David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
and it gained a degree of notoriety because of Bowie's tongue-in-cheek lyrics concerning escaped prisoners and incompetent policemen, which satirised a rash of highly publicised prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
break-outs in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and was banned by the BBC.
After settling on the stage name Paul Nicholas, Nicholas eventually found success in the UK in musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, beginning with the leading role of Claude in Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
(which Stigwood produced) before winning the title role in the original London production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
. The part of Danny to Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige
Elaine Paige OBE is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, North London, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16...
's Sandy made them the first British couple to play the leads in Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
. He joined The Young Vic
The Young Vic
The Young Vic is a theatre on the Cut, located near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It specialises in giving opportunities to young actors and directors. The theatre is publicly subsidised and has a high artistic reputation. Playwright David Lan has been the theatre's artistic...
under Frank Dunlop
Frank Dunlop
Frank Dunlop is an Irish lobbyist and former broadcast journalist with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Originally from County Kilkenny, he is a key witness to the Mahon Tribunal which is investigating improper payments by property developers to Irish politicians and will be a key witness in pending...
and played Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
and appeared in Crete and Sgt. Pepper by John Antrobus
John Antrobus
John Antrobus is an English playwright and script writer. He has written extensively for stage, screen, TV and radio, including the epic World War II play, Crete and Sergeant Pepper at the Royal Court...
. He appeared as the Bully of the Boulevard in Richard O’Brien’s T-Zee at London's Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
. He also performed in Prospect Theatre Company's Carl Davies musical Pilgrim. It was while touring with O'Brien in Hair in 1970 that he first heard songs from the yet to be produced Rocky Horror Show and made the first professional recording with O'Brien singing "That Ain't No Crime". On the b-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
was a song entitled "Very 50s", where O'Brien introduces the characters Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott (In 2005 Nicholas sent O'Brien a CD copy of the recordings with a view to releasing them as an historical record). Thereafter Nicholas returned to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
starring in Harold Fielding
Harold Fielding
Harold Lewis Fielding was an English theatre producer.Fielding was one of Britain's foremost theatrical producers who produced several musicals, including Mame, Charlie Girl, Half a Sixpence, Show Boat, Scarlett, Barnum, Sweet Charity, The Biograph Girl, and Ziegfeld.The son of a stockbroker,...
's revival of Charlie Girl
Charlie Girl
Charlie Girl is a musical comedy which premiered in the West End of London at the Adelphi Theatre on December 15, 1965 and played for 2,202 performances, closing on March 27, 1971...
with Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
.
Nicholas' film career began in 1970 in a French film with Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
and Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.- Early life :...
called Cannabis. Whatever Happened To Jack and Jill followed, in which he played Mona Washbourne
Mona Washbourne
Mona Washbourne was an English actress of stage, film and television.Mona Washbourne began her entertaining career training as a concert pianist. While performing on stage in the early 1920s, she found that she liked acting and became an actress...
's character's ungrateful grandson. He followed this as a psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
killer in Richard Fleischer
Richard Fleischer
-Early life:Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie and animator/producer Max Fleischer. He started in motion pictures as director of animated shorts produced by his father including entries in the Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman series.His live-action film career began in 1942 at the RKO...
's Blind Terror
Blind Terror
Blind Terror is a suspense thriller starring Nastassja Kinski, Stewart Bick and Gordon Pinsent. Written by Douglas Soesbe, Directed by Giles Walker.-Plot:...
. In 1975, he gained international attention when he played the cameo role of the title character's sadistic Cousin Kevin in Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood
Robert Stigwood is an impresario and entertainment entrepreneur who relocated to England in 1954...
and Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
's film Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
. He worked again for Russell in Lisztomania, playing Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
.
In 1976, he embarked on a short-lived but high profile pop career, with three Top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
"Reggae Like It Used To Be", "Dancing With The Captain", and "Grandma's Party", the last two of which reached the Top 10. He released the single "Heaven on the 7th Floor" in 1977. This only just reached the UK Top 40, but reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
listings in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He followed this with "On The Strip" which entered the Billboard Hot 100 but failed to enter the UK chart. In the mid 1970s he hosted his own pop show on children's TV, titled Paul.
In 1978, he co-starred in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1978 American musical film. Its soundtrack, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, features new versions of songs originally written and performed by The Beatles. The film draws primarily from two of their albums, 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club...
as Dougie Shears. Further films followed including Nutcracker
Nutcracker
A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. Usually they work on the principle of moments as described in Archimedes' analysis of the lever...
with Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, Yesterday's Hero with Ian McShane
Ian McShane
Ian David McShane is an English actor, director, producer, voice artist, and comedian.Despite appearing in numerous films, McShane is best known for his television roles, particularly the BBC's Lovejoy and HBO's Western drama Deadwood...
and Susan Summers, The World Is Full of Married Men with Carol Baker, the romantic lead in Invitation To A Wedding, and the loutish punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
singer in The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1980 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1980 American musical remake of the 1927 classic The Jazz Singer. It starred Neil Diamond, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Lucie Arnaz and was co-directed by Richard Fleischer and Sidney J...
.
Having done the workshop with Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, Nicholas returned to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage in 1981 to create the role of the capricious cat Rum Tum Tugger
Rum Tum Tugger
Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, published in 1939, and in the musical Cats which was based on Eliot's book....
in Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
. He followed this originating the title role in Blondel
Blondel (musical)
Blondel, a rock opera musical by Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver , was inspired by, and very loosely based on, the life of the eponymous French troubadour...
by Sir Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver. That same year he starred in Two Up, Two Down
Two Up, Two Down
Two Up, Two Down is a British sitcom starring Paul Nicholas and Su Pollard. It aired for one series in 1979 and marked the TV comedy debut of Su Pollard, later to become well known as Peggy in Hi-de-Hi!...
, a short-lived sitcom co-starring Su Pollard
Su Pollard
Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard, 7 November 1949, Nottingham) is an English comedy actress, most famous for her roles in the sitcoms Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord?. She is also well known for her unusual and flamboyant dress sense and her abrupt voice....
. Then in 1983, Nicholas got his first high-profile television role (he had acted in plays and one-off roles through the 1970s on TV) in which he was cast as Vince Pinner in the BBC TV sitcom Just Good Friends
Just Good Friends
Just Good Friends was a British sitcom written by the late John Sullivan. It starred Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the altar....
, written by John Sullivan
John Sullivan (writer)
John Richard Thomas Sullivan OBE was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends....
.
The show, for which Nicholas also sang the theme tune, was a success. He was also nominated for a BAFTA. It ended in 1986 with the marriage of the two main characters in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Nicholas went on to star in two highly successful series for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. In the major drama series Bust he was nominated Best Actor. He acted in two series of Close to Home, a sitcom about a vet. During this period Nicholas was seldom off television with many appearances including four Royal Variety Shows. He also appeared in TV commercials for Rougemont Castle British wine, and magazine advertisements for Farah slacks.
Nicholas returned to the theatre playing numerous roles on screen in both movie and television projects. He starred as The Pirate King in Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
's version of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
and the Manchester Opera House
Manchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth...
, touring again in the same role in the late 1990s. Nicholas starred in Barnum
Barnum (musical)
Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production...
in the first national tour and followed this with a highly successful season at The Dominion Theatre in the West End. At the end of 1991, while touring with Barnum
Barnum (musical)
Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production...
, Nicholas was the subject of This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
. For his services to show business and charity, Nicholas was awarded a Silver Heart from the Variety Club of Great Britain and a Gold Badge Award from BASCA. Nicholas then starred in the national tour of Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (musical)
Singin' in the Rain is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original...
, which was directed by Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
.
In June 1996, Nicholas played the role of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
in the Covent Garden Festival’s production of Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
. He repeated his role of King Arthur in a BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
production of Camelot. Other radio work included Gracie Field's husband Bert in BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Gracie
Gracie
Gracie may refer to:* Gracie , a 2007 American film directed by Davis Guggenheim* Gracie family, a Brazilian sporting family known for their jiu-jitsu style* Gracie , a given name and a family name...
. Nicholas then hosted two series of BBC Radio 2's Mad About Musical, as well as his own hour long TV special, Paul and Friends, for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
. Nicholas fronted the Radio 4 children's series Cat's Whiskers during the 1980s.
Nicholas was also the narrator of the children's animated series The Adventures of Spot, part of the Spot the Dog
Spot the Dog
Spot the Dog is a series of children's books by Eric Hill, which were later made into a popular children's animation series, known as Spot, for BBC television by David McKee's King Rollo Films....
franchise, in 1985. Although he was briefly replaced by Peter Hawkins for the first phase of It's Fun To Learn With Spot, Nicholas reprises the role in time with the production of a second season of The Adventures of Spot in 1992, and also performed the narration for the second phase of It's Fun To Learn With Spot. His involvement with the franchise ended in 1996, with his last credited appearance in the series being in the special Spot's Magical Christmas. Such was Nicholas' association as the narrator of the franchise that he also narrated four stories featuring Spot the Dog that was released directly to cassette and CD in the late 1980s, and was also the voice featured on the Spot the Dog children's ride, which was first manufactured in 1995.
In 1997, Nicholas starred as the anti-hero of Karoline Leach
Karoline Leach
Karoline Leach is a British playwright and author, best known for her book In the Shadow of the Dreamchild , which re-examines the life of Lewis Carroll , the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
's The Mysterious Mr. Love at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. Nicholas continued to appear as the lead in numerous straight roles thereafter: Simon Gray
Simon Gray
Simon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
's Stagestruck, a national tour of Michael Cooney’s The Dark Side with Jenny Seagrove
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
, Catch Me if You Can with Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
, and two plays by Eric Chappell
Eric Chappell
Eric Chappell is an English comedy writer who wrote and co-wrote a number of the UK's biggest sitcom hits during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s...
: Mixed Feelings, in which he played a transsexual, and Snakes and Ladders with Ian Ogilvy
Ian Ogilvy
Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English film and television actor.-Early life:He was born in Woking, Surrey, England, the son of advertising executive Francis Ogilvy and actress Aileen Raymond .He was educated at Sunningdale School, Eton College and at the Royal Academy of...
. Nicholas starred as John Smith in the original production of Caught In The Net. He then co-produced, with Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
, a new musical based on Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' novel A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
, in which he starred as Sidney Carton. The musical then played Windsor with a Christmas season in Birmingham.
In 2000, Nicholas appeared in the BBC television comedy drama Sunburn
Sunburn (TV series)
Sunburn is a British television series that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps. It was broadcast on BBC One between 16 January 1999 and 1 May 2000, running for two series of six and eight episodes respectively. The first was set and filmed in Cyprus and the second in Algarve...
, playing the role of David Janus, owner of the self-titled holiday company that the series centered around. He also played the role of Ronnie Buchan in the new police drama series Burnside. Further television work followed with parts in The Bill and Holby City. Nicholas then played the title role in the national tour of Doctor Dolittle
Doctor Dolittle
Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle. He is a doctor who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages...
and followed this with the role of Tevye in UK Productions' national tour of Fiddler On The Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
.
In the summer of 2006, he was a celebrity showjumper
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
in the BBC's Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
event Only Fools on Horses
Only Fools on Horses
Only Fools on Horses was a BBC reality television programme produced by Endemol UK. The show's name was a play on that of the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, and first aired on 7 July 2006. It featured twelve celebrities who performed equestrian events, with one celebrity being eliminated every day...
, as well as appearing in Doctors, Heartbeat and Holby City. That autumn, Nicholas was attached to star in the British film Cash and Curry
Cash and Curry
"Cash and Curry" is the third episode of series 1 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first screened on 22 September 1981.-Synopsis:...
, and also in that year he co-produced and starred in the musical Jekyll & Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
in a UK national tour.
In 2007, Nicholas and his business partner David Ian took part in a search for Danny and Sandy in the ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
show Grease is the Word. David Ian was a judge and Nicholas the acting coach to the contestants. He performed with his son Alex Beuselinck in Schwartz Stories, a new musical at the Kings Head. Also in 2007 Nicholas produced and directed Keeler, a new play based on Christine Keeler
Christine Keeler
Christine Margaret Keeler is an English former model and showgirl. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair....
's autobiography 'The Truth At Last'.
At the beginning of 2007, Nicholas starred as Julian Marsh in the UK tour of 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
, directed by the author Mark Bramble
Mark Bramble
Mark Bramble is a theatre director, author and producer. He has been nominated for the Tony Award three times, for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Barnum and 42nd Street and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, 42nd Street .-Biography:Mark Bramble has been involved in the...
. Nicholas left prematurely so that he could film the new daily ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
medical series The Royal Today
The Royal Today
The Royal Today was a British medical soap opera, a spin-off of the similarly themed drama, The Royal. The concept is that whilst The Royal is set in the late 1960s, The Royal Today featured the same hospital in the present day, with a new set of characters working in the same location...
in which he played the consultant surgeon Mr. Woods. In 2008 Nicholas played Alan Boon in BBC Four's Consuming Passions - a hundred years of Mills and Boon. He also directed and produced A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. In 2009 Nicholas played Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888, and ran for 423 performances...
for the Carl Rosa Opera Company
Carl Rosa Opera Company
The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl August Nicholas Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company survived Rosa's death in 1889, and continued to present opera in English on tour until 1960, when it was...
at the Tower of London Festival. He co-produced Jest End, Garry Lake's take on the West End musical at the Jeremyn Street Theatre. In 2010 Nicholas returned to BBC Television with an appearance in Missing. Nicholas undertook a UK tour playing the Pirate King in the Carl Rosa Opera Company production of The Pirates Of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. In November 2010, Nicholas and Sean Maguire starred in a new play, The Haunting. The Haunting continued in 2011 with Nicholas and Charlie
Clements. In September 2011 Paul will produce and direct a UK Tour of 'Keeler' a new play written by Gill Adams based on Christine Keeler's book 'The Truth At Last' starring Alice Coulthard as Christine Keeler.
Business
In 1990 whilst starring with David IanDavid Ian
David Ian Lane , is a former actor and now a theatre producer who The Stage has called "the most powerful man in UK theatre".-Biography:...
in a production of The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
at the London Palladium, Nicholas offered Ian a partnership in co-producing and starring in a touring production of the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
version of the popular Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. Paul Nicholas & David Ian Associates Ltd were formed to produce the 20th anniversary production of Jesus Christ Superstar on a UK-wide tour, which sold out. They then produced a nightly fully staged version of The Pirates of Penzance in which Nicholas starred and again they sold out.
The company has since produced numerous shows making both partners millionaires, including:
- Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
- concert version - Pirates Of Penzance - UK tour
- GreaseGrease (musical)Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
- West End-Broadway - Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Revival 2008 - The Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
- directed by Paul Nicholas - Ain't Misbehavin' - West End
- Singin' in the RainSingin' in the Rain (musical)Singin' in the Rain is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original...
- UK tour - Evita - UK tour
- ChessChess (musical)Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...
- UK tour - Happy DaysHappy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
- UK tour - Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever (musical)This is an article about the stage musical. For the article on the 1977 film, see Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever is a musical with a book by Nan Knighton and music and lyrics by the Bee Gees.Based on Nik Cohn's 1975 New York Magazine article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" and...
- at the London Palladium and Minskoff Theatre (NYC), Producer,co-adapter - Tale of Two Cities - UK tour, Nicholas co-produced with Bill Kenwright
- Jekyll & HydeJekyll & Hyde (musical)Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
- UK tour, Nicholas co-produced with UK Productions - KeelerKeeler-Places:*Keeler, California, USA*Keeler Township, Michigan, USA*Keeler, Saskatchewan, Canada*Keeler , on the moon-People with the surname Keeler:*Christine Keeler, a British model and showgirl* Ernest Keeler, an American pioneer race car driver...
- produced and directed by Paul Nicholas 2007 - Tale of Two Cities - produced and directed by Paul Nicholas "Upstairs at the Gatehouse" 2008
- GreaseGrease (musical)Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
US tour co-producer 2008/9, West End 2007- - Jest End - musical parody, producer, Players and Jermyn Theatres London 2009
- Grease - South Africa/Far East Tour 2010, co-producer US&UK tours 2010/11
- Keeler (Play) Producer/Director UK Tour September/November 2011
School of acting
In 2006 Nicholas set up a franchise operation, the Paul Nicholas School of Acting & Performing Arts, aimed at teaching acting to school-age children. There are currently thirty franchises across England.In January 2008 Nicholas launched Paul Nicholas Community Arts, a project designed to engage disenfranchised children in the arts. The pilot scheme will be funded for fourteen weeks by Wyre Borough Council in the North West of England. A twelve week scheme began on the 28 May 2008 in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
.
Personal life
Nicholas has been married twice, and has six children. His first wife, Susan, died in a car accident in 1977. Nicholas married his second wife, columnist Linzi Beuselinck, in 1984.Music charts
| Year | Title | Peak positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
||
| 1976 | "Reggae Like It Used To Be" | 17 | - |
| "Dancing With The Captain" | 8 | - | |
| "Grandma's Party" | 9 | - | |
| 1977 | "Heaven On The 7th Floor" | 40 | 6 |
Literature
- Paul Nicholas (with Douglas Thompson): Behind the Smile autobiography, hardcover, 218 pages published in October 1999 by André DeutschAndré DeutschAndré Deutsch was a British publisher.After having learned the business of publishing working for Francis Aldor with whom he was interned in the Isle of Man during the Second World War and who had introduced him to the industry, André Deutsch left Aldor's employment after a few months to continue...
Ltd; ISBN 0233997482