The Nicholas Brothers


Dancer

About

Also Known As
Fayard Antonio Nicholas, Harold Nicholas, Fayard Nicholas
Birth Place
Mobile, Alabama, USA
Born
October 28, 1914
Died
January 24, 2006
Cause of Death
Pneumonia

Biography

From vaudeville to the Cotton Club, from Broadway to Hollywood, the Nicholas brothers thrilled audiences with their unique blend of athleticism and grace. Hailed by The New York Times as "great tap dancers" and "masters of timing and ministers of grace," the siblings finally received long overdue recognition in the 1980s and 90s. While they had enjoyed a measure of success on stage in th...

Family & Companions

Geraldine Pate
Wife
First wife; married in January 1942; divorced in 1956; mother of Nicholas' sons; later married to attorney Leo Branton.
Barbara Nicholas
Wife
Married from 1967 until her death on March 7, 1998 at age 72.
Katherine Hopkins Nicholas
Wife
Fourth wife; married in 2000.

Bibliography

"Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers"
Constance Valis Hall, Oxford University Press (2000)

Notes

Mr. Nicholas has undergone two hip replacements.

"I'm glad all the things we did are on film--it's there forever." --Fayard Nicholas to Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2000.

Biography

From vaudeville to the Cotton Club, from Broadway to Hollywood, the Nicholas brothers thrilled audiences with their unique blend of athleticism and grace. Hailed by The New York Times as "great tap dancers" and "masters of timing and ministers of grace," the siblings finally received long overdue recognition in the 1980s and 90s. While they had enjoyed a measure of success on stage in the 30s and in film in the 40s, the prevalent racism of Hollywood and the rest of the USA hindered these pioneers from achieving the heights of white counterparts. They enjoyed wider acclaim in post-war Europe, Both brothers also displayed depth as dramatic actors in film roles but neither was able to fully capitalize on those skills either. Instead, they were content to be feted and praised for their career which spanned six decades.

Fayard Antonio Nicholas was the oldest of three, born to musicians Ulysses and Viola in October 1914. Watching in the wings of theaters, he absorbed the dance steps of the vaudeville headliners and soon was teaching his younger siblings, sister Dorothy and brother Harold. By 1927, the trio was performing in vaudeville houses in Philadelphia as the Nicholas kids. In 1930, he and Harold made their professional debut as the Nicholas Brothers on "The Horn and Hardart Kiddie Hour." While performing at Harlem's Lafayette Theater, a talent scout from Warner Bros. signed the duo to appear in films and the brothers made their debut alongside Eubie Blake in the short "Pie, Pie Blackbird" (1932). Shortly thereafter, the Nicholas Brothers began appearing alongside such notables as Cab Calloway and Ethel Waters at Harlem's famed Cotton Club.

During their stint at the Cotton Club, movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn saw them perform and offered the Nicholas Brothers their first feature, "Kid Millions" (1934). Over the next fifteen years, Harold and Fayard performed the balletic jazz routines--tap punctuated by acrobatic feats of skill. In signature moves, the pair would perform flying splits by jumping over one another. These showstopping numbers proved a favorite with audiences of all races (except in the South where their routines would be edited out).

Before they achieved full-fledged success in films, though, the Nicholas Brothers conquered the stage, starring in London in "The Blackbirds of 1936" and on Broadway in "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936." The latter was choreographed by George Balanchine and staged by Vincente Minnelli. Balanchine was so impressed with the dancers, he created an Egyptian Ballet for them in the 1937 Rodgers and Hart hit "Babes in Arms." (The songwriters also penned a special number "All Dark People (Is Light on Their Feet).") Having vanquished the Great White Way, the Nicholas Brothers set out on a tour of South America in 1939, appearing on the same bill as Carmen Miranda. When Miranda was brought to Hollywood for a featured role in "Down Argentine Way" (1940), so too were the Nicholas Brothers. Although director Irving Cummings wanted to edit their number, dance director Nick Castle argued for including it in its entirety. After a test screening where the audience cheered and demanded the projectionist rewind the film and run an encore of the sequence, the matter was settled. Harold and Fayard had definitely arrived, although they still felt the sting of a racially segregated country.

In 1941, the brothers were teamed onscreen with rising star Dorothy Dandridge (whom Harold would marry in 1942 and divorce in 1951) to perform the Oscar-nominated "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941). The following year, they introduced another tune which caught the Academy's attention, "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" in "Orchestra Wives." But it was their amazing, gravity-defying display of terpsichorean skill in "Jumpin' Jive" from 1943's "Stormy Weather" that assured them a place in the pantheon of memorable movie dance sequences. An all-black musical that featured the likes of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller, "Stormy Weather" showcased the Nicholas Brothers at their peak. They only went on to appear in a handful of others musicals, most notably their last, "The Pirate" (1948), directed by Vincente Minnelli in which they achieved a small victory in dancing onscreen with Gene Kelly.

Although the siblings would continue to make appearances together throughout the 50s (i.e., Dwight D Eisenhower's inauguration), Fayard suffered with arthritis which made it difficult for him to maintain his standards. In 1965, the brothers toured Vietnam with Bob Hope and the USO entertaining American troops. As musical tastes devolved into specialty offerings and rock 'n' roll overtook Tin Pan Alley, they found their act falling out of favor. Each attempted to stretch by undertaking dramatic roles. Fayard won praise for his turn in "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" (1970), helmed by William Wyler, but that would prove to be his sole non-musical film role. In 1989, he shared a Tony Award for his choreography of "Black and Blue," a musical review featuring a score of blues standards. By the 1990s, the Nicholas Brothers began to finally receive their due as recipients of numerous accolades (e.g., the Kennedy Center Honors) and as the subject of books and documentaries. Their abilities live on in Fayard's granddaughters who perform as the Nicholas Sisters.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Night at the Golden Eagle (2001)
Mr. Maynard
Tapdancin' (1981)
The Liberation of L. B. Jones (1970)
Benny
The Pirate (1948)
Specialty dance
Reckless Age (1944)
Carolina Blues (1944)
Stormy Weather (1943)
Themselves
Orchestra Wives (1942)
Specialty dancers
The Great American Broadcast (1941)
Sun Valley Serenade (1941)
Specialty
Down Argentine Way (1940)
Specialty act
My Son Is Guilty (1939)
Themselves
The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935)
Dot, Dash
Jealousy (1934)
Themselves
Kid Millions (1934)
Themselves

Cast (Special)

Well, Shut Ma' Mouth! The Powerful History of Black Humor (2002)
Interviewee
Hidden Hollywood III: Return to the 20th Century Fox Vaults (2001)
It's Black Entertainment (2000)
The Nicholas Brothers: Flying High (1999)
Don Ameche: Hollywood's Class Act (1999)
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood (1998)
Bill Robinson: Mr Bojangles (1998)
Interviewee
Vaudeville (1997)
Swing Alive! at the Hollywood Palladium (1996)
The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We Dance (1992)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1992)
Performer
The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We Dance (1992)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1991)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1991)
America's Dance Honors (1990)
Performer
The 22nd Annual NAACP Image Awards (1990)
Performer
The 43rd Annual Tony Awards (1989)
Performer
16th Annual Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (1989)
Performer
The 61st Annual Academy Awards Presentation (1989)
Performer
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1987)
The Cotton Club Remembered (1986)
The American Film Institute Salute to Gene Kelly (1985)
Performer

Dance (Special)

Black and Blue (1993)
Choreographer

Articles

Scorsese Screens - July 2021


In his time, Vincente Minnelli was known as a great fantasist. Which is true enough. But the films he made without any fantasy elements whatsoever—like The Clock or The Bad and the Beautiful—are just as hallucinatory as anything in The Pirate or Ziegfeld Follies. Everything is grounded in a complete encompassing vision. The ballet in An American in Paris, which was inspired by the ballet in The Red Shoes, is much more than just an homage to French impressionism. It’s a completely distinct work that grows from an immersion in impressionist paintings, not just the palette but the attitude, the sense of the world, translated into cinema.

Apparently, Minnelli’s favorite part of the filmmaking process was the research, when he would create sketchbooks and maquettes that reflected his training as a set designer—someone at MGM called it “Vincente’s paper dolls.” For Meet Me in St. Louis, one of his greatest pictures, he sat down with the author Sally Benson and had her describe every square inch of her life growing up in St. Louis at the turn of the century, and he had the researchers comb through the MGM collection for reference images. The studio expected him to take the standing sets for the Andy Hardy series and re-purpose them, but Minnelli and producer Arthur Freed convinced their bosses to let them build a whole new street with architecture that reflected the houses of Benson’s childhood (and Minnelli’s in Ohio). And, from Minnelli’s meticulous arrangement of the physical world of his pictures, the actors had a rich environment in which to bring their characters to life.

If you look at Meet Me in St. Louis (which TCM has programmed in a curious monthlong series called From Hollywood to the Heartland) back-to-back with other period musicals, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing generic, not one detail of décor or costume or body language, and that the inevitable contemporary elements are very carefully blended into the action and the staging. Later in the month, there’s another great Minnelli picture set in the Midwest, Some Came Running—a non-musical melodrama. Minnelli always wanted to shoot on location when he thought it was necessary for the picture (he and Gene Kelly were bitterly disappointed when they were told that they wouldn’t be able to shoot Brigadoon in Scotland), and he started Some Came Running with three weeks of exteriors in Madison, Indiana. The exteriors and the interiors, shot in Hollywood, are more than just complimentary. They’re one great organic whole.

I also want to say a brief word about the tribute to the Nicholas Brothers on the 18th. Harold and Fayard Nicholas were great American artists, real dancers’ dancers, who had a massive influence on everyone from Gene Kelly (who danced with them in the finale of The Pirate—sadly, not included in the tribute) to Gregory Hines to Michael Jackson and beyond. If you’ve never seen their jaw-dropping climactic production number in Stormy Weather, which is in the tribute, I can say with confidence that it will leave you open-mouthed.

Scorsese Screens - July 2021

Scorsese Screens - July 2021

In his time, Vincente Minnelli was known as a great fantasist. Which is true enough. But the films he made without any fantasy elements whatsoever—like The Clock or The Bad and the Beautiful—are just as hallucinatory as anything in The Pirate or Ziegfeld Follies. Everything is grounded in a complete encompassing vision. The ballet in An American in Paris, which was inspired by the ballet in The Red Shoes, is much more than just an homage to French impressionism. It’s a completely distinct work that grows from an immersion in impressionist paintings, not just the palette but the attitude, the sense of the world, translated into cinema. Apparently, Minnelli’s favorite part of the filmmaking process was the research, when he would create sketchbooks and maquettes that reflected his training as a set designer—someone at MGM called it “Vincente’s paper dolls.” For Meet Me in St. Louis, one of his greatest pictures, he sat down with the author Sally Benson and had her describe every square inch of her life growing up in St. Louis at the turn of the century, and he had the researchers comb through the MGM collection for reference images. The studio expected him to take the standing sets for the Andy Hardy series and re-purpose them, but Minnelli and producer Arthur Freed convinced their bosses to let them build a whole new street with architecture that reflected the houses of Benson’s childhood (and Minnelli’s in Ohio). And, from Minnelli’s meticulous arrangement of the physical world of his pictures, the actors had a rich environment in which to bring their characters to life. If you look at Meet Me in St. Louis (which TCM has programmed in a curious monthlong series called From Hollywood to the Heartland) back-to-back with other period musicals, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing generic, not one detail of décor or costume or body language, and that the inevitable contemporary elements are very carefully blended into the action and the staging. Later in the month, there’s another great Minnelli picture set in the Midwest, Some Came Running—a non-musical melodrama. Minnelli always wanted to shoot on location when he thought it was necessary for the picture (he and Gene Kelly were bitterly disappointed when they were told that they wouldn’t be able to shoot Brigadoon in Scotland), and he started Some Came Running with three weeks of exteriors in Madison, Indiana. The exteriors and the interiors, shot in Hollywood, are more than just complimentary. They’re one great organic whole.I also want to say a brief word about the tribute to the Nicholas Brothers on the 18th. Harold and Fayard Nicholas were great American artists, real dancers’ dancers, who had a massive influence on everyone from Gene Kelly (who danced with them in the finale of The Pirate—sadly, not included in the tribute) to Gregory Hines to Michael Jackson and beyond. If you’ve never seen their jaw-dropping climactic production number in Stormy Weather, which is in the tribute, I can say with confidence that it will leave you open-mouthed.

Life Events

1926

Performed with sister Dorothy and brother Harold in vaudeville in Philadelphia as the Nicholas Kids

1930

Professional debut with brother Harold on "The Horn and Hardart Kiddie Hour"

1932

Film debut in the short "Pie, Pie Blackbird", also featuring Eubie Blake

1932

With brother, performed at Harlem's The Cotton Club alongside such acts as Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington

1934

Feature film debut, "Kid Millions"

1935

Had integral role in "The Big Broadcast of 1936"

1936

Appeared on the London stage in "Blackbirds of 1936"

1936

Broadway debut in "The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936", directed by Vincente Minnelli and choreographed by George Ballanchine

1937

Had featured role in the Rodgers and Hart musical "Babes in Arms"; Ballanchine again choreographed

1939

Toured South America alongside Carmen Miranda

1940

Breakthrough feature, "Down Argentine Way", also featuring Carmen Miranda

1941

Teamed onscreen with Dorothy Dandridge peforming the Oscar-nominated song "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in "Sun Valley Serenade"

1942

Introduced the Oscar-nominated "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" in "Orchestra Wives"

1943

Performed what is considered their best screen dance. the "Jumpin' Jive" number in the all-black musical "Stormy Weather"

1943

Drafted into the US Army; assigned to laundry detail in all-black unit in Louisiana

1944

Discharged from military service

1948

Final film appearance as the Nicholas Brothers, "The Pirate", directed by Vincente Minnelli; broke racial barriers by dancing in one scene with Gene Kelly

1948

Toured the southern USA with Dizzy Gillespie

1953

Performed at the inauguration of US President Dwight D. Eisenhower

1965

Joined brother to tour Vietnam with Bob Hope's USO show

1970

Solo acting debut in "The Liberation of L.B. Jones", directed by William Wyler

1989

Contributed to the choreography of the Broadway stage musical "Black and Blue"; shared Tony Award for choreography

1992

Was subject of documentary "The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We Dance"; aired on A&E

1996

Taught at Harvard as visiting dance artist with brother Harold

1997

Suffered mild stroke

1998

Performed with granddaughters who kept family tradition alive by performing tap numbers as the Nicholas Sisters; Fayard quoted as saying, "they do everything we did--in skirts!"

Family

Ulysses Nicholas
Father
Musician, orchestra leader. Died of a heart attack in 1935.
Viola Nicholas
Mother
Musician, orchestra leader.
Dorothy Nicholas
Sister
Dancer. Younger; performed with brothers in vaudeville.
Harold Nicholas
Brother
Dancer. Born on March 17, 1921; performed with brother from early age; died on July 3, 2000.
Anthony Fayard Nicholas
Son
Born on March 28, 1945.
Didier Paul Nicholas
Son
Born on October 29, 1950.
Nicole Nicholas
Granddaughter
Dancer. Born in July 1985; with sister performs as the Nicholas Sisters.
Cathy Nicholas
Granddaughter
Dancer. Born in December 1987; with sister performs as the Nicholas Sisters.

Companions

Geraldine Pate
Wife
First wife; married in January 1942; divorced in 1956; mother of Nicholas' sons; later married to attorney Leo Branton.
Barbara Nicholas
Wife
Married from 1967 until her death on March 7, 1998 at age 72.
Katherine Hopkins Nicholas
Wife
Fourth wife; married in 2000.

Bibliography

"Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers"
Constance Valis Hall, Oxford University Press (2000)

Notes

Mr. Nicholas has undergone two hip replacements.

"I'm glad all the things we did are on film--it's there forever." --Fayard Nicholas to Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2000.