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Fayard Nicholas

Fayard Nicholas

Acting

Biography

Fayard Antonio Nicholas was an American choreographer, dancer and actor. He and his younger brother Harold Nicholas made up the Nicholas Brothers tap dance duo, who starred in the MGM musicals An All-Colored Vaudeville Show, Stormy Weather, The Pirate, and Hard Four. The Nicholas brothers also starred in the 20th Century-Fox musicals Down Argentine Way, Sun Valley Serenade, and Orchestra Wives. In 1932, when he was 18 and his brother was only 11, they became the featured act at Cotton Club in New York City. The brothers earned fame with a unique style of rhythm tap that blended "masterful jazz steps with daredevil athletic moves and an elegance of motion worthy of ballet". They appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway and in London they worked with jazz choreographer Buddy Bradley. The performances led them to a career in film. Nicholas appeared in over 60 films, including the 1943 musical Stormy Weather with their signature staircase dance. His career was interrupted from 1943 to 1944 when he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Nicholas achieved the rank of Technician fifth grade while in WWII. After his dance career ended, Nicholas and his wife, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas, embarked on a lecture tour discussing dance. In 2003, Nicholas served as "Festival Legend" at the third "Soul to Sole Tap Festival" in Austin, Texas. Nicholas was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2001.

Known For

The Kennedy Center Honors
7.4

The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.

The Kennedy Center Honors

1978
MGM Parade
9.0

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955
The Hollywood Palace
5.0

The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. Originally titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace, it began as a mid-season replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months. It was staged in Hollywood at the former Hollywood Playhouse on Vine Street, which was renamed The Hollywood Palace during the show's duration and is today known as Avalon Hollywood. A little-known starlet named Raquel Welch was cast during the first season as the "Billboard Girl", who placed the names of the acts on a placard.

The Hollywood Palace

1964
The Pirate
6.5

A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.

The Pirate

1948
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
6.0

Stars celebrate Bob Hope's 50 years with NBC.

Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC

1988
The Jacksons
9.2

The Jacksons is an American variety show featuring the Jackson siblings. It was the first variety show where the entire cast were siblings. As with the Jackson 5 regular performances, Michael Jackson was the lead performer in musical and dance performances. The thirty-minute Wednesday evening show began airing on CBS as a summer 1976 show and it continued into the 1976–1977 season, finishing on March 9, 1977 after running for 12 episodes.

The Jacksons

1976
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
7.0

Broadway: The Golden Age is the most important, ambitious and comprehensive film ever made about America's most celebrated indigenous art form. Award-winning filmmaker Rick McKay filmed over 100 of the greatest stars ever to work on Broadway or in Hollywood. He soon learned that great films can be restored, fine literature can be kept in print - but historic Broadway performances of the past are the most endangered. They leave only memories that, while more vivid, are more difficult to preserve. In their own words — and not a moment too soon — Broadway: The Golden Age tells the stories of our theatrical legends, how they came to New York, and how they created this legendary century in American theatre. This is the largest cast of legends ever in one film.

Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There

2003
That's Entertainment!
7.4

Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.

That's Entertainment!

1974
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
6.3

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975
Stormy Weather
6.9

The relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.

Stormy Weather

1943
That's Dancing!
7.1

A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from its origins after the invention of the movie camera, over the movie musical from the late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, up to the break dance and music videos from the 80s.

That's Dancing!

1985
It's Black Entertainment
8.7

A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.

It's Black Entertainment

2002
Hard Four
4.9

When legendary gambler Golden Hands Segal suffers a fatal heart attack at the craps table in Las Vegas, his grandson Freddy Meingold and boyhood pal Spencer Ragusa have less than 24 hours to retrieve the body for burial in New Jersey.

Hard Four

2007
Orchestra Wives
6.5

Connie Ward is in seventh heaven when Gene Morrison's band rolls into town. She is swept off her feet by trumpeter Bill Abbot. After marrying him, she joins the band's tour and learns about life as an orchestra wife, weathering the catty attacks of the other band wives.

Orchestra Wives

1942
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
6.0

A successful African American businessman has a quarrel with a white policeman, suspecting that he is having an affair with his wife. The policeman's colleagues are seeking to avoid publicity.

The Liberation of L.B. Jones

1970
Sun Valley Serenade
7.0

When Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. When soloist Vivian Dawn quits, Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.

Sun Valley Serenade

1941
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
7.8

American Masters Series. Documentary on Gene Kelly that gives insight into his dancing, how he formed a style (first "blue collar dancer") and developed different cinematique techniques, such as brilliantly shot dancing sequences.

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer

2002
Down Argentine Way
6.3

The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their families—takes a backseat to the spectacular location shooting and parade of extravagant musical numbers, which include the larger-than-life Carmen Miranda singing the hit “South American Way” and a showstopping dance routine by the always amazing Nicholas Brothers.

Down Argentine Way

1940
Kid Millions
6.7

A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Egypt to claim it.

Kid Millions

1934
Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty
8.3

Actor Obba Babatundé hosts this biopic showcasing the life of acclaimed African-American singer and actress Dorothy Dandridge, who overcame racism and personal tragedy to become one of the most acclaimed performers of Hollywood's golden age. The film combines rare historical footage of Dandridge, on and off the stage, and interviews with stars such as Laurence Fishburne, Jasmine Guy and Halle Berry discussing her powerful legacy.

Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty

2003