
Paul Nicholas became a household favourite in his role as Vince in
the BAFTA award-winning BBC television series Just
Good Friends for which he was nominated
as Best Comedy Actor. He received a further nomination for Best Actor
in LWTs major drama series Bust.
His theatrical success began in 1969 in the original London production
of HAIR. Following his lead roles in Jesus
Christ Superstar and Grease,
he was invited to play at the Young Vic in several productions including
Much Ado About Nothing,
Crete
and Sargeant Pepper.
A season with the Prospect Theatre Company in their production Pilgrim
was followed by two plays at the Royal Court The
Innocent Bystanders and Richard OBriens
T-Zee.
In 1979 Paul went to live in the USA for a year, returning to London
to create the role of Rum Tum Tugger in Andrew Lloyd Webbers
Cats.
He subsequently played the title role in Sir Tim Rices musical
BLONDEL and followed this with Charlie
Girl at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
He then appeared as the Pirate King in the highly successful production
of The Pirates of Penzance
at the Manchester Opera House. This was followed by a successful season
at the London Palladium. Paul starred as Buttons in the Wimbledon
Theatre production of Cinderella
over Christmas 1984 and as Prince Charming in the record-breaking
1985-6 season of the same pantomime at the London Palladium. Paul
completed the first national tour of Barnum
playing the title role - for which he trained in all circus skills,
including tightrope walking and juggling and in June 1996, Paul appeared
as King Arthur in the Covent Garden Festivals production of
Camelot.
Paul then went on to complete a national tour of Michael Cooneys
The Dark Side
with Jenny Seagrove. This was followed by a tour of The
Mysterious Mr Love - a two-hander written
by Karoline Leach -opposite Susan Penhaligon. After its successful
run, Mr Love
transferred to the West Ends Comedy Theatre.
In 1999 Paul appeared in A Tale
of Two Cities at Windsor and at The
Alexandra in Birmingham. A major UK tour followed as The Pirate King
in Pirates of Penzance.
More recently he returned to the role of John Smith in Ray Cooneys
Run For Your Wife
2, and played the title role in SFXs National UK Tour of Doctor
Dolittle.
Aside from Just Good Friends
Pauls television work includes: BBC1s Saturday night flagship
comedy drama Sunburn,
Doctors
(BBC), The Bill
spin-off Burnside
for Pearson Television, Season
of the Witch; Early
Struggles;
Two Up Two Down
(all BBC); Chips
(MGMNBC); The Lady Killers (Granada);
The Boys From Ipanema
(ATV); A Little Rococo (Yorkshire
Television); Doubting Thomas -
a musical (TVS); and Close
to Home (LWT).
His major film credits include Tommy,
Stardust,
Lisztomania,
Sargeant Peppers Lonely
Hearts Club Band, The
World is Full of Married Men, Yesterdays
Hero, Alice,
The Jazz Singer,
Blind Terror
with Mia Farrow, The Nutcracker
with Joan Collins and Invitation
to the Wedding with Sir John Gielgud
and Sir Ralph Richardson.
In 1992 Paul formed a production company with fellow actor, David
Ian. Their 20th anniversary concert tour of Jesus
Christ Superstar with Paul in the title
role, was a complete sell-out. They followed this success with The
Greatest Shows in Town (Bournemouth
International Centre) where the show broke box office records. They
then presented their own critically acclaimed version of The
Rocky Horror Show for which Paul made
his directorial debut. Following this they produced a very successful
tour of Singing in the Rain
in which Paul was directed in the lead role by Tommy Steele. Paul
and David then produced a UK tour of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir
Tim Rices Evita
having joined forces with the legendary impresario Robert Stigwood.
Paul Nicholas and David Ian Associates, again with Robert Stigwood,
are currently co-producing the long-running hit musical Grease
and they also co-produced Saturday
Night Fever which opened at the London
Palladium to great acclaim from the critics in May 1998.
A venture into pop singing in 1976 resulted in four top 10 hits, including
the two million best sellers Heaven on the Seventh Floor
in America. Paul continues to record and has received a further four
gold albums.
At the end of 1991, Paul was the subject of This
is Your Life and for his services to
show business and charity, Paul was awarded a Silver Heart from the
variety Club of Great Britain.
Paul has recently completed playing the role of Sam Spencer in the
UK Tour of Snakes and Ladders
for TEG Productions. |