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 LWT’s 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
O’Brien’s 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
Webber’s Cats.
He subsequently played the title role in Sir Tim Rice’s
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 Festival’s
production of Camelot.
Paul then went on to complete a national tour of Michael Cooney’s
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 End’s 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 Cooney’s Run
For Your Wife 2, and played the
title role in SFX’s National UK Tour of Doctor
Dolittle.
Aside from Just Good Friends
Paul’s television work includes: BBC1’s 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 Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band, The
World is Full of Married Men,
Yesterday’s 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 Rice’s
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.
During 2002 Paul played the role of Sam Spencer in the UK Tour
of Snakes and Ladders for
TEG Productions.
2003 saw Paul play the lead role of Tevye in a major new production
of Fiddler on the Roof for
UK Productions on a national tour.
Paul is currently touring in the play Mixed
Feelings for TEG productions. |
