Harold Nicholas, of the incredible dancing duo The Nicholas Brothers, died Monday, July 3, of heart failure. Harold, along with his brother Fayard, were two of the most explosive and powerful dancers ever to hit the big screen.  Their moves had me dazzled with their power and grace. Other screen legends of the time stole shamelessly from them, especially Harold, but they could only display parts of their magic; Fred Astaire could show the grace, Gene Kelly the power, Red Buttons the wit...but no one could do it all at the same time, the way the Nicholas Brothers could. I remember, as a very small boy, watching a Gene Kelly musical, The Pirate (Kelly was their biggest fan and booster) with my Gramma's pal, Mr. Watkins.  Old Watkins called me in the house to see this thing on the TV.   It was some silly business on a pirate ship, and the plot called for a brawl, and somehow a dance broke out.  These guys were swinging from ropes, sliding down rails, doing somersaults from balconies and landing in splits, and all kinds of crazy stunts.   Every time they would do some wild move, old Watkins would mumble in amazement, Good God Amighty .  I couldn't even say that much.   In a 1997 interview replayed on July 7 on NPR's Fresh Air, Harold noted that a choreographer named Nick Castle kept pushing him to do more and more athletic stuff, and respected the brother's refusal to take parts in films that called for demeaning roles.  As a result, their work still stands as a marvel, and you should catch their work whenever you can. Harold also noted that his older brother Fayard (who I am glad to report is still on life) was always his biggest fan.  There was never any rivalry between the two.   You can find information about the Nicholas Brothers in many places on the Web, including: http://www.cmgww.com/stars/nicholas/nicholas.html Harold died of heart failure, at the age of 79. Wayne Old Watkins warned me that if I tried jumping off the roof into a split, he would spank me good Johnson This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ************************** Late one night, I heard my Mama and Daddy talkin. Mama say, Daddy.  I'm worried.  That boy boogie all day, and boogie all night.  He just boogie all the time. And Daddy say, Mama.  Don't worry.  That boy got to boogie.  It's in him; and it's got to come out. -John Lee Hooker, Born To Boogie

I tip my hat to one of the greatest dancers I have had the pleasure to view. vonw As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion... President John Adams, Treaty of Tripoli, 1797 http://www.ccinet.com/~redbai

Question:  What ever became of Harold's daughter?

She may be institutionalized.  That would make her in her fifties. Harold admitted that he was out ho-ing while Harolyn was being born in the A&E documentary shown the week he died.  Poor Dorothy Dandridge was in labor and kept saying that Harold was going to come take her to the hospital.  He never showed. Had Dorothy and her daughter been admitted at the first, the girl might not have suffered these birth defects.

Indeed... A class act. Uptown Saturday Night was showing last week...starring Harold Nicholas in one of his few modern roles as kick ass Little Seymour. Then, A&E showed a very great hour about the Brothers. Another of his modern roles was his portrayal of a choreographer in The Five Heartbeats, as well as Tap (starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr), in which he played an oldtime hoofer. In a great scene when the old timers face off in a challenge dance, Harold shows that he hadn't lost too much to age. Fred Astaire once commented that the Nicholas Brothers' dance routine in Stormy Weather was the best he had ever seen. That's the one in which they leap over band musicians and do unbelievable splits on a hugh stage staircase. Harold had some pretty good moves offstage, too, seeing that he was once married to Dorothy Dandridge. The lineage of his legacy extends through Hines and the newest sensation, Savion Glover. Kenyada www.kenyada.com