Denise Nicholas facts for kids

Denise Donna Nicholas (born July 12, 1944) is an American actress who has starred in many TV shows and movies. She is well-known for playing Liz McIntyre, a high school guidance counselor, in the ABC show Room 222. She also played Councilwoman Harriet DeLong in the drama series In the Heat of the Night.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Denise Nicholas was born in Detroit on July 12, 1944. She spent her early childhood there. Later, she moved to Milan, Michigan, a small town near Ann Arbor. When she was 16, Denise was featured on the cover of Jet magazine in 1960. The magazine highlighted her as a promising future school teacher. She finished high school in Milan in 1961.

Denise first attended the University of Michigan. She planned to study law but later changed her focus to Latin-American politics, Spanish, and English. She left the university after two years and moved to New York City. There, she worked for an advertising company.

She then went to Tulane University to study Fine Arts. Her first acting role was in a Spanish play for her language class. Denise left Tulane to join the Free Southern Theater (FST) during the Civil Rights Movement. This movement was a time when people worked to end unfair treatment and gain equal rights for African Americans. She toured the southern United States with the FST for two years.

After that, Denise moved back to New York City. She joined the Negro Ensemble Company, a theater group. From there, she was chosen for her famous role as Liz McIntyre in the ABC series Room 222. Later, in 1987, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama from the University of Southern California.

Career Highlights

Denise Nicholas started her TV acting career in 1968 with an episode of It Takes a Thief. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award three times (1970–1972) for Best Actress in a TV Drama. These nominations were for her role as Liz McIntyre in Room 222.

After Room 222 ended in 1974, she won two NAACP Image Awards in 1976. These awards were for her acting in the movie Let's Do It Again and for her role in a drama series. She also played Olivia Ellis in the sitcom Baby... I'm Back! in 1978.

Denise also has a talent for writing. She wrote the song "Can We Pretend," which her former husband, Bill Withers, recorded in 1974. Later, she joined the cast of In the Heat of the Night as Harriet DeLong. She also wrote six episodes for this series, starting her career as a writer.

After In the Heat of the Night finished, she continued to study writing. Her first novel, Freshwater Road, was published in 2005. It was praised by many newspapers and won several awards, including the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award for new fiction. Brown University even asked her to adapt her novel into a play, which was performed in 2008. Denise is currently writing her memoir, which is a book about her own life.

Personal Life

Denise Nicholas was married to Gilbert Moses in 1964. They later divorced. She then married singer-songwriter Bill Withers in 1973, and they divorced in 1974. Later, she married CBS sports anchor Jim Hill in 1981, and they divorced in 1987.

Acting Credits

Films

Television

Theatre

Awards and Nominations