The Nicholas Brothers

Harold Lloyd Nicholas was born to drummer and orchestra leader Ulysses Domonick (1892 - 1935) and pianist Viola Harden (born 1895) in Mobile, Alabama. Harold was the younger brother of the tap-dancing Nicholas Brothers, in which he performed with his brother Fayard Nicholas. They danced in vaudeville, on Broadway, in nightclubs, and films. They are best known for their dancing in many movie musicals - they appeared in more than 50 movies. The Nicholas Brothers finally appeared with a Caucasian star, Gene Kelly, in their last film in 1948, "The Pirate". In previous films they were shown by themselves in their dance numbers to that the segment could be cut in the racially divided South. Harold was quoted as saying "If you were black, you experienced (prejudice). It wasn't a real horrible thing for us; we went through it. We noticed it mostly in the South and in Las Vegas, where we couldn't stay in the hotels where we entertained. But that began to change." Harold Nicholas married Dorothy Dandridge (1922 - 1965) in September 1942. They divorced in 1951 after having a daughter. He then married Elyanne Patronne, with whom he had a son, and then Rigmor A. Newman, to whom he was married when he died. He had two children, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas (1943 - 2003), from his first marriage, and Melih Nicholas (1958 - 2003), from his second marriage. See Harold Nicholas, Dazzling Hoofer, Is Dead at 79.