Paul Nicholas

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Paul Nicholas
Paul Nicholas Allan Warren.jpg
As Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar
Background information
Birth name Paul Oscar Beuselinck
Born (1945-12-03) 3 December 1945 (age 78)
Origin Peterborough, England
Genres Pop, stage, screen
Occupation(s) Singer, actor
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1960–present

Paul Nicholas (born 3 December 1945)[1] is an English actor and singer. He started out with a pop career, but soon changed to musical theatre. Later, in the 1970s, he began a screen career. He returned to the pop charts, starring in the 1983 BBC TV sitcom Just Good Friends, for which he is best known. The show won a BAFTA and Nicholas was also nominated for best comedy performance. After the show ended, he returned to musical theatre and various other entertainment roles including producing and directing.

Biography

Nicholas was born as Paul Oscar Beuselinck in Peterborough, England. His grandfather – who originated from Belgium — had been a chef in the merchant navy during World War II, before becoming Head Chef on The Union-Castle Line ships between England and South Africa. His maternal grandfather was a London docker. Nicholas' father Oscar Beuselinck, a former MI6 agent, became a highly esteemed entertainment solicitor, whose clients included MGM, Jack Hylton, John Osborne, The Rolling Stones, Tony Richardson, Richard Harris, Sean Connery, Yes, Robert Stigwood, and The Who.

The family spent holidays at his maternal grandparents' home on the Isle of Sheppey, until Nicholas was 10. After his parents divorced when he was 12, his father's family home was at Letchmore Heath, Watford opposite the Bhaktivedanta Manor. Nicholas' paternal grandparents, Winnie and Oscar, lived in a small cottage on the grounds.

Career

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Nicholas began his pop career as early as 1960. Adopting the stage name Paul Dean, he formed Paul Dean & The Dreamers[2] who were booked to support The Savages, the backing band for the British rocker, Screaming Lord Sutch. It was here that Sutch first noticed the young Nicholas, who was soon to become vocalist and pianist with The Savages.

Still using the name Paul Dean, he released two solo singles in 1965–66. After taking a new stage name, Oscar, he began a long association with the Australian-born entrepreneur, Robert Stigwood. In 1966, Nicholas signed with Stigwood's Reaction Records label and his first single under his new name, "Club of Lights",[3] scraped into the lower reaches of the Radio London Fab Forty chart.

The second Oscar single was a version of a Pete Townshend song "Join My Gang", which The Who never recorded. His third single, a novelty song called "Over the Wall We Go" (1967) is notable for being written and produced by a young David Bowie. After settling on the stage name Paul Nicholas, he found success in the UK in musicals, beginning with the leading role of Claude in Hair (which Stigwood produced) before winning the title role in the original London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The part of Danny to Elaine Paige's Sandy made them the first British couple to play the leads in Grease.[citation needed]

He joined The Young Vic under Frank Dunlop and played Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing and appeared in Crete and Sgt. Pepper by John Antrobus. He appeared as the Bully of the Boulevard in Richard O’Brien’s T-Zee at London's Royal Court Theatre. He also performed in Prospect Theatre Company's Carl Davies musical Pilgrim. It was while touring with O'Brien in Hair in 1970 that he first heard songs from the yet to be produced Rocky Horror Show and made the first professional recording with O'Brien singing "That Ain't No Crime". On the b-side was a song entitled "Very 50s", where O'Brien introduces the characters Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott (In 2005 Nicholas sent O'Brien a CD copy of the recordings with a view to releasing them as an historical record). Thereafter Nicholas returned to the West End starring in Harold Fielding's revival of Charlie Girl, with Cyd Charisse.[citation needed]

Nicholas' film career began in 1970 in a French film with Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin called Cannabis. He followed this as a psychotic killer in Richard Fleischer's See No Evil (1971) and also starred in What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972).[citation needed] He then appeared as Johnny, the egotistical singer pushed aside by David Essex in Stardust (1974), and also appeared in the all-star music comedy Three for All in 1975. The same year he gained international attention when he played the cameo role of the title character's sadistic Cousin Kevin in Robert Stigwood and Ken Russell's film Tommy. He worked again for Russell in Lisztomania, playing Richard Wagner (1975).[citation needed]

In 1976, he embarked on a short-lived but high profile pop career, with three Top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart "Reggae Like It Used To Be", "Dancing with the Captain", and "Grandma's Party", the last two of which reached the Top 10.[4] He released the single "Heaven On The 7th Floor" in 1977. This only just reached the UK Top 40, but reached number No. 1 in New Zealand. In the US, the song peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 5 in Cashbox listings, giving Paul a gold record. He followed this with "On The Strip" which entered the Billboard Hot 100 No. 67 but failed to enter the UK chart. In the mid-1970s he hosted his own pop show on children's TV, titled Paul.[citation needed]

In 1978, he co-starred in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as Dougie Shears. Further films followed including The World Is Full of Married Men (1979), Yesterday's Hero (1979), the loutish punk singer in The Jazz Singer (1980), the romantic lead in Invitation to the Wedding (1983), and Nutcracker (1983).[citation needed]

Having done the workshop with Andrew Lloyd Webber, he returned to the West End stage in 1981 to create the role of Rum Tum Tugger in Webber's musical Cats. He followed this originating the title role in Blondel by Sir Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver. That same year he starred in Two Up, Two Down, a short-lived sitcom co-starring Su Pollard. Then in 1983, Nicholas got his first high-profile television role (he had acted in plays and one-off roles through the 1970s on TV) in which he was cast as Vince Pinner in the BBC TV sitcom Just Good Friends, written by John Sullivan.[citation needed]

The show, for which Nicholas also sang the theme tune, was a success. He was also nominated for a BAFTA. It ended in 1986 with the marriage of the two main characters in Paris. Nicholas went on to star in two highly successful series for ITV. In the major drama series Bust he was nominated Best Actor. He acted in two series of Close to Home, a sitcom about a vet. During this period Nicholas was seldom off television with many appearances including four Royal Variety Shows. He also appeared in TV commercials for Rougemont Castle British wine, and magazine advertisements for Farah slacks.[citation needed]

Nicholas returned to the theatre playing numerous roles on screen in both movie and television projects. He starred as The Pirate King in Joseph Papp's version of The Pirates of Penzance at the London Palladium and the Manchester Opera House, touring again in the same role in the late 1990s. He starred in Barnum in the first national tour and followed this with a highly successful season at The Dominion Theatre in the West End.[citation needed] At the end of 1991, while touring with Barnum, Nicholas was the subject of This Is Your Life. For his services to show business and charity, Nicholas was awarded a Silver Heart from the Variety Club of Great Britain and a Gold Badge Award from BASCA. Nicholas then starred in the national tour of Singin' in the Rain, which was directed by Tommy Steele.[citation needed]

In June 1996, Nicholas played the role of King Arthur in the Covent Garden Festival's production of Camelot. He repeated his role of King Arthur in a BBC Radio 2 production of Camelot. Other radio work included Gracie Field's husband Bert in BBC Radio 4's Gracie. He hosted two series of BBC Radio 2's Mad About Musical', as well as his own hour-long TV special, Paul and Friends, for Thames Television. Nicholas fronted the Radio 4 children's series Cat's Whiskers during the 1980s.[citation needed]

In 1997, he starred as the anti-hero of Karoline Leach's The Mysterious Mr. Love at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. He continued to appear as the lead in numerous straight roles thereafter: Simon Gray's Stagestruck, a national tour of Michael Cooney's The Dark Side with Jenny Seagrove, Catch Me if You Can with Christopher Eccleston, and two plays by Eric Chappell: Mixed Feelings, in which he played a transsexual, and Snakes and Ladders. He starred as John Smith in the original production of Caught in the Net. He co-produced, with Bill Kenwright, a new musical based on Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, in which he starred as Sidney Carton. The musical played Windsor with a Christmas season in Birmingham.[citation needed]

In 2000, Nicholas appeared in the BBC television comedy drama Sunburn, playing the role of David Janus, owner of the self-titled holiday company that the series centred around. He also played the role of Ronnie Buchan in the new police drama series Burnside. Further television work followed with parts in The Bill and Holby City. Nicholas then played the title role in the national tour of Doctor Dolittle and followed this with the role of Tevye in UK Productions' national tour of Fiddler on the Roof.[citation needed]

In the summer of 2006, he was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses, as well as appearing in Doctors, Heartbeat and Holby City. That autumn, Nicholas was attached to star in the British film Cash and Curry, and also in that year he co-produced and starred in the musical Jekyll & Hyde in a UK national tour.[citation needed]

In 2008, Nicholas played Alan Boon in BBC Four's Consuming Passions – a hundred years of Mills and Boon. He also directed and produced A Tale of Two Cities at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. In 2009, Nicholas played Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard for the Carl Rosa Opera Company at the Tower of London Festival. In November 2010, Nicholas and Sean Maguire starred in a new play, The Haunting. The Haunting continued in 2011 with Nicholas and Charlie Clements. In September 2011, Nicholas produced and directed a UK tour of Keeler. He directed the musical version of Tale of Two Cities at the Charing Cross Theatre in April–May 2012.[citation needed]

Business

In 1990 whilst starring with David Ian in a production of The Pirates of Penzance at the London Palladium, Nicholas offered Ian a partnership in co-producing and starring in a touring production of the New York Shakespeare Festival version of the popular Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Paul Nicholas & David Ian Associates Ltd were formed to produce the 20th anniversary production of Jesus Christ Superstar on a UK-wide tour, which sold out. They then produced a nightly fully staged version of The Pirates of Penzance in which Nicholas starred and again they sold out.[5]

The company has since produced numerous shows making both partners millionaires, including:

School of acting

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In 2006 Nicholas set up a franchise operation, the Paul Nicholas School of Acting & Performing Arts, aimed at teaching acting to school-age children.[6] There were, at one stage, thirty franchises across England and Wales but the company went into liquidation in 2012.

In January 2008 Nicholas launched Paul Nicholas Community Arts, a project designed to engage disenfranchised children in the arts. The pilot scheme will be funded for fourteen weeks by Wyre Borough Council in the North West of England. A twelve-week scheme began on 28 May 2008 in Blackpool.

Personal life

Nicholas has been married twice, and has six children. His first wife, Susan, whom he divorced in the early 1970s died in a car accident in 1977. Nicholas married his second wife, columnist Linzi Beuselinck, in 1984.

LPs & CDs

Paul Nicholas has released 3 LPs and 1 compilation CD.

  • Paul Nicholas (LP) 1977, RSO (10 songs)
  • On the Strip (LP) 1978, RSO (12 songs, 8 of which are also on 1977's Paul Nicholas LP, 4 are new recordings)
  • Just Good Friends (LP) 1986, K-Tel (13 songs, 12 are cover songs)
  • That's Entertainment (CD) 1993, Karussell (14 songs) (compilation of RSO/Polydor material from 1976-1980)

Singles

Year Title Peak positions
UK
[4]
US NZ
[7]
1968 "Open Up the Skies" (Polydor)
1969 "Who Can I Turn To" (Polydor)
1970 "Freedom City" (Polydor)
1971 "The World Is Beautiful" (Polydor)
1974 "I Hit the Jockpot" (Epic)
"DJ Saturday Night" (Epic)
1975 "Shuffling Tune" (RSO)
1976 "Reggae Like It Used To Be" (RSO) 17
"Dancing with the Captain" (RSO) 8
"Grandma's Party" (RSO) 9
1977 "If You Were the Only Girl in the World" (RSO)
"Heaven On The 7th Floor" (RSO) 40 6 1
1978 "On the Strip" (RSO) 67
1979 "Two Up Two Down" (RSO)
"Yesterday's Hero" (RSO)
1980 "Magical Mr. Mistoffelees" (Polydor)
1981 "No News" (RSO)
1983 "House of Rock" (Flying Records)
"Least of My Troubles" (MCA)
1984 "Just Good Friends" (Flying Records)

Literature

  • Paul Nicholas (with Douglas Thompson): Behind the Smile autobiography, hardcover, 218 pages published in October 1999 by André Deutsch Ltd; ISBN 0-233-99748-2

References

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  4. 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Greasethemusical.co.uk
  6. Pnsa.co.uk
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External links