Tap Dance Legend Fayard Nicholas Dies at Age 91
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 25, 2006
Tony Award-winner Fayard Nicholas, of the legendary Nicholas Brothers, has passed away at the age of 91; he died of pneumonia and other complications of a stroke.
Fayard Nicholas was born in Mobile, AL on October 20th, 1914. With his brother Harold (who passed away in 2000), Fayard was a performer from a young age; the two appeared in vaudeville, on radio and the Cotton Club.
With Harold, Fayard made his Broadway debut in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. The pair would go on to dance together in Rodgers and Hart's Babes in Arms, Harold Arlen's St. Louis Woman and Sammy, while Fayard would win a Tony Award for choreographing the hit revue Black and Blue in 1989. On film, the Nicholas Brothers became famous in movie musicals such as Kid Millions, The Big Broadcast of 1936, Down Argentine Way, Tin Pan Alley, Stormy Weather, Orchestra Wives, Sun Valley Serenade and The Pirate. As an actor, Fayard appeared in later movies such as The Liberation of L.B. Jones, Night at the Golden Eagle and Hard Four.The Nicholas Brothers were known for a unique, highly athletic form of tap dancing; Fayard himself was known for perfoming cartwheels and landing in a full split. Admirer
Fred Astaire "once told the brothers that the acrobatic elegance and
synchronicity of their 'Jumpin' Jive' dance sequence in Stormy Weather
(1943) made it the greatest movie musical number he had ever seen. In
the number, the brothers tap across music stands in an orchestra with
the fearless exuberance of children stone-hopping across a pond. In the
finale, they leap-frog seamlessly down a sweeping staircase," according to Bob Thomas' Associated Press article. The late Gregory Hines was also a fan: he "once said that if a film were ever made about their lives, the dance numbers would have to be computer-generated because nobody could duplicate them."
As many African-American performers of their era did, the Nicholas Brothers overcame prejudice to carve out successful careers. "If you were black, you experienced (prejudice). It wasn't a real horrible thing for us; we went through it," said Harold once.
Fayard and Harold were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the brothers were also inducted Apollo Theater Halll of Fame and the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame. They received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1991.
Fayard was married three times--to Geraldine Pate, with whom he had two children and to Barbara January, with whom he had one. He married Katherine Hopkins in 2000.
"He was like a poet … talking to you with his hands and feet," said Harold once of Fayard's dancing.
Fayard Nicholas was born in Mobile, AL on October 20th, 1914. With his brother Harold (who passed away in 2000), Fayard was a performer from a young age; the two appeared in vaudeville, on radio and the Cotton Club.
As many African-American performers of their era did, the Nicholas Brothers overcame prejudice to carve out successful careers. "If you were black, you experienced (prejudice). It wasn't a real horrible thing for us; we went through it," said Harold once.
Fayard and Harold were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the brothers were also inducted Apollo Theater Halll of Fame and the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame. They received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1991.
Fayard was married three times--to Geraldine Pate, with whom he had two children and to Barbara January, with whom he had one. He married Katherine Hopkins in 2000.
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