Donna Denise Nicholas was born on the 12th July 1944, in Detroit, Michigan USA, and is a former actress, activist for the American Civil Rights Movement and writer. Denise is best known for the roles landed in the television series “Room 222” (1969 – 1974) and “In the Heat of the Night” (1988 – 1995). As a writer she is known as the author or the novel “Freshwater Road” (2005). Nicholas had been active in the entertainment industry from 1968 to 2004.
How rich is the actress and the activist for civil rights? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the outright size of Denise Nicholas’ net worth is as much as $3 million, as of the data presented in early 2017. Acting and writing are the main sources of Nicholas’ modest fortune.
Denise Nicholas Net Worth $3 Million
To begin with, she was raised in Detroit, but when her mother re-married, the family moved to Milan, Michigan. In 1961, she matriculated from Milan High School, and at first enrolled as a Pre-Law student at the University of Michigan, then decided to change her major to Latin – American Politics. Eventually, she transferred to Tulane University and headed for a degree in Fine Arts, but finally she dropped out of the university to pursue a career in the Free Southern Theatre. At the same time, she was active in the Civil Rights Movement with a wish to end racial segregation and discrimination.
The actress toured with the Free Southern Theatre for two years, then moved to New York City and became the founding member of the ground-breaking theatre group entitled Negro Ensemble Company. The actress participated in all the productions of the first season, but then moved on to continue her career working mostly for television and cinema. Regarding the education, she earned a Bachelor degree majoring in Arts and Drama from the University of Southern California.
Talking further about her acting career, she started on television by landing roles in the series “It Takes a Thief” (1968), “The F.B.I.” (1969), “N.Y.P.D.” (1967 – 1969) and “The Flip Wilson Show” (1970). Then Denise landed the main role in the comedy drama series “Room 222” (1969 – 1974). Meanwhile, she starred alongside William Marshal and Vonetta McGee in the horror film “Blacula” (1972) by William Crain, the top grossing film of that year, and which won the Saturn Award in the category of the Best Horror Film. The following year, the actress starred in Paul Bogart’s drama film “Mr. Ricco” (1975), and was also cast as a main in the films “Let’s Do It Again” (1975), “A Piece of the Action” (1977), “Capricorn One” (1977), “Marvin & Tige” (1983) and “Over Here, Mr. President” (1983). Nicholas is also well known for starring in the drama series “In the Heat of the Night” (1988 – 1995) which garnered high audience ratings. In 1990, Denise starred with Bill Cosby and Kimberly Russel in the fantasy comedy film “Ghost Dad” by Sidney Poitier, although the film received widespread negative reviews. Later, she landed small roles in feature films and television series, before in 2004 deciding to retire as an actress.
Since 2005, Nicholas has started a career as a writer, publishing her first novel “Freshwater Road” which was selected as one of the best books in 2005 by The Chicago Tribune, Newsday, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Detroit Free Press and The Washington Post. Moreover, Denise won a number of awards including Black Caucasus and the Zora Neal Hurston/Richard Wright Awards.
Finally, in the personal life of Denise Nicholas, she has been married three times, firstly to Gilbert Moses (1964 – 1965), then to singer/songwriter Bill Withers (1973 – 1974), and thirdly to ex-footballer now CBS TV host Jim Hill (1981 – 1984). She is single these days.
