Alex Nicol

Alex Nicol

Known for: Acting
Biography: 1916-01-20
Deathday: 2001-07-29 (85 years old)

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Biography

Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr. (January 20, 1916 – July 29, 2001) was an American actor and film director. Nicol appeared in many Westerns including The Man from Laramie (1955). He appeared in more than forty feature films as well as directing many television shows including The Wild Wild West (1967), Tarzan (1966), and Daniel Boone (1966). He also played many roles on Broadway. Nicol was born in Ossining, New York, in 1916. When his movie career started thirty-four years later he adjusted the year to 1919. "I was a little older than some of the other people under contract so I thought, 'Well, I'll cure that right now'," he later confessed. His father was the arms keeper at Sing Sing. He studied at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art before joining Maurice Evans' theatrical company, with whom he made his Broadway debut with a walk-on in Henry IV, Part 1 (1939). Later a member of The Actors Studio, Nicol would play Brick in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, under the direction of Studio co-founder Elia Kazan.

However, it was as a character actor that Nicol spent most of his career. He also directed films, and appeared frequently on television. His acting career was interrupted by a five-year stint in the army. He served with the 101st Cavalry and attained the rank of Technical Sergeant.

Upon discharge, Nicol returned to Broadway in a revival of Clifford Odets' pro-union drama Waiting for Lefty (1946). Shortly thereafter, he was admitted to The Actors Studio, where he worked with Elia Kazan; this led to a role in the Studio's 1948 production of Sundown Beach, staged by Kazan. Nicol next appeared in Forward the Heart, and then as part of the original cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical South Pacific (1949), playing one of the marines, but after a few weeks in the show he successfully auditioned to replace Ralph Meeker as Mannion in Mister Roberts, and was also made understudy to the play's star Henry Fonda.

But I never made it! He never missed a performance! And Henry's wife at the time died during the run of Mr. Roberts, but he still didn't miss the performance the night she died. He didn't show up, and the stage manager finally said to me, 'Okay, Alex, get dressed'. So I had the outfit on, and then the stage manager looked at his watch and said, 'All right, two more minutes, and we go up'. And we were one minute away from curtain time, and Fonda walked in, in costume, and he just walked right out, hit his mark, and he played the performance as though nothing had happened.

While acting in Mister Roberts, Nicol was seen by the Universal Studios director George Sherman, who was in New York City to film The Sleeping City (1950). He cast Nicol as a young doctor. Nicol was given a contract by Universal, and Sherman also directed his second film, Tomahawk (1951), in which he played a cavalry officer with a hatred of Indians.

Small roles as a prisoner of war in Target Unknown (1951) and a trainee pilot in Air Cadet (1951) preceded Nicol's first major part, co-starring with Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters in the musical drama Meet Danny Wilson (1952). In his next film he was an antagonist again, causing Loretta Young to be wrongly sent to prison in Because of You (1952). He played a troublesome sergeant in Red Ball Express (1952), directed by Budd Boetticher.

Nicol's first lead role was opposite Maureen O'Hara in The Redhead from Wyoming (1953) directed by Lee Sholem.

"Roll 'Em Sholem" they used to call him. All he would say before every scene was "Roll 'Em!" And then when you got to the end of the scene he'd say "Cut!" and then he'd look at the script clerk and say, "Did they say all the words?", and if so that was it. When the picture was over I went to the front office at Universal and asked to be released from my contract. They thought I was crazy. But I thought, "If this is my big break, then I'm not going very far."

Going freelance, Nicol was directed by Daniel Mann in About Mrs. Leslie (1953) starring Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan. Nicol returned to Universal (at a much larger salary than he had been getting as a contract player) to appear in two George Sherman films, The Lone Hand (1953) and Dawn at Socorro (1954). Nicol then made three films in England, including the lead role in Face the Music (1954), and Ken Hughes' The House Across the Lake (1954).

It was a great script, and Sidney James, a wonderful actor, was in it, along with Hillary Brooke. Eventually I got back to the United States and I was glad to come back. Those British pictures kept me working, but they were really fast.

Anthony Mann directed Nicol in his role as a navigator in Strategic Air Command (1955), and it was Mann who then gave the actor his best-remembered role as the weak psychopathic son of a patriarch rancher (Donald Crisp) who menaced Jimmy Stewart in The Man from Laramie (1955).

After a supporting role in Jacques Tourneur's Great Day in the Morning (1956) Nicol believed his Hollywood career was not progressing. In 1956 he returned to Broadway to replace Ben Gazzara in the lead role of Brick, in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. When the Broadway run ended Nicol starred in the tour.

Nicol starred with Shelley Winters in the play Saturday Night Kid (1958). He then returned to Hollywood where he made his first film as a director, The Screaming Skull (1958), in which he also acted.

I wasn't doing the kind of films as an actor that I wanted to do, so I thought, "Well, I'll try directing." We shot the picture in six weeks and it did very well, so I was happy with that.

Nicol traveled to Italy when director Martin Ritt gave him a role in Five Branded Women (1959). While there he was offered parts in other movies. He and his family remained in Europe for two years.

We lived in Rome; God, it was beautiful. We did a lot of films very quickly, with backing from Italian and Yugoslavian finance sources. It was one of the happiest times of my life.

One of his last assignments in Italy was another directorial credit, Then There Were Three, also known as Three Came Back, a World War II combat and spy actioner, which he also produced and was one of the co-stars, along with Frank Latimore. Returning to the United States in 1961, he played Paul Anka's father in the thriller Look in Any Window (1961), with subsequent acting roles including The Twilight Zone episode "Young Man's Fancy" in 1962; two westerns, The Savage Guns (1962) and Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964); Brandy (1964), Roger Corman's Bloody Mama (1969), based on the life of Ma Barker, and the independently mede religious horror The Night God Screamed. Second-billed to star Jeanne Crain, he portrayed her husband, a small-time evangelist whose death at film's midpoint occurs through crucifixion by religious fanatics led by a charismatic guru styled upon Charles Manson, whose 1969 cult murders were still fresh in the public's mind during the film's production in 1971.

Nicol later worked as a director in television and did episodes of Daniel Boone, Wild Wild West, and many episodes for Tarzan starring Ron Ely. The last film in which he acted was A*P*E (1976), an independent movie made by a friend of the actor. He retired in the late 1980s and died of natural causes in Montecito, California in 2001.

Alex Nicol was survived by his wife, Jean and his three children, Lisa Nicol, Alexander Nicol III, and Eric Nicol.

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Filmography

all 65

Movies 48

TV Shows 17

Director 8

self 1

Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1988)

Movie
Mickey in 'The Screaming Skull'
Horrible Horror

Horrible Horror (1986)

Movie
Col. Davis
A*P*E

A*P*E (1976)

Movie
Joe Forrester

Joe Forrester (1975)

TV
Dr. Robinson
Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn (1975)

Movie
Secretary of HEW
The Clones

The Clones (1973)

Movie
Director
Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones

Tarzan and the Perils of Charity Jones (1971)

Movie
Director
Point of Terror

Point of Terror (1971)

Movie
Willis Pierce
The Night God Screamed

The Night God Screamed (1971)

Movie
Mr. Harry Edwards
Homer

Homer (1970)

Movie
George Barker
Bloody Mama

Bloody Mama (1970)

Movie
McCloud

McCloud (1970)

TV
7
Director
Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army

Tarzan and the Four O'Clock Army (1968)

Movie
Colonel Bergen
Manila, Open City

Manila, Open City (1968)

Movie
Director
Tarzan

Tarzan (1966)

TV
6
Mr. Kingerman
The F.B.I.

The F.B.I. (1965)

TV
Director
The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West (1965)

TV
5.75
Director
The Legend of Jesse James

The Legend of Jesse James (1965)

TV
Director
Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone (1964)

TV
5.75
Brandy
Ride and Kill

Ride and Kill (1964)

Movie
Joe Daylight
Gunfighters of Casa Grande

Gunfighters of Casa Grande (1964)

Movie
Relámpago Harris
Relevo para un pistolero

Relevo para un pistolero (1964)

Movie
Gen. Lee Stocker
The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits (1963)

TV
7.4
Sam McLease
Then There Were Three

Then There Were Three (1961)

Movie
Danny Pose
The Savage Guns

The Savage Guns (1961)

Movie
Kennedy
A Matter of WHO

A Matter of WHO (1961)

Movie
David Graham
Dr. Kildare

Dr. Kildare (1961)

TV
6
Peter Fleming
Cain's Hundred

Cain's Hundred (1961)

TV
Jay Fowler
Look in Any Window

Look in Any Window (1961)

Movie
Ufficiale Americano
The Hunchback

The Hunchback (1960)

Movie
Dan Al Toback
Everybody Go Home!

Everybody Go Home! (1960)

Movie
Knoche / Captain Canard
Under Ten Flags

Under Ten Flags (1960)

Movie
Run with the Devil

Run with the Devil (1960)

Movie
Svenko
Five Branded Women

Five Branded Women (1960)

Movie
The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone (1959)

TV
8
Director
The Screaming Skull

The Screaming Skull (1958)

Movie
Eddie Slovak
The Percentage

The Percentage (1958)

Movie
John Madison
Stranger in Town

Stranger in Town (1957)

Movie
Captain Stephen Kirby
Great Day in the Morning

Great Day in the Morning (1956)

Movie
Howard Ferguson
Sincerely Yours

Sincerely Yours (1955)

Movie
Eddie Slovak
Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955)

TV
4.75
Dave Waggoman
The Man from Laramie

The Man from Laramie (1955)

Movie
Ike Knowland
Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command (1955)

Movie
Capt. Steve Anderson
The Gilded Cage

The Gilded Cage (1955)

Movie
Michael Patterson / Robert Brewster
Climax!

Climax! (1954)

TV
Jimmy Rapp
Dawn at Socorro

Dawn at Socorro (1954)

Movie
Lan McKay
About Mrs. Leslie

About Mrs. Leslie (1954)

Movie
Mark Kendrick
The House Across the Lake

The House Across the Lake (1954)

Movie
6.4
James Bradley
Face the Music

Face the Music (1954)

Movie
6
Walter Stone
Letter to Loretta

Letter to Loretta (1953)

TV
George Wilson
Champ for a Day

Champ for a Day (1953)

Movie
Jonah Varden
The Lone Hand

The Lone Hand (1953)

Movie
Lute Johnson
Law and Order

Law and Order (1953)

Movie
Sheriff Stan Blaine
The Redhead from Wyoming

The Redhead from Wyoming (1953)

Movie
Mike Monroe
Because of You

Because of You (1952)

Movie
Sgt. Red Kallek
The Red Ball Express

The Red Ball Express (1952)

Movie
Michael Francis
Meet Danny Wilson

Meet Danny Wilson (1952)

Movie
Carl Linder
The Raging Tide

The Raging Tide (1951)

Movie
Phil / Todd Bradley
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1951)

TV
Joe Czanoczek
Air Cadet

Air Cadet (1951)

Movie
Sgt. Al Mitchell
Target Unknown

Target Unknown (1951)

Movie
Lt. Rob Dancy
Tomahawk

Tomahawk (1951)

Movie
Jimmy MacDonald / Macney / Hank
Lux Video Theatre

Lux Video Theatre (1950)

TV
Dr. Steve Anderson
The Sleeping City

The Sleeping City (1950)

Movie
Studio One

Studio One (1948)

TV

Ratings

Average 5.85
Based on 183 Thousand movie and tv ratings over time
1948
1954
1960
1955
1988
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Information

Known For
Acting

Gender
Male

Birthday
1916-01-20

Deathday
2001-07-29 (85 years old)

Birth Place
Ossining, United States of America

Citizenships
United States of America

Also Known As
Alexander Livingston "Alex" Nicol Jr., Alexander Livingston Nicol Jr.


This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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