Harry Nicholls (comedian)

Harry Nicholls (1 March 1852 – 29 November 1926) was an English actor, comedian, songwriter and playwright, popular during the Victorian era. As an actor, he appeared in music hall, Victorian burlesques and Edwardian musical comedy. He was perhaps best known for starring in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane's annual Christmas pantomimes, alongside Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell and as the author of long-running musicals at the Gaiety Theatre.

Nicholls was born Henry Thomas Nicholls in London and was educated at The City of London School. As a youth he worked as a clerk in a railway office and spent some time as an apprentice auctioneer. He became interested in acting and made his stage debut in 1870, acting in provincial theatre where he achieved little success. He made his debut on the London stage on 3 October 1874 where he played the part of Honeybun at the Old Surrey Theatre in Joseph Stirling Coyne's farce Did You Ever Send Your Wife to Camberwell? Nicholls remained at the theatre for two years. Early in his career, he also played Don Andres in La Perichole with Selina Dolaro's company. He next moved to the Royal Grecian Theatre in Shoreditch. There he met the music hall comedian Herbert Campbell, and the two formed a professional union.

Nicholls married Lucy Jane Pettitt, sister of the dramatist Henry Pettitt, in 1878 in Islington, and they had three children. In 1879, Nicholls was engaged in a short contract at the Folly Theatre where he played comic roles in The Dragoons, Lord Mayor's Day, The First Night, and Heavy Fathers.

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