Anthony Nicholls

Anthony Nicholls was an English actor who had a substantial, 30-plus-year career in film and television, despite a late start resulting from his service in Britain's Royal Artillery. A veteran of the stage, Nicholls made his film debut at age 44 in the 1946 musical "The Laughing Lady." Alas, lighter-hearted roles were not to be Nicholls' fate--the vast majority of his parts were either military officers or government official types. In 1949, Nicholls played a significant supporting role as Lt. Col. Dunn in the Ronald Reagan-starring drama "The Hasty Heart." That same year he made his television debut, and by the mid-1950s was landing recurring roles, including a co-starring part as Maj. Colby on all six episodes of the 1955 English thriller "Portrait of Alison." Nicholls' biggest role came in 1968 when he co-starred on the TV sci-fi thriller "The Champions," which roughly equated to "Star Trek" meets "Mission Impossible"; the series ran 30 episodes over one season. From the mid-1960s through the 1970s, Nicholls appeared in several high-profile films, albeit in lower-profile roles, including everything from "A Man for All Seasons," in 1966, to two Lindsay Anderson-directed, Malcolm McDowell-starring films, "If. ." and "O Lucky Man! ." He also appeared as Dr. Becker in the horror classic "The Omen," which would be his final film, in 1976.