Allan Nicholls

Allan F. Nicholls, born April 8, 1945, is a Canadian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, composer, and musician whose career has spanned stage, screen, and recording.

Nicholls began his professional life as a musician, serving as lead vocalist in the mid-1960s with a series of recording acts. The group started as J.B. & The Playboys on RCA, later became The Jaybees, also on RCA, and subsequently recorded as Carnival Connection for Capitol. A retrospective anthology CD collecting work from the J.B. & The Playboys era was released by Super Oldies in 2005.

His Broadway career ran from 1968 to 1972 and included four productions. He appeared in Hair, in which he played the role of Claude, and went on to star in Jesus Christ Superstar. He also appeared in Dude and Inner City during this period. Following his run in Hair, Nicholls returned to Montreal, where he briefly sang lead vocals with the group Mashmakhan before releasing solo recordings, several of which charted in Canada.

Nicholls subsequently built a substantial career in film. He contributed to the score of the 1975 Robert Altman film Nashville and portrayed team captain Johnny Upton in the 1977 hockey film Slap Shot. His screenplay for Altman's 1978 film A Wedding earned him nominations for both a BAFTA Award and a Writers Guild of America Award. He also wrote the screenplay for A Perfect Couple in 1979, for which he additionally contributed to the music. His directing credits include the 1982 film Dead Ringer and the 1983 film I Am a Hotel.

Nicholls has a notable family connection to hockey history. His grandfather, Riley Hern, was a goaltender for the Montreal Wanderers, a team that won the Stanley Cup in 1908, 1909, and 1911 with Hern in goal.