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  • Biography
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IMDbPro

James H. Nicholson(1916-1972)

  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
James H. Nicholson was a longtime theater owner and exhibitor and worked as a promo man for Realart Pictures prior to 1954, when he founded American Releasing Corp., Two years later, he decided he wanted to expand globally and, with lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff, formed American International Pictures. The company turned out hundreds of movies over the next 35 years. AIP discovered an audience that was being ignored by mainstream Hollywood--teenagers--and in its early years, it turned out movies about monsters, hot rods and rock'n'roll, and the drive-ins filled with kids. In the 1960s, AIP turned out a string of zany, inexpensive but highly profitable "Beach Party" movies full of sand, songs, surf and (tame) sex. In 1964, 48-year-old Nicholson divorced his wife Sylvia and married 24-year-old actress Susan Hart. When the biker craze hit, AIP was there with Les Anges sauvages (1966). Nicholson continued to make AIP movies until June 1972, when he resigned as AIP's president and immediately formed a new company, Academy Pictures Corp., headquartered at the brand new Luckman Building, 9200 Sunset Blvd. He soon announced a six-picture deal with 20th Century Fox, who had sought him out. The six pictures included "The Legend of Hell House," "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry," "The Blackfather," "Street People" and "The Thousand Year Old Man," the latter based on a Nicholson original. (The sixth title, unannounced, was to have been "Death Race," on which he had collaborated with his good friend Robert Thom. Nicholson re-titled it "Death Race 2000.") In December 1972, two of those movies were "in the can" when Nicholson died of lung cancer that had metastasized. "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry," budgeted at $1,000,000, reaped $28,000,000, 20th's largest grossing film of that year; it has been reported that its huge profits enabled 20th to make "Star Wars." In the meantime, the floundering AIP became a subsidiary of Filmways, with Filmways' head Richard Bloch now calling the shots. When Arkoff left Filmways in 1980, he attempted to follow in Nicholson's footsteps, basing his new distribution company Arkoff International Picture (notice the identical initials, AIP) at 9200 Sunset. It was responsible for just one theatrical release, the sex- and nudity-filled "Hellhole" (1985).
BornSeptember 14, 1916
DiedDecember 10, 1972(56)
BornSeptember 14, 1916
DiedDecember 10, 1972(56)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Awards
    • 2 nominations total

Known for

Ray Milland in Panique année zéro (1962)
Panique année zéro
6.6
  • Producer
  • 1962
L'espion qui venait du surgelé (1966)
L'espion qui venait du surgelé
4.1
  • Producer
  • 1966
Frankie Avalon, Vincent Price, Susan Hart, and Dwayne Hickman in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
5.1
  • Producer
  • 1965
Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue (1971)
Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue
5.2
  • Producer
  • 1971

Credits

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IMDbPro

Producer



  • Peter Fonda and Susan George in Larry le dingue, Mary la garce (1974)
    Larry le dingue, Mary la garce
    6.6
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1974
  • La Maison des damnés (1973)
    La Maison des damnés
    6.6
    • executive producer: A James H. Nicholson Production
    • 1973
  • The Unholy Rollers (1972)
    The Unholy Rollers
    5.4
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Jim Brown and Stella Stevens in Massacre (1972)
    Massacre
    5.9
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • William Marshall and Vonetta McGee in Le vampire noir (1972)
    Le vampire noir
    5.8
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Ray Milland and Roosevelt Grier in La chose à deux têtes (1972)
    La chose à deux têtes
    4.6
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Le Retour de l'abominable docteur Phibes (1972)
    Le Retour de l'abominable docteur Phibes
    6.3
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Deathmaster (1972)
    Deathmaster
    5.2
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Barbara Hershey in Bertha Boxcar (1972)
    Bertha Boxcar
    6.0
    • executive producer (uncredited)
    • 1972
  • Les Crapauds (1972)
    Les Crapauds
    4.4
    • executive producer
    • 1972
  • Shelley Winters, Chloe Franks, Hugh Griffith, Lionel Jeffries, Mark Lester, and Ralph Richardson in Mais qui a tué tante Roo? (1972)
    Mais qui a tué tante Roo?
    6.1
    • producer
    • 1972
  • Bunny O'Hare (1971)
    Bunny O'Hare
    5.6
    • executive producer
    • 1971
  • Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue (1971)
    Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue
    5.2
    • executive producer
    • 1971
  • Vincent Price and Virginia North in L'Abominable Docteur Phibes (1971)
    L'Abominable Docteur Phibes
    7.0
    • executive producer
    • 1971
  • Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall in Les Hauts de Hurlevent (1970)
    Les Hauts de Hurlevent
    6.3
    • producer
    • 1970

Additional Crew



  • Barbara Hershey in Bertha Boxcar (1972)
    Bertha Boxcar
    6.0
    • presenter
    • 1972
  • Les Crapauds (1972)
    Les Crapauds
    4.4
    • presenter
    • 1972
  • Shelley Winters, Chloe Franks, Hugh Griffith, Lionel Jeffries, Mark Lester, and Ralph Richardson in Mais qui a tué tante Roo? (1972)
    Mais qui a tué tante Roo?
    6.1
    • presenter
    • 1972
  • Vincent Price and Virginia North in L'Abominable Docteur Phibes (1971)
    L'Abominable Docteur Phibes
    7.0
    • presenter
    • 1971
  • Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall in Les Hauts de Hurlevent (1970)
    Les Hauts de Hurlevent
    6.3
    • presenter
    • 1970
  • Angel Unchained (1970)
    Angel Unchained
    5.1
    • presenter
    • 1970
  • Les crocs de Satan (1970)
    Les crocs de Satan
    5.5
    • presenter
    • 1970
  • Dunwich Horror (1970)
    Dunwich Horror
    5.4
    • presenter
    • 1970
  • Deux gentlemen (1969)
    Deux gentlemen
    6.4
    • presenter
    • 1969
  • La chute des anges (1969)
    La chute des anges
    4.3
    • presenter
    • 1969
  • Les envahisseurs attaquent (1968)
    Les envahisseurs attaquent
    6.4
    • presenter (US version)
    • 1968
  • Gamera contre Viras (1968)
    Gamera contre Viras
    4.6
    • presenter (AIP-TV release)
    • 1968
  • Susan Strasberg in Un monde psychédélique (1968)
    Un monde psychédélique
    5.9
    • presenter
    • 1968
  • Salli Sachse in The Trip (1967)
    The Trip
    6.1
    • presenter
    • 1967
  • Le Credo de la violence (1967)
    Le Credo de la violence
    5.9
    • presenter
    • 1967

Writer



  • Peter Fonda and Susan George in Larry le dingue, Mary la garce (1974)
    Larry le dingue, Mary la garce
    6.6
    • story (uncredited)
    • 1974
  • L'espion qui venait du surgelé (1966)
    L'espion qui venait du surgelé
    4.1
    • story by (English version, as James Hartford)
    • 1966
  • Frankie Avalon, Vincent Price, Susan Hart, and Dwayne Hickman in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
    Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
    5.1
    • story (as James Hartford)
    • 1965
  • Objectif Terre (1954)
    Objectif Terre
    5.5
    • original screenplay (as James Nicholson)
    • 1954

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • James Hartford
  • Born
    • September 14, 1916
    • Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Died
    • December 10, 1972
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(brain tumor)
  • Spouses
      Susan HartAugust 1966 - December 10, 1972 (his death, 1 child)
  • Children
      Luree Holmes
  • Parents
      Percival Harford Nicholson
  • Relatives
      Joi Holmes(Grandchild)

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    AIP vice-president Samuel Z. Arkoff credits Nicholson with being the idea man at the company. He would come up with a great title and a campaign would be built around it. When that was all settled, they would get around to actually making the film.
  • Quotes
    [on Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations] Poe writes the first reel or the last reel. Roger does the rest.
  • Nickname
    • Jim

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