Melih Nicholas, also recorded as Melih C. Nicholas, was the son of dancer Harold Nicholas and Elyanne Patronne. He was born on October 29, 1958, in Paris, France, and later lived in Los Angeles, California. His family belonged to a major chapter of American entertainment history through the Nicholas Brothers, whose work shaped Hollywood dance and Black artistic history.
Melih attended Fairfax High School and later married Janice F. Stout. He lived a largely private life rather than building the public career associated with his famous family. Melih died in Los Angeles on November 5, 2003, at age 45.
Who Was Melih Nicholas?
Melih Nicholas was born into an entertainment family but did not become a documented public performer himself. His father, Harold Nicholas, was one half of the Nicholas Brothers, while his mother, Elyanne Patronne, was French. A 1959 Jet magazine item pictured Harold with his new wife and son Melih.
Melih’s life connected Paris, French culture, Black heritage, Hollywood history, and American dance history. Public records later place him in California and document his marriage, a 1984 arrest, and his death in 2003.
Melih Nicholas’s Early Life, Childhood, and Education
Birth and Childhood in Paris
Melih was born in Paris on October 29, 1958. Genealogy indexes place his birthplace in the Département de Paris within Île-de-France. His father was American dancer Harold Nicholas, while Elyanne Patronne provided his French maternal heritage.
His background joined European influences with an American artistic family. It also connected French culture with the Black entertainment history represented by the Nicholas family.
Move to Los Angeles and Fairfax High School
Melih later lived in Los Angeles, where he attended Fairfax High School. A 1974 yearbook image identifies him at the school, then located at 7850 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California 90046. The image was later shared by Daniel Pinna in 2020.
Fairfax placed him near Hollywood and a culturally diverse arts community. Still, the surviving documentation focuses on his education rather than any student career in film, music, or dance.
Melih Nicholas’s Parents and Family Background
Harold Nicholas – Melih Nicholas’s Father
Harold Nicholas was born on March 27, 1921, and died on July 3, 2000. With his older brother Fayard Nicholas, he formed the Nicholas Brothers, one of the best-known tap dance teams in American entertainment.
Their style mixed rhythm tap with acrobatics, high leaps, splits, fast footwork, and exact timing. In Stormy Weather in 1943, Harold and Fayard performed their famous staircase sequence. The Library of Congress describes the brothers jumping over one another down stairs and landing in splits.
The brothers worked in Broadway theaters, nightclubs, Hollywood musicals, and film despite racial barriers faced by Black entertainers. They received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991. Harold and Fayard were also inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2001.
Elyanne Patronne – Melih Nicholas’s Mother
Elyanne Patronne was Melih Nicholas’s mother and Harold Nicholas’s second wife. Harold’s Washington Post obituary states that his marriages to Dorothy Dandridge and Elyanne Patronne ended in divorce.
Melih’s 1958 birth in Paris links his maternal side to France. A Jet magazine item dated December 24, 1959, also identified Harold Nicholas with his wife and young son Melih.
Fayard Nicholas – Melih Nicholas’s Uncle
Fayard Nicholas was Harold’s older brother and Melih’s uncle. Together, Fayard and Harold built the Nicholas Brothers dance act through tap dancing, acrobatic movement, synchronized rhythm, and demanding stage routines.
Their work appeared in Hollywood films including Stormy Weather. They also performed during an era when segregation and racial restrictions limited the roles Black performers received on screen.
Dorothy Dandridge and Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas
Dorothy Dandridge met Harold Nicholas at the Cotton Club in Harlem in 1938. They married in September 1942 and had Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas in 1943. Their marriage ended in 1951.
Harolyn was Melih’s half-sister. She lived with severe brain damage from birth and died in 2003. Dandridge later became a major figure in Hollywood film history and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Melih, however, was born during Harold’s later relationship with Elyanne Patronne.
Rigmor Newman Nicholas and the Online Parentage Confusion
Rigmor Newman Nicholas was Harold Nicholas’s later wife, not Melih’s mother. Harold was married to Rigmor at the time of his death in 2000. Variety and the Los Angeles Times both identified her as his surviving wife.
Melih’s documented mother was Elyanne Patronne. The family lineage therefore runs from Harold and Elyanne to Melih, while Rigmor belongs to a later period of Harold’s life.
The Nicholas Brothers and the Family’s Place in Dance History
The Nicholas Brothers became famous for combining tap dance with athletic movement that included flips, full splits, jumps, and tightly controlled footwork. Harold Nicholas and Fayard Nicholas performed on Broadway, in nightclubs, and in major Hollywood musicals.
Their 1943 appearance in Stormy Weather remains one of their best-known dance scenes. The staircase routine showed technical mastery and physical precision rather than ordinary tap choreography.
Their success also carried wider cultural meaning. Black performers faced segregation and racial restrictions in Hollywood, and some Nicholas Brothers sequences could be removed when films played in the segregated South. The brothers still gained international recognition and influenced later generations of dancers.
Melih Nicholas’s Adult Life and Marriage
Marriage to Janice F. Stout
Melih Nicholas married Janice F. Stout in Clark County, Nevada, on June 30, 1989. Nevada marriage-index records identify both names and place Melih’s residence in California.
The marriage is one of the clearest public records from Melih’s adult life. It also places his personal life outside the performance history that made the Nicholas surname famous.
Did Melih Nicholas Have Children?
Public family records connected to Melih Nicholas do not identify confirmed children from his marriage to Janice F. Stout. The available genealogy material focuses mainly on his parents, spouse, and wider Nicholas family.
Conflicting Claims About Lanetta Worthy Nicholas
AncientFaces contains a 2014 user contribution from Angela Worthy identifying Lanetta Worthy Nicholas with Melih. The contribution describes a wedding and states that Melih married Lanetta.
A Nevada marriage index separately documents Melih Nicholas and Janice F. Stout in 1989. The Lanetta material remains a community-submitted family memory rather than the same type of official marriage-index record.
What Did Melih Nicholas Do for a Living?
Public documentation identifies Melih through family records, school material, marriage information, the 1984 legal report, and death records rather than through a clear professional career.
No established filmography, stage career, tap-dance record, or performing-arts credit connects Melih to the professional entertainment work of Harold or Fayard Nicholas. Claims that he worked in a specific private-sector occupation therefore should not be treated as established biography.
The 1984 Arrest and Financial Allegations
What Happened in 1984?
A Los Angeles Times report dated December 4, 1984, stated that Melih Nicholas had been arrested by sheriff’s deputies in West Hollywood. The arrest followed a complaint filed in Denver.
The Secret Service alleged that a credit card had been used to obtain $6,000 from two banks in Lakewood, Colorado, on May 17. The report concerned an alleged financial offense involving cash advances and unauthorized card use.
Was Melih Nicholas Convicted?
The available 1984 report documents Melih Nicholas’s arrest and the credit-card allegation. It does not establish a final conviction or documented case result.
Melih Nicholas’s Death in 2003
Melih Nicholas died on November 5, 2003, in Los Angeles, California. He was 45 years old. A Los Angeles coroner index identifies his death site as his residence.
The record lists Investigator Wilson, medical examiner Dr. Carrillo, and case number 2003-08347. His death came three years after Harold Nicholas died in 2000 and during the same year associated with the death of his half-sister Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas.
What Is Known About Melih Nicholas’s Burial and Gravesite?
Melih’s birth and death appear in a Find a Grave index, which records October 29, 1958, and November 5, 2003. The index confirms Los Angeles County as his place of death.
A specific cemetery or firmly documented gravesite is not established in the accessible record. Claims that simply list “Los Angeles” as his burial place should not be treated as a precise cemetery location.
Why Public Information About Melih Nicholas Is Limited
Melih Nicholas was connected to a famous entertainment family, but he did not build the kind of public profile that produced extensive interviews, performance credits, press coverage, or archived media appearances.
Most surviving documentation centers on genealogy, newspaper reporting, school material, marriage records, and Los Angeles death records. As of 2026, there is also no documented historical social-media presence tied to his life, which ended in 2003.
Verified Records and Sources About Melih Nicholas
Birth, Death, and Genealogy Records
Genealogy indexes identify Melih C. Nicholas as born on October 29, 1958, in Paris, Île-de-France. They record his death on November 5, 2003, in Los Angeles County, California.
Ancestry also surfaces the Los Angeles Coroner’s Inquest Index and Social Security Death Index. AncientFaces uses Biography ID 89708526 for its Melih Nicholas profile and links him to Harold Nicholas and Elyanne Patronne.
1974 Fairfax High School Record
A yearbook image identifies Melih Nicholas at Fairfax High School in 1974. The school was located at 7850 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California 90046. Daniel Pinna added the image to AncientFaces in September 2020.
1959 Jet Magazine Family Evidence
A preserved Jet magazine image dated December 24, 1959, identifies Harold Nicholas with his new wife and son Melih. The image provides contemporary evidence linking the young Melih to Harold’s Paris-era family life.
1984 Los Angeles Times Report
The December 4, 1984 Los Angeles Times report is the main contemporary reference to Melih’s arrest. It names West Hollywood, a Denver complaint, Lakewood banks, the Secret Service, and the alleged $6,000 credit-card transaction from May 17.
1989 Nevada Marriage Record
The Nevada Marriage Index identifies Melih Nicholas and Janice F. Stout as spouses in Clark County. A record-based memorial gives the marriage date as June 30, 1989.
Fact-Checking Common Claims About Melih Nicholas
Was Melih Nicholas an Entertainer?
Melih Nicholas was the son of Harold Nicholas and nephew of Fayard Nicholas, but he does not have a documented tap-dance, film, stage, or Hollywood performing career. Those entertainment achievements belong to the Nicholas Brothers.
Was Melih Nicholas’s Mother Rigmor Newman Nicholas?
No. Melih Nicholas’s mother was Elyanne Patronne, Harold Nicholas’s second wife. Rigmor Newman Nicholas was Harold’s later wife and remained married to him until his death in 2000.
Did Melih Nicholas Have a Social Media Presence?
No verified Instagram, Facebook, or other social-media presence from Melih Nicholas is established. He died in 2003, before modern social platforms became a normal part of public celebrity profiles.
What Is Known About His Lifestyle and Hobbies?
Melih lived in Los Angeles and maintained a much lower public profile than his famous father. Reliable public records do not establish specific hobbies, luxury habits, or detailed lifestyle claims.
What Is Known About Melih Nicholas’s Net Worth?
No reliable public net-worth figure is established for Melih Nicholas. His father’s fame and the Nicholas family’s entertainment history do not provide a factual basis for assigning Melih an income or personal fortune.
Why Melih Nicholas Still Draws Interest
Interest in Melih Nicholas comes mainly from his place within the Nicholas family. Harold Nicholas and Fayard Nicholas helped shape American dance history, while Dorothy Dandridge became a major Hollywood figure. Melih’s half-sister Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas also links several branches of that entertainment history.
Melih represents a different part of the family record. His documented life includes Paris, Fairfax High School, a Nevada marriage, the 1984 arrest report, and his death in Los Angeles rather than a public career in show business.
Conclusion
Melih C. Nicholas was born in Paris on October 29, 1958, to Harold Nicholas and Elyanne Patronne. He later attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles and married Janice F. Stout in 1989.
His public record also includes the 1984 arrest report and his death in California on November 5, 2003. Melih’s strongest historical connection remains the Nicholas Brothers and the wider Hollywood and American dance history surrounding his family.
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FAQs
Who Was Melih Nicholas?
Melih C. Nicholas was Harold Nicholas and Elyanne Patronne’s son, born in Paris on October 29, 1958. He later lived in Los Angeles and died there in 2003.
Who Was Harold Nicholas, Melih Nicholas’s Father?
Harold Nicholas was Melih’s father and one half of the Nicholas Brothers, the famous tap-dance team he formed with Fayard Nicholas.
What Makes Melih Nicholas Significant?
Melih Nicholas is mainly significant because of his direct family connection to Harold Nicholas, the Nicholas Brothers, and a major chapter in Black American dance history.
What Did Melih Nicholas Do for a Living?
No verified professional career is established for Melih Nicholas; public records document his family, education, marriage, legal history, and death rather than a specific occupation.
Who Was Melih Nicholas’s Mother?
Melih Nicholas’s mother was Elyanne Patronne, Harold Nicholas’s second wife. Rigmor Newman Nicholas was Harold’s later wife, not Melih’s mother.
Was Melih Nicholas Married?
Yes. Nevada marriage records identify Melih Nicholas and Janice F. Stout as spouses in Clark County, with the marriage dated June 30, 1989.
What Happened to Melih Nicholas in 1984?
Melih Nicholas was arrested in West Hollywood in 1984 after allegations that a credit card was used to obtain $6,000 from two Lakewood, Colorado banks.
How Did Melih Nicholas Die?
Melih Nicholas died at his Los Angeles residence on November 5, 2003, at age 45. The available coroner index does not provide a confirmed public cause of death.
