On October 20, 1914, two college-educated musicians, Viola and Ulysses Nicholas, welcomed their first child, Fayard, into the world. By the age of three, Fayard enjoyed nothing more than sitting in the audience of the black vaudeville theater where his parents performed, enraptured by the great performers on stage. He fell in love with everything about show business, and when the Nicholases added a second son to the family, seven-year-old Fayard insisted that the child be named after his idol, a silent screen comedian. Harold Lloyd Nicholas was born on March 21, 1921.

The brothers began dancing together as children, and quickly gained acclaim for their elegant acrobatic moves and mastery of tap. When Fayard was 16 and Harold 9, they made their first appearance at the legendary Cotton Club in New York. Audiences loved the "little princes" of Harlem, and the Nicholas brothers' careers skyrocketed. They appeared on Broadway, on international tours, and in numerous films, including Down Argentine Way (1940), Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Stormy Weather (1943). The brothers also successfully overcame the racism that limited their roles in Hollywood films, as well as the pain Harold endured in his unhappy marriage to the beautiful actress Dorothy Dandridge. Throughout the 1990s, the inimitable brothers continued to dance and to inspire new generations of legendary performers, including Gregory Hines and Savion Glover.

Harold Nicholas died of heart failure in July 2000, at the age of 79.