Former child actress Denise Nickerson will forever be remembered by fans and the general public as the teenage gum-chewing brat named Violet Beauregarde who graced our screen in the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. She is also famous for portraying the role of Allison on The Electric Company (1972-1973), as well as Amy Jennings, Amy Collins and Nora Collins in the soap opera Dark Shadows (1968-1970). Read on to get the details of her personal and professional life.
Denise Nickerson – Biography
There is a dearth of information on the details of her background and formative years, but according to the tidbits we gathered, her date of birth is the 1st of April 1957. She was born under the star sign of Aries in New York City, New York which means she has an American nationality but her ethnicity is definitely white
5 Key Facts You Need To Know
Denise Nickerson played her first significant role at the age of 13 when she played the role of the gum-chewing brat named Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory but she burst to the limelight on the set of Dark Shadows. Her other movie credits include Child of Glass, The Man Who Could Talk to Kids, Smile and Zero to Sixty. The latter was her last role and she was aged 21.
Apart from her major role in Dark Shadows, Denise Nickerson has also played other roles in quite a few television shows like Search for Tomorrow, The Electric Company as well as The Brady Bunch. She later moved over to the medical billing department where she worked for almost 35 years and was also in aerospace accounting but had to go on retirement in 2012 due to ill health.
Denise Nickerson has had her fair share of failed relationships in the past; she has a record of two marriages and one divorce. Her first nuptials was in 1981 when she exchanged marriage vows with Rick Keller, their marriage was just two years old when Rick died of a brain aneurysm in 1983.
The former actress had a long wait of almost 12 years before deciding to go into a second marriage with Mark Willard in 1995. Although the details of their marital life are not public knowledge, their marriage came to an end barely three years later in 1998 but not before the birth of their son Josh Willard.
- Health status and hospitalization
Denise’s first hospitalization happened in 1976 when she had to temporarily put her career on hold after sustaining injuries in a road accident. She was struck down by a vehicle while trying to cross the road and had to spend eight months with a full leg cast.
The ex-actress’ health started to deteriorate by the middle of 2018 when she survived a massive stroke but she was in a critical condition and had to spend a long time in the intensive care unit of an unnamed hospital. Reports said that during her critical stage, she couldn’t talk or walk and the entire right side of her body was numbed. They had to put her through an emergency procedure to militate against the effect the stroke had on her body and brain. At a point, her doctors had to resort to inserting a pacemaker and commenced feeding her through the aid of a tube.
Though she was discharged from the hospital in July, it was recommended that she proceed to a rehabilitation home where she will be properly catered for but Denise Nickerson declined this recommendation and in August, she went back home to recuperate under the love and care of her family.
According to her son’s wife Jasmine, Denise Nickerson has long left the hospital and is recuperating at home. She seems to be in good spirits as she finds herself among loved ones.
Her recovery process is a gradual one as she can now take a few steps, her best effort is walking from the bedroom to the bath and she is now able to make use of the restroom on her own. She has also shown some impressive improvement in her speech as she is now capable of uttering a few words like hello, I love you and good morning. Her writing ability is yet to return as she is not capable of scribbling anything down and this is largely due to the fact that her hands are still weak but the best part of her recovery is that she seems to understand the goings-on around her. Her only child Josh and his wife Jasmine set up a fundraising page on Facebook to aid in funding her medical bills.
Denise Nickerson’s net worth is believed to be under review but there are sources who have pegged it below one million dollars. There is no information on the details of her real estate assets and cars.
Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.
