Gilbert Moses
Who was Denise Nicholas 's spouse from 1964 to 1965?
Denise Nicholas Donna Denise Nicholas ( born July 12 , 1944 ) is an American retired actress , author , and social activist who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement . She is known primarily for her roles as high-school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series Room 222 and Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the NBC/CBS drama series In the Heat of the Night . Early life . Nicholas was born in Detroit to Louise Carolyn and Otto Nicholas . She spent her early years in Detroit . With the remarriage of her mother to Robert Burgen , she moved to Milan , Michigan , a small town south of Ann Arbor . At the age of 16 , she appeared on the August 25 , 1960 , cover of Jet magazine as a future school teacher prospect at the National High School Institute at Northwestern University . She graduated from Milan High School in 1961 . Nicholas is the middle child of three , with an older brother , Otto , and a younger sister , Michele , who was murdered in 1980 . She entered the University of Michigan as a Pre-Law student . She then switched her major to Latin-American politics , Spanish , and English before dropping out after just one completed academic year . Nicholas moved to New York City , and worked for the J . Walter Thompson ( JWT ) advertising firm . She subsequently transferred to Tulane University , where she majored in Fine Arts . Her acting debut was in a Spanish-language play presented by her language class . She dropped out of Tulane University as well , this time to join the Free Southern Theater ( FST ) , during the Civil Rights Movement . After spending two years touring the deep South with the FST , Nicholas went to New York City and joined the Negro Ensemble Company , working in all productions during the first season of that theatre ensemble . From the stage of the St . Marks Playhouse in New York , Nicholas was cast as Liz McIntyre , the Guidance Counselor on ABC series Room 222 . Nicholas received her Bachelor of Arts in Drama from the University of Southern California Theater Program in 1987 , after living in Southern California for a number of years . Career . Nicholas began her television acting career in 1968 , with an episode of It Takes a Thief . Nicholas had three consecutive ( 1970–1972 ) Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Drama TV Series , for her role as Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series Room 222 . Following Room 222 ( 1969–1974 ) , she won two Image Awards in 1976 for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series , for her role as Beth Foster in Lets Do It Again ( 1975 ) . Nicholas also played Olivia Ellis on Baby.. . Im Back! , a sitcom that aired on CBS in 1978 Nicholas wrote the song Can We Pretend , which her then-husband Bill Withers recorded on his 1974 album +Justments . She later appeared as Harriet DeLong in the cast of NBC/CBS In the Heat of the Night ( 1989–1995 ) . Nicholas wrote six episodes of the series , beginning her second career as a writer . When that show was cancelled , she enrolled in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California , eventually finding her way to the Journeymens Writing Workshop under the tutelage of author Janet Fitch . She worked with Fitch for five years . Nicholas also attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Workshop , and the Natalie Goldberg Workshop , in Taos , New Mexico . Her first novel , Freshwater Road , was published by Agate Publishing , in August 2005 . it received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and was selected as one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post , The Detroit Free Press , The Atlanta Journal Constitution , Newsday and the Chicago Tribune . The novel won the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Award for debut fiction in 2006 , as well as the American Library Associations Black Caucus Award for debut fiction the same year . Freshwater Road was reprinted by Pocket Books . Brown University commissioned Nicholas to write a staged adaptation of Freshwater Road , which was presented in May 2008 . Personal life . At 19 , Nicholas dropped out of the University of Michigan and signed up with the Free Southern Theater in New Orleans , headed by Gilbert Moses , whom she married in May 1964 at the American Theater in New York , and divorced in 1967 . Nicholas married soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers on January 17 , 1973 . Their relationship had been volatile prior to their nuptials . In November 1972 , Nicholas reported to authorities that Withers flew to Tucson , Arizona where she was filming The Soul of Nigger Charley , and beat her in her motel room after she threatened to end their relationship over the telephone ; she refused to press charges . The marriage ended in divorce , filed in April 1974 , and finalized in December 1974 . In February 1980 , Nicholass younger sister Michele Burgen , a 26-year-old editor for Ebony magazine , was shot to death . Her body was found in a locked rental car at LaGuardia Airport in New York City . Nicholas and her older brother Otto searched the country for clues , but no suspect was ever taken to trial . While coping with the loss of her sister , Nicholas met CBS sports anchor Jim Hill at a Sacramento poetry reading in June 1980 . They married on Valentines Day in 1981 . The couple separated in October 1981 and she filed for divorce , before reconciling soon after . Nicholas filed for divorce the final time in 1984 , and the divorce finalized in 1987 . Acting credits . Films . - Blacula ( 1972 ) - The Soul of Nigger Charley ( 1973 ) - Mr . Ricco ( 1975 ) - Lets Do It Again ( 1975 ) - A Piece of the Action ( 1977 ) - Capricorn One ( 1977 ) - Marvin & Tige ( 1983 ) - Over Here , Mr . President ( 1983 ) - Mothers Day ( 1989 ) - Ghost Dad ( 1990 ) - Ritual ( 2002 ) - Proud ( 2004 ) Television . - It Takes a Thief ( 1968 ) - The F.B.I . ( 1969 ) - N.Y.P.D . ( 1967–69 ) - The Flip Wilson Show ( 1970 ) - Five Desperate Women ( 1971 TV movie ) - Night Gallery episode Logodas Heads ( broadcast December 29 , 1971 ) ( 1971 ) - Love , American Style ( 1972 ) - Room 222 ( 1969–74 ) - Police Story ( 1975 ) - Rhoda ( 1975 ) - Marcus Welby , M.D . ( 1975 ) - Baby , Im Back ( 1978 ) - The Paper Chase ( 1979 ) - The Love Boat ( 1980–82 ) - Benson ( 1980 ) - Diffrent Strokes ( 1980 ) - Secrets of Midland Heights ( 1981 ) - Aloha Paradise ( 1981 ) - Jacqueline Susanns Valley of the Dolls ( 1981 miniseries ) - One Day at a Time ( 1983 ) - Masquerade ( 1983 ) - Magnum , P.I . ( 1983 ) - Hotel ( 1987 ) - 227 ( 1988 ) - Amen ( 1988 ) - In the Heat of the Night ( 1989–95 ) - The Cosby Show ( 1989 ) - A Different World ( 1990 ) - Law & Order ( 1990 ) - B.L . Stryker ( 1990 ) - Hangin with Mr . Cooper ( 1992 ) - The Parent Hood ( 1995 ) - Kenny Kingston Psychic Hotline ( With Kenny Kingston ) ( 1994–96 ) - Living Single ( 1997 ) - 3rd Rock from the Sun ( 1999 ) - My Wife and Kids ( 2001 ) External links . - Whatever Happened To : Denise Nicholas