Biography

Wade Nichols was without a doubt one of the most handsome and sensual male porn actors to emerge during the 1970's Golden Age of Adult Cinema. Nichols was born as Dennis Posa on October 28, 1946 in Freeport, New York. His father was a florist and his mother worked in the children's section of a local library. Nichols loved to draw and paint pictures while growing up as a kid as well as was a member of the rifle team in high school. Following graduation from high school in 1964, Wade studied pottery and design at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art. While a student at this particular college Nichols won a role in a touring company production of the play "The Trojan Women." Wade moved to New York City in 1968 and got a job working as a commercial artist for the women's clothing company Jiffy Simplicity.

Nichols left his office job and worked as a male escort before making his hardcore gay porn film debut in 1975. Wade subsequently appeared in a handful of both straight and gay X-rated movies alike throughout the mid to late 1970's, with an especially memorable turn in the hardcore classic Barbara Broadcast (1977) as the hunky kitchen worker who makes love to C.J. Laing. Moreover, Nichols in 1979 recorded the disco album "Like an Eagle" for Casablanca Records using the name Dennis Parker and toured Europe to promote said album. Wade also first began playing the character of Police Chief Derek Mallory on the daytime soap opera The Edge of Night (1956) in 1979 under the same alias. Alas, Nichols's character was eventually written out of the show due to the fact that Nichols was seriously ill from AIDS. He died at age 38 of complications from AIDS on January 28, 1985. Nichols was survived by his mother, his older brother Richard, and his partner at the time of his death.
- IMDb mini biography by: woodyanders

Was an avid collector of jazz recordings from the 1920's.

In 1979, as Dennis Parker, he recorded a disco album for Casablanca Records. He sang the title track "Like an Eagle" on The Merv Griffin Show (1962) that same year.

In a Rialto Report interview former partner Skip St. James stated that, in contrast to his music career, Nichols actually disliked disco and dancing in general.

[from an interview in an adult film magazine in the mid-1970's] The creative angles in the porn industry are still there. As an actor in these films, I do my best making them good. I'm serious about my work, but not about myself where I believe I'm going to be a star.

[from an adult magazine interview in 1977] You know, being a film star is really an ego trip for me. I love it when people come up to me and ask me for my autograph, or stare at me and point. But I don't like to see myself on film. I'm really a bit shy, not aggressive at all.

I have no pretensions of becoming a star. I tried legitimate acting and wasn't making any money. Acting is a tough business. You spend your whole life going to every casting call and only wind up with small character parts or walk-ons when you're 80 years old.

[1977 comment on doing porn] Most of us are hard-working professionals, and most of our scenes are for real. Although we work as long as 12 hours or more a day, we only do one sex scene a day so we can really make it believable. Girls like Sharon Mitchell and Gloria Leonard are real hard workers. We don't mix outside of the job.