Stephen Nichols was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 19, 1951. Following his mother’s remarriage, the family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where sister Penny and brother Zach were born. Originally intending to study art at Ohio State University, where he ultimately refused a scholarship, Nichols moved to California, where for a time, he lived in a Self Realization Fellowship ashram, cooking for the monks and studying yoga, a practicing celebate. After leaving the ashram, he entered Theater Academy of Los Angeles City College where he studied for two years before embarking on a theater career. Nichols later studied with teachers such as Stella Adler and Jack Colvin.
Stephen Nichols began his long-running theater career in the early eighties, appearing in such productions as "The Cage,” "The Shadow Box" and "Love Letters". More recently Nichols has appeared in "He Hunts" and the original production of "The Dead Boy" for which he received a Maddy Award. During his theatrical career, Nichols earned three Drama-logue and two L.A. Weekly Awards for his performances in such notable productions as "Pieces of Time," where he portrayed killer Donald Bashor, for "Delirious," and notably as Jim Morrison during the last thirty-six hours of his life in "The Lizard King."
Early in his career, Nichols embarked on a film career, appearing in feature films such as "Witchboard,” "SoapDish," with Sally Field and Kevin Klein, "Heaven's Tears," "Cover Me," "The Glass Cage," "Phoenix," "Checkmate” and "A Hard Rain." Branching out as a director, Nichols directed the stage production of "Sixty Minutes from L.A." written by his wife, Lisa, a television pilot "Wild Horses" and, most recently, wrote and directed the short film, "Get the Dime," featuring Daniel Bess and Robert Picardo. Upcoming projects include the feature films, "Eau de L.A." and "Fear of Falling."
Without question, it is daytime television where Stephen Nichols has made his greatest mark, originating the character of Steven “Patch” Johnson on NBC’s Days Of Our Lives, a role he played from 1985 to 1990. Originally intended to be a short-term recurring role designed to develop the back-story of another character, Nichols turned his brief to “lurk every Tuesday” into one of daytime’s most unique and identifiable characters, earning him an Emmy nomination (1988) and three Soap Opera Digest awards (1986-1989). Alongside Mary Beth Evans, Nichols became part of one of Days’ most popular love stories; Steve and Kayla, earning him two additional Soap Opera Digest awards (1989-1990) before his departure from the show in 1990. After a brief stint on NBC’s Santa Barbara as Dr. Skyler Gates (1992), Nichols originated the role of mysterious, autocratic Stefan Cassadine on ABC’s General Hospital, a character he played from 1996-2003. Nichols’ other TV appearances include roles in series such as L.A. Law, Diagnosis Murder, The Nanny, Murder She Wrote, Sisters, In the Heat of the Night and Melrose Place. Nichols also played the recurring role of Matt Kane on Empty Nest and Jesse James opposite Pierce Brosnan in the NBC mini-series Around the World in 80 Days. In June, 2006, Nichols rejoined the cast of Days of Our Lives once again playing the role of Steve “Patch” Johnson.
Stephen Nichols began his long-running theater career in the early eighties, appearing in such productions as "The Cage,” "The Shadow Box" and "Love Letters". More recently Nichols has appeared in "He Hunts" and the original production of "The Dead Boy" for which he received a Maddy Award. During his theatrical career, Nichols earned three Drama-logue and two L.A. Weekly Awards for his performances in such notable productions as "Pieces of Time," where he portrayed killer Donald Bashor, for "Delirious," and notably as Jim Morrison during the last thirty-six hours of his life in "The Lizard King."
Early in his career, Nichols embarked on a film career, appearing in feature films such as "Witchboard,” "SoapDish," with Sally Field and Kevin Klein, "Heaven's Tears," "Cover Me," "The Glass Cage," "Phoenix," "Checkmate” and "A Hard Rain." Branching out as a director, Nichols directed the stage production of "Sixty Minutes from L.A." written by his wife, Lisa, a television pilot "Wild Horses" and, most recently, wrote and directed the short film, "Get the Dime," featuring Daniel Bess and Robert Picardo. Upcoming projects include the feature films, "Eau de L.A." and "Fear of Falling."
Without question, it is daytime television where Stephen Nichols has made his greatest mark, originating the character of Steven “Patch” Johnson on NBC’s Days Of Our Lives, a role he played from 1985 to 1990. Originally intended to be a short-term recurring role designed to develop the back-story of another character, Nichols turned his brief to “lurk every Tuesday” into one of daytime’s most unique and identifiable characters, earning him an Emmy nomination (1988) and three Soap Opera Digest awards (1986-1989). Alongside Mary Beth Evans, Nichols became part of one of Days’ most popular love stories; Steve and Kayla, earning him two additional Soap Opera Digest awards (1989-1990) before his departure from the show in 1990. After a brief stint on NBC’s Santa Barbara as Dr. Skyler Gates (1992), Nichols originated the role of mysterious, autocratic Stefan Cassadine on ABC’s General Hospital, a character he played from 1996-2003. Nichols’ other TV appearances include roles in series such as L.A. Law, Diagnosis Murder, The Nanny, Murder She Wrote, Sisters, In the Heat of the Night and Melrose Place. Nichols also played the recurring role of Matt Kane on Empty Nest and Jesse James opposite Pierce Brosnan in the NBC mini-series Around the World in 80 Days. In June, 2006, Nichols rejoined the cast of Days of Our Lives once again playing the role of Steve “Patch” Johnson.
Stephen’s favorite movies are Moulin Rouge and A Man For All Seasons.
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Among Stephen’s favorite foods are brownies and tandoori chicken.
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Stephen’s first acting job was in a musical called Take Me Along.
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Stephen’s favorite singer is Joni Mitchell.
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Stephen often gets mistaken for Brad Pitt.
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Stephen had trouble on his first day back on the Day‘s set. After 16 years he couldn’t find Patch’s trademark leather eye patch. He later recalled donating it to charity after Steve was buried alive in 1990. Fortunately, costume designer Richard Bloore came to the rescue when he found some old patches, enabling them to manufacture a more modern, 2006 version.
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Stephen helped Mary Beth Evans set up her pie selling business. Filming her while making a pie, he was the sound guy, grip, gaffer and cameraman, and edited and put the music to it.
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Stephen traveled to Australia and Scandinavia to promote Days Of Our Lives after leaving the show.
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Stephen owns his own Santa Claus suit, and traditionally played Santa in a scene on Days of Our Lives. Additionally, he will occasionally play Santa at fan events where he loves to read the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
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Stephen was the pitcher for the Days Of Our Lives softball team during the mid-80’s.
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Stephen wore a green contact lens in his left eye during a 1989 storyline where Steve temporarily had a glass eye. He chose to do this to make the eye look more artificial.
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Stephen had his character, Steve’s, trademark eye patch covered in leather at a local leather shop to make the patch more individual.
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Stephen learned sign language for an 1988 storyline where Kayla became deaf. As part of the story, he learned to sign the lyrics to the Bette Midler song The Rose.
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A strong advocate for abused children, Stephen has been the representative for groups such as Parents Anonymous.
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Stephen was the voice of an IKEA television ad campaign.
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Stephen is an expert pool player, and gave that skill to Steve Johnson as well, finding it challenging to shoot pool while wearing Steve’s trademark eye patch.
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Stephen is a fan of the blues, and plays blues harmonica and the guitar.
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Stephen coined Kayla’s nickname “Sweetness,” which became a trademark of the relationship in Days Of Our Lives.
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During part of his tenure as Steve Johnson, Stephen had the second-highest “Q” rating (a measure of familiarity and appeal) on television, following Bill Cosby.
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Stephen's son, Aaron, played a young Steve Johnson in a 1986 storyline telling the story of Steve’s life in an orphanage. In 1990, his daughter Vanessa played a teenaged Stephanie Johnson, Steve’s then-infant daughter, in a set of out-of-body experiences.
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Is the patch Steven Johnson needs really necessary? No. It became an urban myth during the time Nichols played Steve Johnson that his eye-patch was real, or that it had affected his vision. In actuality, Nichols saw an eye doctor regularly to be sure the patch did no damage to his eyes.
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Stephen adopted a vegetarian diet for a time after being a cook in an ashram, where he studied to be a monk. During his time he also learned to meditate, a practice he continues to this day.
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Stephen's production company, VanAaron Productions is named for his elder daughter Vanessa and his son Aaron.
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Stephen's favorite color is Cobalt blue.
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Stephen has three children: Vanessa and Aaron from his second marriage, and Dylan with current wife Lisa.
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Stephen is married to Lisa Nichols, with whom he has one daughter. He has previously married twice before, to the mother of his two older children, and briefly when he was very young.
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Stephen's height: 6’ (in his boots)
Stephen's hair: Blonde
Stephen's eyes: Green (bright green – both of them!) (edit) Full name: Stephen Earl Nichols. He and his character Steven Earl Johnson have the same middle name. Named his character, previously known only as “Patch” himself. (edit)
Stephen's hair: Blonde
Stephen's eyes: Green (bright green – both of them!) (edit) Full name: Stephen Earl Nichols. He and his character Steven Earl Johnson have the same middle name. Named his character, previously known only as “Patch” himself. (edit)
Stephen: (on his Christmas tradition) We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve because my wife’s mom is Swedish and that’s the Swedish way. We also have Christmas Day, so we have two Christmases. We put the stockings up on the hearth, and the kids open the stockings on Christmas morning.
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Stephen: (on knowing that "Days Of Our Lives" characters, Steve and Kayla,are beloved icons in soap genre) I had a hand in the creation of this character because they didn’t have a bible written for Patch, which is usually the case on soaps. I had the luxury of collaborating with the producers to build Patch from the ground up.
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Stephen (on returning to "Days Of Our Lives"): The only odd thing was getting acclimated to wearing the patch again. I had forgotten how weird it was to be walking around and feeling like I exist with half a face.
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Stephen: (on knowing it was the right time to return to "Days Of Our Lives") I think the transition that the show is currently going through made it ripe for us to come back. Everything just fell into place this time.
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Stephen: (on designing his own eye patch) The first time around on Days they had given me the drug-store kind with the elastic band. I wanted something cooler. I found a leather shop on Hollywood Boulevard, gave them a design and said, ‘Please do this in leather’. After that, the costume department duplicated that original when ever I needed another.
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Stephen: (on seeing nostalgic footage of "Days Of Our Lives" characters Steve and Kayla) There was such a connection between us, and it’s really inspiring for us to look at because we were obviously working hard and it showed. At first, I wasn’t going to look at anything, but it has been really helpful to inform the work now.
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Person
Score: 9.0 Superb 11 votes
Score: 9.0 Superb 11 votes
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