He was nominated for both a BAFTA and WGA award for his writing on the 1978 film A Wedding.
After playing Claude in the musical "Hair" he returned to Montreal to briefly sing lead vocals with Mashmakhan before releasing a number of solo recordings (with some charting in Canada) before delving into a career with the movie industry.
He is probably most well known to the general public for his role as team captain Johnny Upton in the movie Slap Shot.
Nicholls's grandfather was goaltender Riley Hern, who played for the Montreal Wanderers.
The Wanderers won the Stanley Cup with Hern in goal in 1908, 1909 and 1911.