NIKKI NASH

Like most people born in Hollywood, I studied acting, took piano lessons, and wore a nun’s habit to buy alcohol so I wouldn’t get carded.

Raised by a radical mom and a musician father, I was given an illegal copy of the Zapruder film (showing Kennedy’s assassination—hours of fun for a teenage girl alone in her room) and went to the Grand Canyon with my family and the family of Malcolm X’s cousin, which raised a lot of eyebrows when we all showed up at the local Sambo’s. 

After dropping out of college—and with no better plan—I said yes to anything that came along: acting, stand-up, skydiving, painting, poker. The best thing I said yes to was my first job in TV on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which led to a forty-five-year freelance career, including work on The Oscars, Soul Train, Love Connection and Conan.

I am grateful for the patience of those who taught me stuff—while I pretended I already knew what I was doing—and for the lifelong friends I’ve made. And although hearing loss has prevented me from continuing with TV work, I now have more time to write, paint, and take naps.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading Scientific American and tweezing the man-hairs I find on my chin.