Julia Nickson

Biography

Julia Nickson was born in the beautiful island city of Singapore. Her early years were spent in the vales of Wiltshire, England followed by the red rock canyons of the Zambezi river in Africa, but she returned to Singapore after her father's death when she was only six. From the age of seven to seventeen,she watched Singapore transition from an unsophisticated British colony to a prosperous independent nation. After her Chinese mother remarried an American, she attended the Singapore American School. Excelling in both studies as well as athletics, she competed in field hockey and track. Other pursuits included equestrian activities: dressage, show- jumping, cross country, and polo as well as gaining her license at 15 as an amateur jockey which entitled her to race at Pro Am Meets in both Singapore and Malaysia. She was a top competitor in all events, winning numerous three day shows and lower division polo tournaments. At 14, she even received a first place trophy from Sir Run Run Shaw, a most unexpected and rewarding moment of victory, having been raised on Shaw Brother epics; However, her greatest satisfaction came during her last two outs as a jockey in 1976, when at 17, she placed and then won her final two races at the Singapore Turf Club. Graduating early from school, Nickson left a modeling career in Singapore to attend the University of Hawaii. Although intending to study Hotel Management, while passing the Drama Department, she gate crashed an audition, and won a role in her first play, Shakespeare's, "Winter's Tale." All desire to be in the hotel industry made a prompt departure, and Nickson's stage debut was followed with voice, dance and acting classes and attendant small roles in community theater and on Magnum PI. In 1984, a search was conducted in New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii for a key role in an upcoming Sylvester Stallone film. After numerous auditions, Ms. Nickson was flown to LA for an old fashioned Hollywood screen test, resulting in her first international film, Rambo: First Blood, Part II, which became the second largest grossing film of 1985. To this day, Rambo, First Blood, Part II is still the most widely viewed action film nationwide on US television and the most successful and popular of all the Rambo sequels. Following Rambo, Julia moved to Los Angeles. She became known for portraying beautiful, glamorous women starring in numerous television and film productions in the 80's and 90's. She was cast in Harry's Hong Kong by Aaron Spelling, and guest starring opposite David Soul, whom she later married, But it was James Clavell's Noble House that caused audiences and particularly NBC to take note. Nickson played Orlanda Ramos, the seductive Eurasian mistress, with such beauty, grace and glamor that she was given a second starring role on NBC opposite Pierce Brosnan, in Around the World in 80 Days. Merely, a month after the birth of her child, China Alexandra Soul, Nickson packed a suitcase of disposable diapers and trekked from the crystal caves in Serbia to the jungles of Thailand, playing the Indian Princess Aouda to Brosnan's, Phileas Fogg. When they reached Hong Kong, Julia stood awe struck as the company filmed on the famous Shaw Brothers lot. After that, Nickson traveled fast, and in 1990 starred in China Cry, the true story of evangelist, Nora Lam, the young girl who risked her life to defend her faith during the Communist Revolution. By the time China Cry was released in 1990, along with critical acclaim, she was considered one of the top Asian American actors in the U.S. Nickson then co-starred in Paramount's adventure film, K-2 with Michael Biehn and New Line's, Sidekicks, with Chuck Norris, and Beau Bridges. In 1994, she played Bortei, first and most beloved wife to Genghis Khan, and mother of the Mongol Empire. Aging from 18 to 55, and filming in the desolate regions of Central Asia, a year after the coup in the Soviet Union, became a life changing experience for Nickson. Over the course of her career, Nickson has appeared on numerous television productions including Babylon 5, Walker, Texas Ranger, Nash Bridges, One West Waikiki, The Marshall, Seaquest, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Chicago Hope and more recently Castle and Rex is Not Your Lawyer. Over the years, Nickson guested on talk shows with David Letterman, Regis Philbin, Good Morning America, as well as affiliate news and entertainment shows, both in the US and abroad. Julia has been a huge supporter of independent film makers and two of her films, Life Tastes Good, and Half Life, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her recent films, Dim Sum Funeral, which played the Singapore Film Festival in 2009, and Half Life, winner of numerous festival awards, have just been released on DVD. Nickson has just completed filming the feature, One Kine Day, lensed on the windward side of Oahu. Nickson took some time off from her career to focus on her daughter, China Soul,who has just graduated with honors from the University of London, Royal Holloway, where in 2009, Ms. Soul received a first in play writing. Ms. Soul is also a singer songwriter, and her first album is available on Amazon UK presently. Her singles will be available on Itunes in late October, 2010