Origins and early spark
I think of Nick Ullett as one of those artists whose life reads like a well-made play: crisp first act, unpredictable reversals, and a final stretch that lingers in the mind. Born Nicholas Metson Ullett on March 5, 1941, in London, he grew into a British-born American actor, comedian, writer, and storyteller with a career that refuses to sit neatly in a single box. The early driving force was comedy. In the 1960s he teamed with Tony Hendra, forming a duo that carried a distinctly transatlantic wit. They landed television spots and live dates that sharpened Ullett’s timing and gave him the performer’s toolkit he would carry everywhere else.
That apprenticeship left a mark. You can hear it in the way he wraps language around a punchline, or how he holds still before a reveal. Comedy trained his ear and spine. It also gave him a road map for survival in a business that rewards persistence as much as brilliance.
Screen presence
When I look across Ullett’s television and film work, what jumps out is his ease with the supporting turn. He is a character actor in the best sense, the kind who can arrive for one scene and leave a trace. He turned up in shows that defined their eras, including Night Court, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, and The Golden Girls. Each appearance had that quicksilver quality you notice in seasoned pros. He knows where the camera is, he knows what the scene needs, and he knows when to get out clean.
In film, he is credited in titles that still spark recognition. Down and Out in Beverly Hills carried his brand of mordant humor into the neon 1980s. Hook, Steven Spielberg’s adult fairy tale, gave him screen space inside a big cinematic toy box. The throughline is range. Ullett can be wry without being brittle, sentimental without going soft. He slides between tones like a musician swapping keys.
Theatre and solo storytelling
Stage work is where Nick Ullett seems to breathe the deepest. By his own count he has performed in more than a hundred plays, an astonishing run that speaks to stamina and appetite. The theater is a laboratory for him, and a confessional. Over decades he has built and toured solo shows that double as personal essays, including Gullet without the G and Dying is Easy. Comedy is Hard. Those titles hint at the balance he strikes: playful on the surface, edged with truth underneath.
A recent highlight is The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe, a solo evening that recounts the fraught, ultimately aborted revival of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party at a major Los Angeles theater. The piece is not a screed. It is a meticulous autopsy. Ullett steps the audience through a sequence of decisions, miscommunications, and temper tantrums that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has watched a production wobble. He gives you the smell of backstage air and the feeling of time slowing before a train wreck. It is theatre about theatre, yes, but also a study in how fragile collaboration can be. I hear in it the voice of someone who has broken his heart for the stage more than once and keeps showing up anyway.
Family ties
No portrait of Nick Ullett feels complete without the family frame. He has been married to the American actress Jenny O’Hara since July 20, 1986. O’Hara’s own career spans Broadway and television, with credits that include network sitcoms and serious stage work. Together they form a two-artist household that has endured for decades, which in show business is its own kind of medal. Public biographies commonly say they raise a family together. Jenny’s own accounts list two children. Profiles of Nick sometimes say the couple have two or three children. Even in a world that thrives on clarity, real family life can look a little fogged in around the edges.
I will keep a respectful distance from private details. Names of the adult children are not widely and consistently published in mainstream outlets, and the couple appear to guard that privacy. What is public is that Ullett has children and grandchildren, and he has spoken warmly of them in storytelling settings. That warmth comes through even when he is hooting at the absurdity of an actor’s life.
Before his marriage to O’Hara, Ullett had earlier marriages that appear in public biographical records. Catherine Blum was his spouse from roughly the late 1960s to around 1970. He married Marcia Greene around 1970 and was with her until the mid 1970s, and several public notes indicate they had one child together. A later marriage to Joan Agda Wood Schneider is listed around 1980, followed by divorce. Dates and spelling can vary across public listings, but the broad outline is steady. What I take from that history is not a timeline of paperwork but a parade of chapters. Some chapters end, some turn into companion volumes. The long-running chapter with Jenny O’Hara has become a cornerstone.
Creative partnerships and the professional circle
Tony Hendra deserves a special mention as Ullett’s first key collaborator. Their duo sharpened both of them and put their names into circulation. They made the kind of television appearances that were once a rite of passage for comics, and they played the live rooms where wit meets heckle. That early partnership set the tone: comedy as craftsmanship, language as instrument, audience as compass.
As the years progressed, Ullett’s circle widened to include theatre ensembles, storytelling platforms, and the kind of peer network that sustains a working actor. You can sense the collegiality in the way he talks about directors, stage managers, and fellow players. The stage is a village, and he knows the lanes.
Achievements and recognition
Lists of awards can mislead. They imply a scoreboard. Nick Ullett’s achievements are less about trophies and more about durability and depth. He has built a life in the arts across six decades, moving among stage, screen, and solo work with unshowy authority. His one-man pieces have earned strong word of mouth, especially among theatre-goers who love backstage stories told by someone who can stitch a yarn and still land a point. That hybrid of raconteur and actor is his signature. He also writes, including a published novel, and he cooks his own material for the stage. The result is a voice that feels unmistakably his.
Money, myths, and what endures
I am often asked about net worth. In the case of Nick Ullett there is no reliable public figure. Any number you see floating online is a guess sitting on another guess. What I can say with confidence is that he is a working artist whose resume reads long and varied, with the kind of financial life that usually accompanies that path. The wealth that is easy to certify is creative: a backlog of roles, a library of stories, a habit of standing in front of a room and making people lean in.
Recent mentions and ongoing work
Recent seasons have brought him back to the center of the conversation. The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe played at respected Los Angeles venues and drew thoughtful attention. He continues to appear as a storyteller, a form that fits him like a tailored jacket. When the lights come up and it is only him and a microphone, you sense the early comedian walking hand in hand with the late-career actor. The craft deepens. The humor darkens. The generosity remains.
FAQ
Who is Nick Ullett?
He is a British-born American actor, comedian, writer, and storyteller born in London in 1941. His career bridges television, film, stage, and solo performance, with a special knack for character roles and autobiographical storytelling.
What is Nick Ullett best known for?
He is widely recognized for steady television and film work, including appearances on Night Court, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, and The Golden Girls, as well as roles in films like Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Hook. Onstage, he is known for one-man shows that mix humor with lived experience.
Is Nick Ullett married?
Yes. He has been married to actress Jenny O’Hara since July 20, 1986. Their partnership is a central thread in his personal story and a long-standing artistic companionship.
How many children does Nick Ullett have?
Public accounts vary. Most mainstream summaries note that he and Jenny O’Hara raise a family together and list either two or three children. Ullett has also spoken of grandchildren. The family maintains a degree of privacy, and names of the adult children are not widely published.
Did Nick Ullett really do a show about The Birthday Party?
Yes. He created and performs The Birthday Party: A Theatrical Catastrophe, a solo show recounting the behind-the-scenes collapse of a revival of Harold Pinter’s play. It is a funny, candid, and sharply observed piece about how productions can go off the rails.
What films and TV shows feature Nick Ullett?
His screen credits stretch across decades. Highlights include appearances in Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Hook, and guest or recurring TV roles on Night Court, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, and The Golden Girls, among many others.
Does Nick Ullett have a public net worth figure?
No. There is no trustworthy public disclosure of his net worth. Online guesses are speculative. The measurable legacy lies in the breadth of his work and the longevity of his career.
Where is Nick Ullett active today?
He remains active in theater and storytelling, especially in Los Angeles, performing solo shows and continuing to engage with audiences who appreciate his blend of humor, candor, and stagecraft.
