Denise Nickerson

Denise Nickerson was an American actress.

She began her career doing television commercials for Doublemint chewing gum, IBM typewriters, and Pampers (diapers).

In 1968, Nickerson joined the cast of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, recurring as Amy Jennings, Nora Collins, and Amy Collins. Nickerson left the show in 1970.

Nickerson was best known for her role as the bratty, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Her other television appearances include Search for Tomorrow, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, The Brady Bunch, and the PBS children’s series The Electric Company, in which she played Allison, a member of the singing group known as “The Short Circus.”

Nickerson auditioned for the role of Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist, losing to Linda Blair.

She appeared in several films - among them, Smile (with Barbara Feldon and Bruce Dern), and Zero to Sixty (with Darren McGavin and Joan Collins) - before retiring from acting to pursue a career in nursing.

As an adult, Nickerson made appearances as herself in documentaries about Dark Shadows and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Nickerson died July 10, 2019, in Aurora, Colorado. She was 62.