Nicholas Hope Wilkinson

NICHOLAS HOPE WILKINSON

Nick Wilkinson, the noted playwright, casting director and great friend to so many, has taken his last curtain call and made his final exit stage left.

Nicholas Hope Wilkinson started his life's journey in Malvern, Arkansas, on March 15, 1954, and finished his colorful and illustrious time on this Earth on September, 29, 2023, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Pretty sweet step-up, eh?

Along with his brothers and sister, Nick spent his childhood in various small towns in Texas and also on Guam. Guess the guy had a thing for islands. Having been brought up under the loving gaze of his treasured mother, Bonnie, he learned to love nature, animals and cornbread, not necessarily in that order.

After he graduated from Center High School, he went to Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Austin. (Hook 'em, Horns!) During this time in his life, he discovered his love of theatre and was proud to be a resident member at Shakespeare At Winedale. When he wound up his studies at UT, Nick worked as an Associate Producer at Center Stage Theatre in Austin (back when Austin was really weird). During this time, he decided to try his hand at playwriting and ended up as the winner of the Texas Playwright's Award. What a start.

To raise money for the inevitable move to New York City, Nick spent an entire summer baking and selling cheesecakes with his best friend and striving actress, Jessie Jones. Shortly after their arrival in The City, Nick was hired by T. Edward Hambleton to be the assistant to the casting director at Theatre Communications Group. After a few years, Nick became Director of Casting at TCG himself and became a prominent player in regional theatres across America. During this time, Nick became a beloved champion and friend of the community of actors in New York who referred to TCG as Central Casting. He practically lived in the theatres on and Off Broadway and was well-known in all the favored watering holes for theatrical types. All to say, he was the toast of the town.

Not surprisingly, ABC lured Nick away from theatre and into the melee that was network television. Eventually, he leapt at an offer to be the Director of Casting at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, totally forgetting how cold the winters could be in that windy city. Luckily, after only a few months ABC reached out its corporate claw once more, stole Nick away and hurled him into the hot mess that is Hollywood. After many years of working in Movies and Mini-Series, Nick realized he couldn't bear to hound Ann-Margaret's agent yet again to star in another TV project so he took a hiatus to study at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. He made it all the way to Sauces and Gravies before he threw in his spatula and rushed back to Hollywood to work in casting again at ABC, in the Daytime division. It was during this time, Nick met the love of his life, a successful television writer/producer, Jamie Wooten. They met on a blind date and were together from that moment on. Theirs was a beautiful thirty-year romance.

Nick's third deployment to ABC was the charm and he finally retired from Casting and indulged his knowledge and love of art with a stint as a Docent at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He then returned to one of his original dreams, to become a writer. Teaming up with Jessie Jones - of cheesecake fame - yet again, they wrote episodes of network comedies, including the Emmy-winning Disney television series "Teacher's Pet," and projects for USA, WB, UPN, SYFY, Nickelodeon and Fox.

Through the next few years, Nick, Jessie and Jamie became writing partners and as their hair began to turn gray, the three decided to leave before Hollywood said, "Get out." The trio, who by this time were writing under the pen name Jones Hope Wooten, moved to Asheville, North Carolina and became a playwriting team. Playwriting was where Nick found his greatest success and enjoyed the happiest years of his life. As Jones Hope Wooten (Nick took his mother's maiden name "Hope" as his nom de plume), they exploded into the theatre world with a series of popular laugh-out-loud Southern-flavored comedies, all available from Dramatists Play Service or Theatrical Rights Worldwide - order your copies today! Over the next twenty years and twenty-five plays and with more than 8,000 productions in every state in the U.S. (and over twenty-one different countries), Jones Hope Wooten more than earned their reputation as three of the most produced playwrights in America. Nick had realized his dream and was one proud playwright.

Taking time between plays, the trio traveled the world together - and they had a ball! They journeyed far and wide, from Iceland to the Galapagos, New Zealand to Greece, Easter Island to Malta (more proof the man always loved islands) and Casablanca to Rome, always Rome, a place that captured Nick's heart.

And speaking of hearts, Nick and Jamie finally married at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan in 2013. Since they were both writers, of course they had their wedding party dinner around the famed Round Table there. Besides Jamie, Jessie, theatre and travel, Nick had many big loves in his life. Among them were California plein air paintings, Florence, Italy, Joseph O'Conner novels, coconut peanut butter, labradorite, Tabasco, Cycladic art, turtles, doing laundry (yes, laundry), Dillards Clearance Centers, a good Cabernet, Wheel of Fortune slot machines, nachos, Nokomis art pottery, Adele, visors, France Vingt Quatre News, the musical 1776, fresh walnuts, long talks with old friends on the phone and Velveeta Rotel dip (who are we to judge?). He also spent his adult life trying to see every Vermeer and Caravaggio painting around the world. But above all, Nick loved animals, especially cats (he volunteered at an animal rescue facility in Asheville). One of his favorite places to visit was the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary in the center of Rome. Animals everywhere have lost one of their most constant and caring champions.

Nick is survived by his husband, Jamie, and his best friend and writing partner, Jessie. He's also survived by treasured nieces Kim and Andrea, a much-loved nephew, Eric, cherished grandniece, Amelia, precious cousin, Melissa, brothers Wayne and Tim, nephew Thomas and other Wilkinson, Wooten, and Jones family members, Hope cousins and an incredible community of beloved and supportive friends around the globe, as well as his extended theatre family who made his life's journey so amazing.

Nick was a gentleman in the true sense of the word - kind, caring, generous and sweet. He made everyone he met feel like the most important person in the world. This incredibly witty, warm and hugely talented man leaves behind a legacy of joy - laughter that he's brought to millions on the page, on the stage and in theatres everywhere across America and around the globe. What a wonderful gift to leave to this world. Please keep Nick in your hearts and think of him when you're enjoying a particularly good cocktail or scratching a cat under its chin.

Nick's ashes will be scattered in Rome and off the coast of his and Jamie's beloved Hanalei, Kauai. Those of us who knew and loved him feel fortunate and honored to carry his memory forward.

Donations in his memory can be made to Animal Haven of Asheville, NC - the city where the JONES HOPE WOOTEN COMEDIES first came to life. www.animalhavenofasheville.org

And surely Nick would do a little dance if you would donate to any Democratic candidate running against any incumbent Republican anywhere. Anywhere!

Arrivederci and Aloha, Nick!