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In the heat of a Georgia summer, she arrived in Sparta as Councilwoman Harriet DeLong -- a woman of poise and transformative strength. For six seasons, she navigated the complex social currents of the Deep South, ultimately becoming the heart of In the Heat of the Night's most progressive and enduring love story. But the journey of Denise Nicholas didn't end when the cameras in Covington stopped rolling in 1994. 

Today, the actress and activist has fully stepped into her most profound role yet -- the Author. From the iconic halls of Room 222 to the written pages of her powerful new memoir Finding Home, Denise joins In the Heat of the Night Fan Club to reflect on the "unsaid" in history, the creative stresses of the Sparta set, and the enduring legacy of a character who helped change the landscape of primetime television. She is taking her time to tell her truth for posterity, and the wait is well worth it.  Let's get to it...

In Finding Home: A Memoir, you chose an episodic structure rather than a strictly traditional chronological narrative. For you, what is the fundamental difference between listing the facts of a biography and capturing the "truth" of an experience?

Denise Nicholas:  In "Finding Home" I did both – an episodic structure wedded to a traditional chronological narrative. That was the only way I could capture not only specific memories but the meaning of those memories as well.

Finding Home: A Memoir (Agate, November 2025)

You’ve mentioned that this memoir was “infinitely more difficult” than your other projects. Looking at the 16-year-old on this cover of JET Magazine, it seems like your journey in the public eye started so early. Now that Finding Home is published, what was the most taxing part to get right -- the technical prose or the emotional weight of revisiting those early years in Detroit and Mississippi?

The experience of a memory carries a heavy emotional weight -- like opening a closet door that’s been locked for years -- so long in fact, you’ve forgotten some of the whys and wherefores of what’s inside, why was the door bolted in the first place. My reticence to tackle a memoir lives here. I simply didn’t want to face the past. But that’s what a memoir does -- it forces a second, third, maybe a fourth look. I didn’t want to dredge up so many difficult issues. I can admit that having been through this “process,” I feel so much better about the past. I looked at it straight in the eye and survived.

A star in the making: A sixteen-year-old Denise Nicholas on the August 25, 1960, cover of JET Magazine. At the time, she was a student at the National High School Institute at Northwestern University -- a pivotal moment she reflects on in the opening chapters of Finding Home.

Once you finally unbolted that door and committed to looking at the past, did the actual "writing" flow more easily, or did the emotional weight continue to make the physical act of typing it out a struggle?

It definitely was both -- acceptance that the only way was THROUGH was the unlocking.  When my mind/heart passes the door, my attachment to imagery, to metaphor, to deep feelings creeps in -- I’m then in my comfort zone. If I can attach the entrance to my deeper heart & mind, I’m ok. 

Throughout the memoir, you describe the process of unearthing family secrets and the weight of “the unsaid” in your history.  As a writer, how much of this book was based on your own memory, and how much required you to become a historian of your own family -- e.g., digging through records, old letters, or interviewing family members to fill in those gaps?

 I can't separate now what was neatly stored in my own memory and what I had to dig up -- it’s both from beginning to end. Perhaps, there was a dollop of a memory from some long-ago conversation, something that hung around in my mind for years. In doing this book, I was able to grab that piece of a memory and create a world from it, or at least to hint that there was an entire world there. For example, the fact that my dad and his family migrated to Detroit from Kentucky. That sent me on a journey of discovery and also creative meandering. 

Only today, in going through my mother’s papers -- she died here in my home last September at 104 with only dementia’s wreckage of her mind and body to be seen -- did I learn that her father, my grandfather John Jones was also from the bluegrass country -- all bourbon and horses. This kind of “coincidence” is bedrock for storytelling. I wanted to know more of him but I had only my imagination. He passed for White, fought in WWI in France, married my grandmother and died young. That’s a lot. So Sam Nicholas, my dad’s father, also was a Kentuckian who knew horses -- walked the horses from Lexington to Louisville back in the day. If I sit here long enough ruminating on those two men, I have a possible novel in my head.

You’ve spent decades bringing other people's words to life as an actress, but you have now fully transitioned into the role of a professional author. As you look toward the second book in your current two-book deal with Agate Publishing, do you find that the written word offers you a deeper level of self-expression than you were able to achieve through performance?

There’s no doubt that writing satisfies my creative self infinitely more than acting did -- though I enjoyed the work most but not all of the time. That has as much to do with the roles written for Black women in past years. I wouldn't call it great now but it's a hell of lot better.

You wrote six scripts for the series In the Heat of the Night, starting with the season 5 classic, “Odessa.” How did that opportunity first materialize? Did you have to pitch your stories to Carroll O'Connor, or did he recognize your writing talent and invite you into the process?

On getting in the writing room door -- I spent years knocking. I had not a clue what I was doing but I knew I wanted in. I absolutely first had to convince Carroll that I could do the work if given a chance (and with his help!).  I had ideas, the kinds of ideas for stories that would work on In the Heat of the Night -- “Odessa” being first up. Odessa was my nod to the Civil Rights Movement re: voting rights. On series TV, getting into the weeds about our journey as Black folks in America was not top of mind for most producers. I pushed “Odessa” anyway because it’s an American story that holds Whites, Blacks and others in its heart. I do not EVER want to be an artist who feels obligated to tip toe through the briars of our journey in this country. We are a part of the story, have always been and will always be.

A powerful moment from Season 5, Episode 15, "Odessa" (originally aired February 11, 1992). Left to Right: Denise Nicholas (Harriet DeLong), Deborah Duke (Odessa Robbins), Anne-Marie Johnson (Althea Tibbs), and Tonea Stewart (Aunt Etta Kibbey).

The title of your acclaimed novel “Freshwater Road” appears in your script for the In the Heat of the Night episode, "Odessa" (S5/Ep15), years before the novel was published. Was that title a seed you were planting for your future literary career, or was “Freshwater Road” a name that already held a special significance in your personal life?

"Freshwater Road" was rollicking in my mind and heart for years before one word was on the paper. Then, I managed to get about 20 pages down that I dragged around all over the place before landing in a situation that guided me to the completion of the novel.

Freshwater Road (Agate, August 2005) - First Edition Cover

In an interview we conducted with Crystal Fox, she mentioned that you were the first to recognize her singing ability, which led to you writing the scene of LuAnn Corbin leading the choir in episode "Odessa." Do you recall the moment you first heard her voice and realized that her talent needed to be woven into LuAnn Corbin’s identity?

Crystal has a beautiful voice. Honestly, I can't remember the exact moment when I came to that universal conclusion, but there you are.

You’ve described Carroll O’Connor as a mentor, but he was also your story editor on the series. What kind of professional challenges or creative stresses came with submitting your scripts to him for approval?

Carroll was indeed a mentor, a story editor and an exacting boss. He seemed to like the story ideas I came in the door with, but he knew that I was short on how to bend that story idea to the demands of "Heat," in terms of which actors contractually had to appear in X number of episodes, which Heat characters fit the story best.

How much input did you have in the character development of Harriet DeLong? Were there aspects of her life as a Councilwoman or a mother that you insisted on bringing to the screen?

Harriet DeLong was Carroll's creation. I had little to zero input on her development in the series. Having said that, I had many "off-line" chats with Carroll about many things. He gave the character the inner grit and substance that I needed her to have.

In your memoir, you write with profound resonance about the loss of your sister, Michele. When you filmed the season 3, two-part In the Heat of the Night episode, “Citizen Trundel” -- which dealt so directly with the murder of Harriet’s sister, Natalie -- did the storyline feel like a constructive way to channel your grief, or was it an unwelcome intrusion on a very personal reality?

I discussed the possible storyline of the murdered sister with Carroll. I told him I had no problem with that as a story point or arc. I would’ve been more comfortable with it if that murder and Harriet’s response to it "bled" into more stories after that one. It's not something you ever get over or recover from. It presents itself to you at odd times -- like while driving or like staring at flowers. We didn't really do that with the sister’s murder story in "Heat."

 Michele Burgen (Circa 1979)

A question fans have pondered for decades -- in that episode, "Citizen Trundel," why does the character V.J. Trundel (Jordan Williams) never utter a single word of dialogue, despite his significant screen time? Was that a specific creative choice you were privy to during production?

I was not privy to the issue you raise here.

Season 7 marked a major turning point for the series with the departure of Anne-Marie Johnson and Geoffrey Thorne -- while Howard Rollins returned for a limited run as a Special Guest Star. With so many principal cast members gone and the arrival of Carl Weathers, what was the overall mood on the set? Did it feel like a fresh beginning, or was there a sense of mourning for the original ensemble dynamic?

I think it was both. Those losses/departures affected the energy of the show and the texture of the show.

Denise Nicholas, Carroll O’Connor, and newcomer Carl Weathers are joined by Howard Rollins -- who returned for several key appearances in Season 7 as Special Guest Star. This Season 7 publicity still captures the evolving ensemble during a period of major change for the series.

I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about this item from Carroll & Nancy's personal collection. It appears to be a commemorative piece for Freshwater Road. What memories does seeing this piece bring back regarding Mr. O’Connor’s reaction to your transition into novelist, and how did he support that second act of your career?

On the doll carrying a copy of Freshwater Road.. I have ZERO memory of it. Carroll didn’t live long enough to actually read Freshwater Road but he encouraged my writing. He was an actor who wrote so he absolutely understood the energy. In times of great devotion to work, I miss the gifts of life -- more often than I’d

like to admit. I like that doll holding the book -- wish I had it here.

What was your initial reaction when the series decided to move the relationship between Bill Gillespie and Harriet DeLong from friendly adversaries to a romantic pairing?  Did you feel the industry and the audience were truly ready for that relationship in the early ‘90s?

I knew the journey the two characters would be going on -- Carroll revealed that to me at the time of my audition. I was fine with it. I adored the man.

Chief Gillespie and Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the steps of the Sparta Courthouse / City Hall. (“Homecoming” - S4/Ep08)

Mr. O’Connor often expressed that the media "overlooked" Bill and Harriet’s relationship. Why do you think critics who scrutinized every inch of Archie Bunker stayed so quiet about the progressive nature of the Gillespie-DeLong relationship?

Interesting question. Perhaps most media folks didn’t know how to deal with it. They might have seen it as a kind of racial progress. Or, it may have been one of those things that people didn’t know how to address. Carroll wanted the world to know that he was not Archie Bunker in real life… he was quite the opposite.

Acting Sheriff William O. "Bill" Gillespie and Councilwoman Harriet DeLong, Sparta Square, 1993 (Season 7).

Wedding bells in Sparta: Bill Gillespie (Carroll O’Connor) and Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas) in the Season 7 episode "Dangerous Engagement" (originally aired May 4, 1994). At the time, their union marked a television milestone as the only interracial marriage on a primetime television drama.

Shortly after the In the Heat of the Night series and its telefilms concluded, you began focusing more on your own writing, eventually leading to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Was there a specific moment on the set of ITHOTN where you realized you were ready to trade the script for the manuscript?

I attended the prestigious Squaw Valley Community of Writers in Olympic Valley, Ca. My writing teacher at that time was Janet Fitch (author of White Oleander and others) and she encouraged me to attend the workshop. I was terrified of course but did ok there. It was my first real submersion into the writing life outside of Janet’s workshop. My novel, "Freshwater Road," comes directly out of Janet’s workshop.

If a revival of In the Heat of the Night were to happen today, what do you think a present-day Sparta, Mississippi would look like in 2026? Where would we find Harriet DeLong-Gillespie in her journey, and what would Eugene’s life be like today?

In a today’s Heat of the Night, Harriet would probably be running back and forth to New Orleans, maybe she's set up a Civil Rights kind of group to face recurring racism issues. Maybe she teaches a history of that movement to young people -- Black and White -- so that they have a better understanding of the journey.

If the script were right and the conditions were right, would you consider reprising the role of Harriet DeLong-Gillespie?

I would -- if she could delve into those ideas I mentioned.

“If he’d had his way, I'd be calling you Massa and doing your laundry for nothing." -- Harriet DeLong (“First Girl” - S3/Ep04).

The Last of Denise Nicholas:

• The last time you visited Milan, Michigan: Sometime in the 2000s before 2015
  
  

• The last movie you saw in a theater: Sinners
  
  

• The last time you spoke with Rosa Parks: Mrs. Parks passed in 2005. I hadn’t spoken with her or her assistant in quite a while, probably in the 1980s.
  
  

• The last snack or beverage you reached for to break a bout of writer’s block: No writer's block -- just writer fatigue. My beverages of choice when working are lemonade and coffee.
  
  

• The last time you ate red meat: I eat red meat maybe twice a year: once in summer -- I’ll have BBQ pork ribs. And in winter (California winter) I make one meatloaf. My mom made the best meat loaf and I keep trying to get it the way she made it.
  
  

• The last time you looked at a cast photo from Room 222 and thought, "I'm glad that fashion trend stayed in the '70s": Everything old is new again. Short skirts are back but at my age, I won’t be doing that again. Legs still good, but...
  
  

• The last time you looked at your favorite memento from the ITHOTN set, and what was it?: I have a beautiful framed photo of Carroll in my tv room. I see him every single day.
  
  

• The last time you watched an episode of In the Heat of the Night: It’s been too long since I watched an episode. You nudged me. Thank you.

As we wrap up, what would you like to say to the dedicated fans who have supported your work, the series In the Heat of the Night, and the character of Harriet DeLong-Gillespie?

Thank you for your dedication to In the Heat of the Night, for your enjoyment of the stories and the performances. Carroll had it right… he was one of the most gifted human beings I’ve ever known. I’m grateful.

In the Heat of the Night Fan Club would like to thank Denise Nicholas for her time and incredible candor.  By unbolting the "locked doors" of the past and sharing the truth of her journey, she has given the fans a gift as enduring as Sparta itself. Her commitment to the "unsaid" in history ensures that the legacy of Harriet DeLong -- and the woman behind her -- will never be forgotten.

 Keep up-to-date with Denise by visiting her official web site at:  

The Literary Works of Denise Nicholas

Tip: Look for the "Frequently Bought Together" option on Amazon to bundle Finding Home: A Memoir and Freshwater Road together.

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