Wade Nichols

Biography

Dennis Posa (October 28, 1946 – January 28, 1985), also known by the performing names of Wade Nichols and Dennis Parker, was an American actor and singer, who started his career in adult films.

Early life

Posa was born in 1946 in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Freeport, New York. He attended the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, studying furniture design. During his stint at PMCA, he won a role in a touring company production of The Trojan Women. He later attended New York University and the Herbert Berghof Studio, where he studied acting. He supported himself by working as a carpenter for several years.

Career

Posa's first feature film role was in the gay adult film Boy 'Napped (1975). He subsequently appeared mostly in straight porn films shot in New York, such as Summer of Laura (1975), Jail Bait (1976), Barbara Broadcast (1977), Teenage Pajama Party (1977), Maraschino Cherry (1977), Punk Rock (1977), Take Off (1978) and Blonde Ambition (1981). He was credited as "Wade Nichols" in most of the adult films in which he appeared.
In 1979, using the name "Dennis Parker", he recorded a disco album on Casablanca Records, titled Like an Eagle×Like an Eagle1 March 1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracksA1Like an Eagle6:31A2New York by Night5:07A3High Life6:25B1Why Don't You Boogie4:57B2I'm a Dancer4:56B3I Need Your Love3:28. The album was produced by Village People creator and record producer, Jacques Morali, of whom he was boyfriend at the time. He also toured Europe to promote the album. That same year, Parker appeared as a singer in a disco club in the French film Monique, with "Like an Eagle" being used as its theme song. The title track was released as a single and appears on the box set The Casablanca Records Story (1994). "New York By Night", another song recorded as Dennis Parker, peaked at No. 11 on the South African music charts in 1980.
Parker joined the cast of the soap opera The Edge of Night in 1979 as Police Chief Derek Mallory. He continued in the role until 1984.

Death

Parker died on January 28, 1985. It was revealed later that he died of an unspecified AIDS-related illness. There was a prevalent rumor that circulated around that Parker had died by suicide after receiving his AIDS diagnosis rather than dying directly of the illness, but his older brother denied this was true in an oral history published on The Rialto Report.