Denise Nickerson was best known for her role as Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and as a member of the Short Circus on "The Electric Company" (1971). She left the acting business at the end of 1978, and she worked as a nurse since then. Now, she spends time at home as a full-time mom. She will be remembered as Violet!
Denise now works as an accountant in Colorado. She sometimes attends autograph shows and "Dark Shadows" (1966) fan conventions.
Though most people remember her as the gum-chewing brat Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Denise played a very different character in a famous stage disaster--a musical production of Lolita (1962) (called "Lolita, My Love," which also starred Leonard Frey and Dorothy Loudon). The musical was written by John Barry and Alan Jay Lerner, and although it failed, many of its songs have since been recorded.
She was considered for the role of Regan in The Exorcist (1973) but her mother refused to allow her to screen-test for it after reading the script.
Auditioned for the part of Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).