Nick Taylor's early life and career began in the 1970s in New Jersey, where he attended high school and developed a passion for music, acting, and filmmaking. He honed his acting skills at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in media from New Jersey City University.
In the early 1980s, Taylor worked as a handyman at New York's Actor's Playhouse, where he witnessed the debut of Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy" and later collaborated with Fierstein and Danny DeVito on the film Death to Smoochy in 2002. He made his television debut in the late 1980s with a commercial for CBS-FM, an oldies radio station, playing a singing short-order cook.
Taylor's breakthrough in the 1990s included writing and directing his first film, the award-winning short Rocky & Bullwinkle: One Last Story in 1991, and appearing on stage in regional productions of "Wait Until Dark" and "American Buffalo." He also landed the role of Smitty on the popular ABC-TV soap "One Life to Live" in 1995.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Taylor continued to work in film, television, and theater, co-producing the award-winning documentary Special K in 1995, which aired on PBS, and beginning work on his first indie feature, the underground film A Clown in Babylon in 1999. He also began performing stand-up comedy in New York City clubs, leading to a part opposite David Johansen in Mark Eisenstein's anti-war film God Is on Their Side in 2002.
In the late 1990s, Taylor appeared as Ed Bergen on the short-lived cable series "100 Centre Street" in 2001, produced and directed by Sidney Lumet. He originated the role of Mickey opposite Edward Asner and Estelle Parsons in the stage production of Mark Eisenstein's "World War Now" in 2003, directed by Tom O'Horgan.
In the 2000s, Taylor continued to work in film and television, appearing as Tom Gillis on the short-lived TV series "The Jury" in 2004, produced and directed by Barry Levinson. He also appeared opposite Adam Sandler in Reign Over Me in 2007 and with Sally Kirkland as a feisty TV director in Oak Hill in 2008.
In 2010, Taylor wrote and directed his second indie feature, the award-winning Paradise East in 2011, which won several international film awards. He appeared opposite Sarah Silverman in I Smile Back in 2015 and wrote and directed the underground web-series The New Chip and Ernie Show and the film version Meet Chip and Ernie in 2017.
In 2018, Taylor wrote and directed the independent short Call Me Beekman and appeared as Rudy in the USA Network's acclaimed series The Sinner.
