Before terribly famous break-ups, like Brad leaving Jennifer for Angie, Jack Nicholson
and Anjelica Houston were one of the iconic couples that dated for 17 years!
But their break-up was even more iconic because you wouldn't believe how Nicholson told Houston
that their relationship was over!
Finally, after years of wanting Nicholson to pop the question, the actor came to her
with the biggest news that left her completely shattered.
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When the Addams Family actress walked out of a toxic relationship and right into Jack
Nicholson’s arms, she had no idea that she was entering a rollercoaster of a relationship
that would take 17 years of her life.
When her Royal Tenenbaums co-actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, was too young to attend events alone,
she tagged along with her parents and bumped into Houston at a fundraising event.
But meeting Houston was not what made her stomach curl from being star-struck.
Paltrow looked nervously at Nicholson, saying, "That man scares me", Houston responded "With
good reason," adding, "He scares me, too."
And with his murderous "Here's johnny?"
face from the shining, who wouldn't be afraid of this guy, right?
When you close your eyes at night, you could probably still see it.
However, that was all acting.
It wasn't real life.
So what caused Houston to fear her longtime boyfriend?
Born the daughter of an acclaimed film director, Houston was invited to all the right places
with all the right people.
Luckily for the actress, Nicholson's invitation made its way to her.
At the actor's birthday party, the two met, and sparks went flying between them.
And before she knew it, the night turned to day, and she was only heading back home in
the morning.
It wasn't long after that the actor followed up their passionate night with a request for
a date.
Things seemed hopeful until Nicholson cancelled, and get this, to allegedly meet his ex-girlfriend,
singer Michelle Phillips.
Now we're not sure if this should've been the first red flag for Houston, but it revealed
Nicholson's character to the actress.
He was living the life of a playboy, and all she wanted wasn't looking to fool around.
In her second memoir, Watch Me, the actress wrote of a memory she had when Nicolson flirted
with a waitress right in front of her.
It made her so uncomfortable to the point that she stood up, determined to leave.
But Nicholson grabbed her arm, telling her never to walk out on him like that.
And since his attention scattered to other women, Houston wrote, "I enjoyed his brief
flash of possessiveness."
However, Houston said it was hard for her to get mad at the actor for too long.
He would balance out his hurtful promiscuous behaviour with acts of kindness - showering
her with gifts of affection.
Houston received a beautiful Mercedes, off the bat, from him, which she happened to crash
on that same day.
It turns out there aren't enough material possessions that could ever replace love and
the need for it.
And looking back at her life with Nicholson, the moments that made her jealous outweighed
those that left her happy.
Including that of attending a concert with him, just to have another woman sit between
his legs for the entire duration of it.
"'Come on,' he said with a sigh, rolling his eyes as if I were boring him to tears, 'she's
just an old friend.'"
But Houston soon learnt that it was his new friends she had to be worried about.
Early in their relationship, the actress's model friend confessed that she had slept
with Nicholson just a week earlier.
And although he had never promised to be faithful to Houston, he seemed to think his actions
were acceptable.
And maybe that's when Houston realized she was dating the most sought after man.
Not just on the romantic scene, but the acting one too.
As her relationship with Nicolson was progressing, so had the actor's career.
From One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining to Batman, each role was just as iconic
as the last.
And so Nicholson's career skyrocketed to the top, and everybody wanted a piece of the action.
And being the skirt-chaser that Houston described him to be.
Nicholson would give the people what they wanted.
At the famous Cannes film awards, Houston recalls beautiful french girls who would throw
themselves at him, flirtatiously asking him to get on their bike and go for a ride with
them.
And as if he was not in a relationship, Nicholson would jump at the opportunity.
"He'd get on the bike and leave me standing on the sidewalk," she wrote "[and] I would
just retire to our hotel room in tears."
Now everyone was probably wondering, why was she still with Nicholson at that point if
she could clearly see that he had eyes for other women?
Well, the answer is simple, she was in love and feelings are not just something someone
can bury.
The actress constantly dreamt of the day she would officially become Mrs Nicholson, but
unfortunately, that moment never came.
And it didn't seem like it would come anytime soon.
While watching a show together, Houston taunted her longtime boyfriend saying, "If you had
balls you'd marry me".
Sadly for Houston, her heart was not prepared for the answer she later received.
Jack's "'Marry you?
Are you kidding?'"
drove a heartbroken Anji to weep for three days.
Later, when clear evidence of his unfaithfulness was exposed, she was still quote, "tragically
gullible," convinced herself it wasn't true.
Love notes from more of Nicholson's mistresses professing their love to him and thanking
him for all the intimate nights they shared.
But even then, with such hard proof, Anji forced herself to believe Jack when he denied
the accusations.
Deep down inside she still had hope for a life with him, and she wasn't going to let
his suspected infidelity get in the way of that.
But after all the pain and distrust she had been harbouring, the actress decided to make
the healthy decision to leave Nicholson.
Soon she was caught up in a casual relationship with someone new.
But after a few months of being together, her new beau was physically violent with her.
Nicholson may have hurt the actress emotionally, but he had never laid his hands on her.
And so the broken-hearted actress went crawling back to the man she truly loved.
But she hoped this time things would be different.
Sadly, they had only worsened.
The actress would find different feminine items that weren't hers around Nicholson's
place, and even worse, she recalled bumping into a girl on the street who had on HER jacket.
"Sometimes I'd take to wearing the jewelry to see if anybody would come up and claim
it, but that never happened."
she said of the different possessions she found lying around.
Fortunately for the actress, her career was also becoming equally as successful and she
had something to be happy about.
Houston took home her first Oscar for Prizzi's honour, and who could deny that Morticia Addams
also deserved a nod from the academy too.
With both, their careers blossoming, and after so many years had passed, it was safe to think
that Nicholson was finally ready to settle down.
And well, though he may not have been ready… something forced him to be.
Awaiting for Jack to pop the question, Houston was invited to his house for a special dinner…
was this finally the moment?
Would Jack finally propose?
Well, one thing was for certain, he had big news he wanted to share with his longtime
on and off girlfriend.
"Someone is going to have a baby", the actor shared.
Well, that would be rather bizarre for Houston to have been pregnant without even knowing.
Sadly, that "someone" was model Rebecca Boussard.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxaFO5DyV-M 2:57) A young lady who was twelve years younger
than Houston.
Aside from the crippling pain and frustration that came with the news, Anji may have also
been confronted with the insecurity of not feeling good enough, pretty enough…
YOUNG enough.
And she took all those emotions out on Nicholson the first chance she got.
After hunting him down in his office, Houston could find no other way to let out her emotions
than to land multiple blows on Jack.
She unleashed all the rage she had held in for all those years, all the times she believed
him while he lied straight to her face, all the feminine belongings that weren’t hers
and the humiliation he had brought her.
Knowing the pain he had caused her, Nicolson did not resist the punches.
"I felt a strange underlying gratitude to him for allowing me to beat the living hell
out of him."
Though they were able to laugh about it later, the break-up had completely torn Anji apart.
Jack went on to have another child with the same woman, and lucky for Houston, she finally
found a man who wanted to marry her.
After sixteen years of marriage - just one year short of her and Nicholson's relationship,
her husband passed and Houston was alone again.
But this time, she was not going to go back to Nicholson.
She had learnt her lesson and was moving on for the better.
Well, that concludes our tragic love story for today.
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