Jack Nicholson's legendary career has spanned decades, and he's had quite the colorful life
in the tabloids, too. But with all his obvious talent, Jack Nicholson's life hasn't just
been awards, parties and Hollywood indulgence. There have been hard times, too. Here's Jack
Nicholson's tragic real-life story.
As Marc Eliot wrote in his unauthorized biography, Nicholson, Jack Nicholson's birth certificate
listed John and Ethel May Nicholson as his parents — but his father was out of the
picture early on. The actor revealed to the Daily Mail in 2011,
"I was raised entirely by women. [Ethel May] ran a beauty parlor and I spent most of my
time there. She taught me manners and I learned how to be around women, what women liked.
I am insanely well-mannered and polite, and because of that I have nothing but gratitude
for my upbringing."
After Nicholson became a successful actor in the '70s, he was given some shocking news:
He had no idea who his actual father was. As the authors of the biography Jack Nicholson:
The Early Years, Robert Crane and Christopher Fryer, revealed, an unnamed woman in New Jersey
mailed the authors a letter claiming she was "married to Jack Nicholson's biological father,"
adding that he "was a wonderful man." She urged the authors not to repeat various reports
that claimed, quote, "he was a hard-drinking deadbeat."
While the authors decided against exposing the contents of the letter to the public,
Time eventually ran the story. The biographers, Crane and Fryer, wrote,
"It turned out Jack had not been aware of his true family designations."
They ended up simply giving Nicholson the letter.
Crane and Fryer, the authors of Jack Nicholson: The Early Years, also revealed that the woman
who sent them the letter claiming she was married to Nicholson's father delivered some
additional earth-shattering news: The celeb was lied to about his mother, too. His sister,
June, was actually his biological mother, while Ethel May was his grandmother.
While Crane and Fryer decided not to include that information in their biography, the Easy
Rider star discovered the truth in Time magazine's story. As Biography would later note,
"Since June was 17 years old, unmarried and uncertain of the father's identity at the
time of Nicholson's birth, her parents agreed to treat Nicholson as their own child and
never reveal to him his true parentage."
Nicholson opened up to Rolling Stone about the revelation in 1986, saying:
"Both grandmother and mother were deceased before this particular group of facts came
to my attention. [...] I was very impressed by their ability to keep the secret, if nothing
else."
Jack Nicholson's tumultuous 17-year relationship with Anjelica Huston was filled with heartbreak,
largely because his incessant cheating ultimately led the actress to leave him. The New York
Post summarized Huston's autobiography, Watch Me, writing,
"After hoping for almost two decades to marry and start a family with him, she learned that
he would instead be having a child with a younger woman."
That incident was the final straw, and reportedly led to blows. Huston's book details numerous
other incidents, including one in France where the actor left his girlfriend in the middle
of the street to go on a bike ride with a woman they had just met. Nicholson hasn't
denied any of it.
"I showed him the book before it went to publication, so I got his stamp of approval."
Huston didn't run into her former flame for many years until they were both cast in 1995's
The Crossing Guard. She revealed in her book that Nicholson approached her on the final
day of shooting and declared, referring to Gabriel García Márquez's iconic love story
of the same name,
"You and me, toots — we're like Love in the Time of Cholera."
Years later, Nicholson expressed regret for his cheating ways. The actor revealed to the
British tabloid magazine Closer that the experience at the time left him "annihilated emotionally,"
adding,
"I'm childish and I did make a mistake."
Jack Nicholson was definitely a part of the Hollywood "It" scene in the '60s and '70s.
As Rolling Stone succinctly put it, Nicholson was "the coolest man alive."
With that fame also came some disturbing connections. Nicholson sparked a friendship with actress
Sharon Tate, whose life was tragically cut short at 26 when she was brutally killed by
Charles Manson's "family" of followers. As Marc Eliot wrote in Nicholson,
"Jack managed to secure passes to watch the [court] proceedings in person. He was fascinated
by Manson's persona and the crazy way he looked during the proceedings."
The author added that the actor was present at the trial "almost every day."
The Manson case left the Chinatown star feeling paranoid as, quote, "everybody in Hollywood
knew everything Jack did." The celeb reportedly slept with a hammer under his pillow afterward.
A 12-time Academy Award nominee and 3-time winner, Nicholson is one of the most celebrated
stars alive. The star simply loves his craft. He told Rolling Stone in 1986,
"I happen to be anachronistically in love with the movies. I got in this to be an artistic,
expressive person."
In 2013, heartbreaking allegations came to light when a source told Radar Online why
the celeb had to step back from the spotlight. The source said,
"Quite frankly, at 76, Jack has memory issues and can no longer remember the lines being
asked of him."
But the actor shot down those rumors through former NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver
, who reported to E! News,
"Nicholson retiring from acting due to memory loss or dementia [is] 100 percent false."
Nicholson himself joked to The Sun about the allegations, saying,
"I have a mathematician's brain."
In 2017, the star was set to star in a remake of the Oscar-nominated German film Toni Erdmann,
but backed out the following year, The Wrap reported.
Nicholson has taken on a number of macabre roles in his career, and they seem to have
had an impact on him. Nicholson famously portrayed the crazed Jack Torrance in The Shining. A
clip of the actor getting into character before his iconic "Here's Johnny" scene has surfaced
online. In the truly chilling video, Nicholson frantically jumps up and down and mutters:
"Come on, [grumble]! Die! Ax murderer, kill!"
Almost a decade later, the actor stepped into the Joker's shoes for 1989's Batman, and while
he hasn't said much about the difficulties of taking on such a dark role, Nicholson told
MTV he was, quote, "furious" to find out actor Heath Ledger snagged the part of the Joker
for 2008's The Dark Knight, adding that he was "not inclined to watch it."
The Departed star was later asked if he thought Ledger's untimely death had anything to do
with playing the Joker. As The Daily News reported, Nicholson replied
"Well, I warned him."
Though he can often come off as jovial, Jack Nicholson seems to have a bit of a temper.
Rolling Stone's Fred Schruers wrote,
"When he's talking about things that make him angry [he] can be a mite scary: he begins
to clip his words off, curl his lips back over his teeth and close sentences with 'pal.'"
In 1994, the Los Angeles Times reported,
"[Nicholson was charged] with misdemeanor vandalism and assault for allegedly smashing
the windshield of a car with a golf club because he believed the driver cut him off in traffic."
Nicholson is also known to get extremely heated during sports events, especially while he's
watching his favorite sports team, the Los Angeles Lakers. According to BBC News, while
at a 2003 game, Nicholson stepped onto the court to yell at the ref, reportedly shouting
about the amount of money he pays for his courtside seat.
Nicholson's angry streak is something his ex, Anjelica Huston, can also attest to. Writing
an essay for Vanity Fair, the actress claimed that her former flame "had a temper," adding,
"He is emotional. ... He takes things harder than you'd imagine."
"You can't handle the truth!"
Nicholson has become a bit of a recluse in recent years. In 2015, Radar Online paraphrased
the late Harry Dean Stanton, Nicholson's "longtime party pal," saying,
"His old friend has become 'pretty reclusive' after a life of Los Angeles Lakers basketball
games, [and] drug-fueled boozy parties. [Nicholson prefers] a dreary routine of afternoon naps,
drinking milk and sedate new hobbies like painting."
That same year, Closer nabbed an exclusive interview with Nicholson, confirming the actor's
quiet lifestyle. The publication reported that his days consist of, quote, "sleeping
until 1 pm and then having a glass of milk to soothe his stomach." He even bought a property
next door to his home so he could avoid dealing with neighbors.
Even with his long history of partying, Nicholson seems to have always valued his privacy. As
Marc Eliot wrote in Nicholson: A Biography, Stanton would sometimes have to force Nicholson
out of his room because
"While the action was hot and heavy in the other rooms, Jack would prefer to stay by
himself, in his bedroom."
In a rare interview with Closer in 2015, the legendary actor heartbreakingly revealed,
"I am single and lonely and likely to die alone."
He added that it's because of his reputation as "Jack the Jumper" in the past that has
led women not to trust him anymore. He said,
"I would love that one last romance but I'm not very realistic about it happening. What
I can't deny is my yearning."
At the very least, Nicholson still has his family. Duke Nicholson, Jack's grandson and
an actor himself who appeared in Us and a Dandy Warhols music video, told The Hollywood
Reporter in 2019,
"[Jack] is doing great. He's 100 percent."
Duke added that while the pair "don't talk about acting much," they do spend time watching
sports together. So while Nicholson may believe romance is out of his reach in his 80s, there
are still people who love him.
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