John Joseph “Jack” Nicholson is a famous American film and TV actor and film-maker who is best known for his roles in films like ‘Chinatown’, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘Batman’, ‘As Good As It Gets’ ‘A Few Good Men’ and ‘The Departed’. A versatile actor, Nicholson is mostly known for his dark, anti-hero and psychopathic character portrayals. He mastered the “eternal outsider”, rebellious and drifter characters in a career spanning 6 decades.
Nicholson has been felicitated with several Awards and accolades. He has 12 Academy Award nominations to his name and is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards’ history, winning twice for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor. He is also the only other actor, after Michael Caine to have been nominated for an Oscar in every decade of his career. He has also been felicitated with Six Golden Globe Awards.
Table of Contents
Jack Nicholson – Childhood photos
Early Life and Education
Nicholson was born on 22 April 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey and raised in Spring Lake, New Jersey as the only child of show-girl June Nicholson who was unaware of the identity of her son’s father. It is beleived that June’s manager, Edgar A. Kirschfeld is Nicholson’s biological father, although his mother married Donald Furcillo. Nicholson was raised as a Roman Catholic by his maternal grandparents and believed that June was his sister, since she was only 18 when she gave birth to him. He learnt about his “real” mother after his grandparents died.
Nicholson attended the Manasquan High School in Spring Lake and later went to the Anglo Chinese School where the class of 1954 voted him “class clown”. Nicholson, who served detention for an entire school year at the school now has a theatre and drama award named in his honour at the school.
Career Rise
Although Nicholson started his career as a stage actor and made his feature film debut as a lead actor in the 1958 film ‘The Cry Baby Killer’ he appeared in several bit-part roles and B-movies in the early stage of his career. He also penned the screenplay for the 1967 film ‘The Trip’, with the intention of giving up acting but received his breakthrough in the 1969 film ‘Easy Rider’ in which he essayed the supporting role of George Hanson. In 1970, Nicholson emerged as the ‘Next Big Thing’ for his work in the film ‘Five Easy Things’. Nicholson then appeared in critically acclaimed films like ‘On a Clear Day You Can See Forever’, ‘Carnal Knowledge’ and ‘The Last Detail’.
Nicholson rose to international acclaim in 1974 for his portrayal of private investigator J.J. “Jake” Gittes in Roman Polanski’s cult classic thriller film ‘Chinatown’ which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Nicholson then delivered power-packed performances as Randle McMurphy in the classic comedy ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and as David Locke in the art film ‘The Passenger’ in 1975. He continued to give brilliant performances in films like ‘The Shining’, ‘Reds’, ‘Ironweed’, ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ and ‘Terms of Endearment’ throughout the 1980s. He portrayed the psychopathic ‘The Joker’ in the 1989 film ‘Batman’ and Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in 1992’s ‘A Few Good Men’. Nicholson’s later works include powerful roles in films like ‘As Good As It Gets’, ‘About Schmidt’, and ‘Anger Management’. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for portraying Francis “Frank” Costello in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film ‘The Departed’.
Personal Life
Nicholson married Sandra Knight in 1962 with whom he had a daughter named Jennifer. The couple divorced in 1968. He then had an affair with actress Susan Anspach who gave birth to a son Caleb Goddard and claimed that Nicholson was the father, a claim refuted by Nicholson. Nicholson then dated actress Anjelica Huston.
Nicholson’s was involved in a romantic relation with Danish model Winnie Hollman who gave birth to their daughter, Honey Hollman. He was then involved with actress Rebecca Broussard from 1989-1994 and fathered two children, daughter Lorraine and son Raymond. Nicholson has an on-again off-again relationship with actress Lara Flynn Boyle that lasted from 1999-2004.
Jack Nicholson – Net Worth
The 1.77 meter tall Nicholson has an estimated net worth of approximately $390 Million.