Jack Nicholson is one of the greatest actors in the history of American cinema, as well as a film director, screenwriter and producer, and has been nominated for an Academy Award 12 times. He is called a genius of madness, also known for his "devilish smile" and films: "Chinatown", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "The Shining", "Batman", "Wolf", "The Promise", "The Departed".
The content of the article:
early years
Film career
Personal life and interesting facts
early years
Jack Nicholson (full name John Joseph Nicholson) was born on April 22, 1937 in New York. The intricacies in Jack Nicholson's biography began from the moment of his birth. The mother of the future actor, twenty-year-old dancer and singer June Francis, decided to hide the truth from her son and said that Jack's grandmother is his mother, and she herself is an older sister. The boy was raised by his grandparents - Ethel May Nicholson and John Joseph Nicholson. Jack's father, according to unconfirmed reports, is musician Don Rose Furcillo. When Jack was about forty, a Time magazine reporter learned the truth and revealed the truth to Jack that he was raised by his grandmother, not his own mother. This fact was confirmed by Nicholson's sister, but at that time, his own mother and grandmother were no longer alive.
Jack's childhood was spent in the town of Neptune, New Jersey. He attended Theodore Roosevelt Primary School, where he first appeared on stage in an amateur production of a musical. Jack performed a jazz composition called Managua, Nicaragua. As a child, Jack was very well-fed and was often called "fat". Because of this, he begins to actively engage in sports, is fond of baseball, American football and basketball. Jack also participates in theatrical performances and receives the title of "Best High School Actor".
At the age of 18, Nicholson moved to a big city and got a job as a handyman in the cartoon department of MGM. To get as close as possible to the world of the film industry, Nicholson finally decides to connect his life with the acting profession. He attends acting classes, takes part in castings and gets his first cameo roles in plays and TV shows.
Film career
The first movie role was the character Jimmy Wallace in the thriller "Crybaby Killer", but the film failed miserably. Then Nicholson had a few more unsuccessful works, such as "Wild Ride", "Too Late for Love", "Horror Shop", "The Raven" based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe and the horror film "Fear".
But finally, luck smiled at the actor and he was invited to the main role of the cult film "Easy Rider". It was with this film that Nicholson's great acting career began. For his role in Easy Rider, Jack is nominated for the first time for an Oscar.
Then comes Roman Polanski's detective Chinatown, which is again nominated for an Oscar, but Jack receives a Golden Globe and the main prize of the authoritative BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts).
After incredible professional success, the actor's personal life changes. The reporter "unearths" the story of his birth. Nicholson is shocked by the news that his sister was his mother and recently passed away.
One year after this revelation, the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was released. This role of a criminal who ended up in a mental hospital and staged a riot there earned Nicholson an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and National Council of Film Critics. And also was included in the top of the best films of all time.
The next film, which is considered a cult one, is the 1980 film "The Shining". This is a great adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name by director Stanley Kubrick. Nicholson did not receive any awards for her, was not nominated for an Oscar, but in the memory of the audience forever remained as a "genius of madness."
After this film, Nicholson is forever assigned the title of the best actor of the 20th century and "crazy from God."
Subsequently, he is offered the role of madmen or villains. For example, the Joker in Batman, the devil in The Eastwick Witches.
In recent years, the actor has been acting in films only if he likes the script.
Jack Nicholson is the recipient of three Academy Awards and BAFTAs, seven Golden Globes, a six-time National Council of Film Critics Award winner and a Screen Actors Guild Award winner.
Personal life and interesting facts
Jack Nicholson was officially married once - to the actress Sandra Knight. Jack and Sandra got married in 1962, but the couple divorced after 6 years. In marriage, they had a daughter, Jennifer Nicholson.
Given Jack's diabolical charm, Nicholson has had love affairs with many women. For example In 1969 with the actress Susan Anspach, from whom he has a son, Caleb Goddard, although Jack does not acknowledge his paternity. From the famous model Vinnie Hollman, the actor has a daughter, Honey Hollman.
For about 17 years in a civil marriage, Jack lived with American actress and director Angelica Houston. They broke up after the news of the pregnancy of Nicholson's new lover - actress Rebecca Broussard, who gave birth to two children from Jack - daughter Lorraine and son Raymond. Children bear the name of the actor.
Nicholson has been a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team for decades.
He does not act on the days when his favorite basketball team plays, this point is even spelled out in his contracts.
An actor never appears in public without dark glasses.
According to the actor, his Don Juan list is more than two thousand ladies.
Nicholson has a collection of artworks, which includes several works by Pablo Picasso.
