Actor Jack Nicholson is known for playing formidable characters his entire life. But according to recent reports, the actor might not be doing too well.
Jack Nicholson is a very well-known name and face in Hollywood. The actor has given memorable performances in many classic and critically acclaimed films like ‘The Shining’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’.
His start in life was a little rough. On April 22, 1937, John Joseph Nicholson was born in New York. The young boy would grow up in New Jersey with his grandmother, Ethel Nicholson, who owned a beauty salon.
Jack himself believed that his grandma was his biological mom – his alcoholic father had left the family when Nicholson was but a child.
His sister, June, was 19 and, after working as a dancer, left to try and become an actress. When he reached the tender age of 17, Jack moved to Los Angeles with an eye on following suit.
In 1963, June died of cancer, and Nicholson’s grandma, Ethel, died seven years after.
Though he hardly had the most ideal beginnings in life, Jack strived to achieve what he wanted. He pursued his acting desires with great determination and eventually was rewarded with success.
However, when he was 37, he received a phone call from a journalist who had written a report on him for the movie ‘Chinatown’.
It was a call that would change everything.
During his research in 1974, the reporter in question had uncovered a family secret that he would go on to relay to Jack himself: The people Jack Nicholson thought were his parents had actually been his grandparents.
Furthermore, his ‘sister’ June had been, in fact, his biological mother.
The prospective Hollywood star was initially insulted by the claims and refused to believe them. However, his second ‘sister’ Lorraine (who was actually Jack’s aunt) confirmed the family’s secret during an emotional phone call.
“It was pretty dramatic event, but it wasn’t what I’d call traumatizing…I was pretty well psychologically formed,” Jack said of the revelation.
The identity of Jack’s father is unknown. While some believe it was June’s manager, others believe she did not know who the father was herself.
Jack says he has no issues with his mother or grandmother. The actor said, “I didn’t have to deal with it with them. They were dead. I am that kind of person-what do I feel-and had the tools to know what I feel. Gratitude. I’ve often said about them: Show me any women today who could keep a secret, confidence, or an intimacy to that degree, you got my kind of gal.”
Jack’s relationships in his personal life were also torrid affairs. In his lifetime, he has fathered five children with four different women!
His oldest child is Jennifer Nicholson, whom he had with his first and only wife actress Sandra Knight. Jack was married to Sandra for six years and they divorced in 1968 because Sandra foresaw his stardom and knew he would have a lot of “temptations.”
He then entered into a torrid affair with Susan Anspach. The two had met when they were working on a project together. In 1970, she gave birth to Caleb Goddard. At first, Jack did not publicly accept his son but that changed over time and in 1996, he fully accepted Caleb as his son.
In 1981, his relationship with Winnie Hollman resulted in the birth of his daughter Honey Nicholson. After this, he began a relationship with Rebecca Broussard and the couple welcomed their daughter Lorraine in 1990. and their son Ray, in 1992.
Jack talked about co-parenting with all his exes. He said, “It’s a divided parenthood, with their wonderful [mothers] and myself. We’ve always gotten along. I want to be inspirational, or some kind of good influence on them without overburdening them.”
Jack fathered a lot of his children when he was in casual relationships or even during an affair. In 1973, he began dating actress Anjelica Huston. Their relationship lasted 17 years but they never married or had children together.
During his time with Anjelica, Jack would often have affairs. Jack was not one to be careful when it came to cheating. Anjelica Huston would often find evidence of other women having been to his home. She writes of the incidents, “Occasionally, I’d find a piece of female apparel — once a jacket of mine turned up on a girl in the street — or I’d find some hand cream, or a trinket might get left behind in the soap dish. Sometimes I’d take to wearing the jewelry to see if anybody would come up and claim it, but that never happened.”
The breaking point for their relationship was in 1990, when Jack revealed to her that he had impregnated Rebecca Broussard. This was what caused the final break in their relationship.
A few days later after Nicholson told her about the other woman’s pregnancy, Anjelica drove to the Paramount Pictures lot where Nicholson was filming a project.
She then attacked the actor. In her memoir, she writes “He was coming out of the bathroom when I attacked him. I don’t think I kicked him, but I beat him savagely about the head and shoulders. He was ducking and bending, and I was going at him like a prizefighter, raining a vast array of direct punches.”
When a few days had passed after her attack on Jack Nicholson, she received a call from him where he told her she had left bruises on his body because of the attack. The two were able to laugh about the incident, which surprised the actress.
Even with all his affairs and reputation for being a lady’s man, Nicholson is currently unattached to any woman. The 85-year-old has completely withdrawn from the public eye and according to sources, “his mind is gone.”
His last acting project was in 2010 starring alongside Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd in “How Do You Know.”
According to sources, Jack “doesn’t leave his house anymore” and his children are reportedly taking care of him. Jack has five children with four different women. The source lamented saying, “Physically he is fine — but his mind is gone. It’s really sad to see such a super talented actor, like Jack, go out this way.”
His last public appearance was a rare occurrence, on the occasion of Kobe Bryant’s memorial. Jack is famously a big fan of basketball and had a friendship with Kobe.
He even released a statement after the basketball legend’s sudden death, saying, “I was used to seeing and talking to Kobe… It kills you. We’ll think of him all the time, and we’ll miss him.” While Nicholson’s team has not confirmed a diagnosis, sources close to him hint at his having dementia.
According to the source, Nicholson is currently spending as much time as he can with his children and other family members, to make up for lost time.
It is truly sad to see a great actor like Jack Nicholson completely withdraw from public life.
We wish him the very best and are praying for his well-being!
