Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JACK AT 80
GOOD TIMES KEEP ROLLING FOR HOLLYWOOD’S MR COOL
WITH three Oscars under his ever-tightening belt Jack Nicholson is widely considered the finest Hollywood actor of his generation.
The screen icon, who turns 80 this month, has terrified audiences as Jack Torrance in The Shining, won their hearts as McMurphy the mental patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and made them cry as an OCD romantic in As Good As It Gets.
But of all his 80-plus film and TV roles there’s one that makes him particularly proud: The Joker in 1989 blockbuster Batman.
“I considered it a piece of pop art... the camera photographs what’s there,” he said cryptically.
To friends and colleagues he’s always been Jack the Joker – a handsome hellraiser who can woo with a flash of what actress ex Anjelica Huston called his “killer smile”, yet maintains the affection of lovers he betrayed.
He was once dubbed “the guy men want to be and women want to bed”. His one-liners were as legendary as his booze and bedroom antics and his personal motto is: “More good times.”
So there was sadness four years ago when reports claimed Jack had given up acting due to memory problems – though he never confirmed or denied it.
His last film role was in 2010 rom-com How Do You Know, and in January Easy Rider co-star and pal Peter Fonda told reporters: “I think he’s basically retired.”
So as Jack turns 80 on April 22, and as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is re-released in cinemas this weekend, we look back at his 60-year career and wild lifestyle.
He was born in New Jersey in 1937 to showgirl June Nicholson, 18. As she was unmarried her parents agreed to raise Jack as their own. He was 37 before magazine researchers broke the news that his “sister” was actually his mum.
But Jack says being raised by women “taught me manners and what women liked”. At school he was voted “class clown of 1954” and he spent a year in detention.
He moved to Hollywood at 17, working as an animator for MGM and joining a theatre group. His big break came in 1969, starring with Dennis Hopper and Fonda in road movie Easy Rider. It won Jack his first Oscar nomination.
He grew close to stars of the free-loving 60s and still smokes pot, which he wants legalised. He bought a home in Mulholland Drive, where he still lives. With neighbours like Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty and Jim Morrison it became dubbed ‘Bad Boy Drive’.
Other famous pals include musician Art Garfunkel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S Thompson and director Roman Polanski, who cast him in noir thriller Chinatown in 1974.
After Polanski’s girlfriend was murdered by Charles Manson’s cult followers in 1969, Jack supported him – and took to sleeping with a hammer under his pillow.
As Jack’s fame grew, so did his wildman reputation. Actor Robin Williams once joked Jack was the only man to hear Rolling Stone Keith Richards say “I have to go home now.” Yet Jack says: “There was a discipline with my partying. I’ve never kept a camera waiting.”
But he wasn’t as disciplined in
relationships. “Jack the Jumper” wed only once, to Sandra Knight in 1962, and they had a daughter Jennifer, now 54.
Sandra walked out after six years but he loved again, reportedly sleeping with 2,000 women, and he dotes on his five children.
Actress Susan Anspach had son Caleb in 1970. Honey, 34, is the daughter of model Winnie Hollman and Lorraine, 25, and Ray, 23, are from a relationship with actress
I can’t hit on women in public any more. It does not feel right at my age
JACK NICHOLSON ON LOVE AND GETTING OLDER
Rebecca Broussard. That ended a 16-year romance with Huston and Jack claims he was “annihilated emotionally” by the split, even though his cheating caused it.
In her autobiography Anjelica, now 65, revealed she attacked Jack: “I beat him savagely about the head and shoulders... going at him like a prizefighter. He said ‘Goddamn Toots, I’m bruised all over my body’ and I said ‘You’re welcome, Jack – you deserved it. And we laughed’.”
Jack seemed to get more attractive with age. Pal Sir Michael Caine said in 1998: “If you socialise with Jack, wear old clothes and very heavy boots. Because the women trample all over you.”
Jack himself joked: “With my sunglasses on, I’m Jack Nicholson. Without them, I’m fat and 60.”
The shades were still on when he appeared to chat up actress Jennifer Lawrence (54 years his junior) at the 2014 Oscars.
Jack admitted: “I would love one last romance but I’m not very realistic about it happening. I can’t hit on women in public any more – it doesn’t feel right at my age.”
Now his pleasures are golf, his art collection and
drinking milk. He says: “I would never complain about my life. It’s not like I’m starved of company.” Nine months ago Jack appeared on TV to talk about old boxing pal Muhammad Ali. He looked heavier and sported a grey goatee. But there are rumours the most nominated male actor in Oscar history is considering a comeback in a remake of German comedy Toni Erdmann. That would put the smile back on Jack the Joker’s face.