Jack Nicholson is 85: about the famous actor in his own words

Jack Nicholson's biography is packed with twists and wild revelations. Twelve years ago, the actor left the world of movie sets and red carpets, it is said that memory problems prevent him from remembering the text of the roles. That is why he appears in public rarely. The last time he was seen at the game of his favorite basketball team "Los Angeles Lakers" in November 2021, along with his son Ray. In total, Nicholson has five children from different women. He was formally married once and a long time ago, to Sandra Knight. Which is not surprising - over the years he gained fame as a womanizer and bon vivant. It is hard to name the actresses, singers, models and socialites he was not attributed affair! Among them, Melanie Griffith, Kate Moss, Lara Flynn Boyle, Christina Onassis, Angelica Huston, Angie Everhart, etc. Now he lives alone, on the famous "bad boy road" - Mulholland Drive, in the house he bought next door to the house of his idol and friend Marlon Brando.

As Jack himself says, he has done everything he could in the movies, and he sees no point in continuing. Because he strove to give the world beauty with each of his characters. And they were quite a few in his career. The most interesting thing is that only after 10 years in the film industry, he managed to succeed, with the movie "Easy Rider". Before that, he even spent some time as an assistant at MGM Studios, but then decided to concentrate on his acting career, going to attend training courses with Joe Pasternak. In the work he used the Method, also known as Stanislavsky system in the United States. He says that it was it that helped him succeed - today he remains the most titled actor in Hollywood. And some fans argue that his success has brought him a trademark grin and smirk, perfect for portraying all sorts of marginalized people. Whether this is true or not, as they say, winner are not judged. On the occasion of the anniversary, let us recall the major milestones of Jack Nicholson's biography.

1954 - Moved to Los Angeles.

1958 - Debuted in the movie "The Crybaby Killer."

1966 - Wrote, produced and starred in the western "Ride In The Whirlwind".

1969 - The movie "Easy Rider" was released and earned him an "Oscar" nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

1974 - The film "Chinatown" was released.

1976 - Won the Academy Award for Best Lead Actor in a Leading Role in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

1980 - "The Shining", based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, was released.

1984 - Won an Oscar for his supporting performance in "Terms of Endearment".

1989 - The movie "Batman" was released. Nicholson played the Joker.

1998 - Won Academy Award for Best Leading Actor in a Leading Role for "As Good As It Gets".

1994 - Broke the window of someone else's car with a golf club during a traffic dispute. Charges against the actor were later dropped as he and the driver of the car he smashed reached a pre-trial agreement. The parties chose not to disclose its details.

1999 - Received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematography.

2006 - Starred in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed".

2010 - Nicholson's last film, the comedy-drama "I'm Still Here", was released.

As we can see, in the life of Nicholson at times there were truly cinematic moments, such as a showdown on the highway, during which he damaged someone else's car. The movie "Anger Management" (2003) with his participation comes immediately to mind. But perhaps the most melodramatic episode of his biography should still recognize the fact of his birth. Until Jack became an adult, he was in complete ignorance about his parents. It turned out that Ethel May Nicholson, who raised him, which he thought was his mother, was in fact his grandmother, and his older sister June - his biological mother. The actor never knew his father; it is claimed that he was a visiting artist from Latvia. And such episodes in the biography of the three-time Oscar winner were many. In many ways, according to the actor, an excellent sense of humor helped him through the hardships of life. Sometimes nontrivial, paradoxical statements Jack stumped members of the press. That makes him even more interesting for readers and viewers, although he often admitted that he prefers to be unknown to his audience. Now, the most striking quotes from the inimitable Jack Nicholson, helping to shed light on his talent.

On work.

(Michelangelo) Antonioni said that all he was trying to do was to make something beautiful, because truth is beautiful and beauty is true. I subscribe to that. I like creating beautiful things. It may sound ridiculous, but when I choose a film to work with, I do it because it interests me in that sense and not in any other. I view every character I play on screen as a completely separate person. You can say that most of them are outsiders, but who today's characters are not outsiders. All I'm getting at is that they kind of conform to the truth."

"I'm from a different era of movie acting. My career doesn't depend on explosions and pyrotechnics."

"There comes a period before the film when you start thinking, 'I don't know what I'm going to do in this world.' Anxiety, it comes without asking for permission. But in my case, it leaves on the first day of shooting, right after lunch."

"I don't want people to know what kind of person I am. It's not good for an actor."

"When I read the part (from the upcoming film "Terms of Endearment" (1983), I knew I was going to win an Oscar for it.

"I'm especially proud of the role of the Joker. I see it as an example of pop art."

"If you have an impulse in a scene, no matter how misguided, follow the impulse. It may spill out into something; if it doesn't, you always have a second take!"

"Actors don't engage in discussions about who's the best actor in the world, because it's obvious, the best is Marlon Brando."

On life.

"My motto: More Good Times!"

"What would I want to know at 18? Everything from a foreign language to cooking."

"I've outgrown the times when I talked about what I knew when I didn't really know."

"I'm not a raver anymore, all good things come to an end."

"With my glasses on, I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them I'm fat and seventy years old."

"(Sunglasses) are assigned to me. That's why I wear them. Once upon a time the average American in me might have thought it might create some effect. But there's a lot of sun in southern California. And once you encounter a negative situation in public, you start using it as some form of a shield. I'm a person who's trained to look other people in the eye. But I can't look into the eyes of everyone who wants to look into mine; I can't emotionally handle that amount of attention. That's why sunglasses are part of my armor."

"I hate giving advice because people don't follow it."

"For a long time I was afraid of being alone. I had to learn to be alone. Sometimes I think, 'Yoo-hoo! I need someone to talk to now or I'll go crazy! But I like being alone. Now I know. I do, indeed, think so. Loneliness is a great luxury."

"I don't worry about wrinkles. On the contrary, I find them interesting. I don't have very good eyesight, so sometimes I look in the mirror and see how I was when I was young."

"Fame? Your name becomes a brand name. You become Campbell Soup with the 31st role you can play."

(On having a son after having two daughters): "Finally, I did it right."

"I'm so rich, I'm going to sell myself as a regular person. I'm not interested in money at all."

(On receiving $5 million for the movie "A Few Good Men" (1992): "It was one of the few times the money was not wasted."

"One of the cruelest aspects of aging is losing friends. It starts quietly at first, then pretty soon every month, and you can't help but think:

"When is this call going to ring for me?" And the tip of this iceberg is the feeling of constant loss. At this time in your life, you feel like you're on the cusp of death. It's frightening - who wants to see pure white light and stand before the Lord? I know I certainly don't. Bye."

On women.

"It's not so nice at 71 to be looking for some kind of recognition as when you are yonger. I don't feel comfortable showing up at social events - so from now on I'll do it when I think it's appropriate. Fortunately, when it comes to girls reaching out to me, I don't mind."

"I would never complain about life, even if I really wanted to have a girlfriend. It's not that I'm starved for company. I have a few good female friends. But sometimes a woman wants to see you and won't go out to eat at a restaurant. So I got tired of arguing with them about it. I hired a cook. The food is better in my house."