Here’s What Really Happened To Nick Nolte

His star has waned so much so that if you ask your kids who Nolte is, they’ll probably shrug! For folks of a certain age, however, he’s a very familiar face. The Omaha-born star appeared in everything from brooding westerns to buddy cop comedies during his heyday. And he was handsomely honored, too. Talking of handsome... 

We just can’t forget how good Nolte looked — nor can many of his fans. It’s no wonder he was crowned People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1992! And it’s no wonder he got plenty of good movie roles. The fact that he had quite the checkered private life also kept his name alive in the trade magazines... Until it all went away.

Perhaps Nolte would have been happier as an NFL star. He’d impressed with his high school football team and had even earned a scholarship to play the sport at Arizona State University. But the teenage Nolte dropped out of that college after just a single semester. Other colleges didn’t stick, either — and then life on the big screen beckoned.

While Nolte began working as a manual laborer after college, the bright lights of showbiz caught his eye. He started in the theater, performing for a number of rep companies. It was a big change from schlepping bricks — and Nolte took a while to get his head around it. But when he did, he realized it had changed his life.

“Acting became a sort of replacement for everything,” Nolte told Variety in 2017. “Now I had to start reading and writing. That was a metamorphosis, and it took about five months. I was 220 pounds when I first walked into [the theater] for the first time, and I had a sort of mini-breakdown going from an athlete to an actor.” But he’s never regretted his choice — even now his star doesn’t burn as brightly.

The actor first got the chance to make the leap to the film world in 1975 when he was cast in Return to Macon County. Although the sequel to the previous year’s Macon County Line was a critical flop, Nolte was singled out by many reviewers as its sole bright spot. His big break was just around the corner, too.

In 1976 Nolte scored an Emmy nomination for his performance as boxer Tom Jordache in Rich Man, Poor Man. Then the star earned a box-office hit alongside Jacqueline Bisset — and that t-shirt — in The Deep. Nolte proved he was also a talented writer two years later when he co-penned the screenplay and starred in sporting drama North Dallas Forty. And he barely left our cinema screens from then on.

In 1980 Nolte portrayed Neal Cassady, the famous Beat poet, in Heart Beat. Then, two years later, he landed one of his most famous roles as cop Jack Cates in the comedy 48 Hrs. The film would also help to launch Eddie Murphy to superstardom, and the pair reprised their much-loved characters in 1990 with Another 48 Hrs. But Nolte was only just getting started.

You may remember Nolte sharing the screen with Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler in 1986’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills. He then bagged his first Golden Globe nomination for a film role with his leading performance in 1987’s Weeds. Yet while Nolte’s professional life was on the up, his private one was... let’s just say a little chaotic.

But, somehow, Nolte managed to keep his act together for the cameras. After working with legendary directors Sidney Lumet and Martin Scorsese on Q&A and Cape Fear, respectively, he bagged his first Oscar nod in 1992. Nolte was recognized for playing a patient who falls head over heels for his sister’s therapist in The Prince of Tides. Little did he know, though, that he had just peaked.

Things slowed down just a little at first. Nolte’s next biggest movie after the Oscar nod was U-Turn, the 1997 thriller directed by Oliver Stone. That same year, he delivered another performance worthy of an Academy Award nomination in Affliction. Nolte served as executive producer on that one, too. Even so, he continually risked ruining his career with his off-camera behavior.

But in the mid-2000s he — again — managed to claw his way back to the top of the Hollywood ladder. How? By landing supporting roles in the superhero movie Hulk, the devastating genocide drama Hotel Rwanda, and the meta-comedy Tropic Thunder. And in 2012 the Academy Awards came calling for the third time.

On this occasion, Nolte was nominated for his performance as the father of Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton’s MMA fighters in gritty drama Warrior. The actor went on to bag big-screen roles in The Company You Keep, Gangster Squad, and Hateship Loveship. But it was the small screen that defined much of Nolte’s career in the 2010s.

Firstly, Nolte achieved yet more glowing reviews for his performance in Luck. However, owing to several equine deaths during the show’s shoot, HBO canceled it after just one season. Then Nolte bounced back when he was cast in Gracepoint, a hard-hitting drama about a small-town mystery. But in the meantime, his fans had noticed that things had changed.

For one thing, Nolte’s love life had been just as eventful as his professional one. He’s walked down the aisle on no fewer than... four occasions! Long before the actor was famous, he said “I do” in 1966 to Sheila Page. But within four years, the pair were heading for the divorce courts.

His second marriage to Sharyn Haddad lasted a little longer — six years, to be exact. And the third time appeared to be the charm when he reached the decade-long mark with Rebecca Linger in 1994. Nolte then remained a single man for 22 years before getting hitched to Clytie Lane in 2016. But his love life is only part of the reason why people have talked about the star.

Nolte’s brushes with the law have often detracted the most attention away from his considerable talents. You may not know that the star first got arrested back in the mid-1960s. Yep, while he was still in high school. In an interview on the Golden Globes website, Nolte recalled how he was accused of being involved in the sale of fake U.S. government documents. Random, eh, reader?

The future actor was fined $75,000 and given a suspended jail sentence for the crime. This also meant that he couldn’t be drafted into the Vietnam War or cast a political vote. “So that’s why I remain disillusioned with any kind of bureaucratic structure,” Nolte said. “I have a healthy disrespect for institutions. Personally, I believe in myself.”

And Nolte never had more self-belief than when he was on a stage or in front of a camera. “I’ve been happy with it from the very first day I decided to get into acting,” Nolte told the Golden Globes website. “I knew immediately that this was home. I really belonged.” Unfortunately, though, self-belief wasn’t enough to keep him on the straight and narrow.

You’re probably aware of Nolte’s problems with substance abuse. The star has battled the demon drink for most of his adult years. In fact, he was so dependent on alcohol back in the 1980s that he tried to persuade filmmakers to make his characters drunks, too. This would allow him to enjoy his favorite tipple on set without much cause for concern.

But in 2017 Nolte explained to Variety why he believed addiction was part of Hollywood’s DNA. He said, “This is a place where you have to get sober. You get carried away. That’s what happens. Same thing with rock and roll. That’s the problem with art in general, even painting: you want to celebrate the painting so you go from bar to bar.”

Yet even Nolte acknowledged that things had got out of hand by the end of the 1980s. And thanks to his other half at the time, he decided to seek professional help. Nolte actually remained sober for most of the following decade, but he fell off the wagon at the turn of the century. Affliction director Schrader believes that an Oscar snub may have been to blame.

Yes, Schrader claimed that Roberto Benigni pipping Nolte to the Best Actor Oscar in 1999 started Nolte’s downward trajectory. The star himself denied this, though, insisting that he simply “got slack” after reaching a low point. Shortly before his most high-profile arrest, you see, Nolte had been looking after his sick mom, who ultimately passed from pneumonia.

Nolte’s famous arrest happened in 2002 when the actor was pulled over by cops for reckless driving. The 48 Hrs. star later explained in his memoir Rebel, “I took GHB prior to going to the gym for a workout. A strong dose made me feel great, yet I knew I was repeating with GHB the addictive cycle I’d been in before.”

Nolte also said that he had tried to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous gathering just before he was arrested. But by the time he arrived, he realized that he was far too under the influence. It was that he drove home in such a state that police intervened. Nolte admitted, “I’m told six drivers called 911 to report a big sedan weaving on the wrong side of the road.” Yikes.

An acting legend getting arrested would have created headlines even without any photo evidence. But Nolte made things much worse for himself after a cop took a photo at the hospital where he was undergoing blood testing. The star had agreed to pose for the picture on the condition that he received a percentage of any profits it made. But it wasn’t exactly a great PR move.

In Rebel, Nolte acknowledged why that photo gave him such a bad rep. “My hair wild, my expression unsettling, looking like an asylum inmate out for a lark. In 1992 People had named me the Sexiest Man Alive, and now, ten years later, I looked to all the world like a madman,” he wrote. Yet Nolte’s arrest proved to be a blessing in disguise, in a way.

After being allowed out on bail, the Princes of Tides star checked into a rehab facility and made the slow journey to getting his life back on track. Nolte wrote, “It took 30 days to wean myself off GHB, and then I flew home. I was a renewed and fortunate man.” He’s not wrong, either.

With the help of his fourth wife Clytie and their young daughter Sophie, Nolte has managed to maintain his sobriety in recent years. And in 2018 the Down and Out in Beverly Hills actor told People that he’d become exhausted by his previous hard-partying lifestyle. Is that why we haven’t seen much of the star lately?

Nolte is now so committed to staying sober that he’s helping other addicts to stay clean. The Academy Award nominee regularly hosts gatherings at his own house for those experiencing substance abuse issues. But he recognizes that his own battle is far from won.

When asked by The Independent whether he’ll ever be completely free from his need for alcohol and drugs, Nolte replied, “No. There’s an understanding about addiction. It’s just learning about yourself; either things are tough and you detach yourself, or it becomes an experiment and a lifestyle.” And Nolte doesn’t entirely regret the days when he used to rely on drink and drugs.

When questioned whether he was in a good place, Nolte answered, “Yeah — but the bad stage was good too! I had a great time. Some of my greatest moments were in altered states.” He made a similar claim to the Golden Globes site. “When I was drinking, the years of addiction, I was happy, but it finally caught up with me," he said. “But I was great drunk.”

Considering Nolte’s well-documented addictions, it seems even more of an achievement that he has reached the grand old age of 80. Yes, the actor once voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive became an octogenarian in 2021. And many of his biggest fans took to Twitter to wish the star a happy birthday. The most glowing tribute came from Vulture writer Matt Zoller Seitz.

Zoller Seitz wrote, “King. That’s the middle name on your birth certificate. February 8, 1941. Nicholas King Nolte. The King. That’s you. Embrace it. Since you’re turning 80 today, I thought you should know that a lot of folks, myself included, consider you one of the finest actors this country has produced.” Zoller Seitz then implored readers to watch a Nolte film in his honor.

And while Nolte may now be in his ninth decade, he shows little sign of slowing down. In fact, he never really went away... even if he’s now taking smaller parts. He landed the recurring role of Judge Forsythe in the 2020 TV drama Paradise Lost. That same year, he played a character named Shakespeare in the Cannes-debuting Last Words. The actor will soon be seen on screen again in amnesia tale Blackout.

In 2012 Nolte explained to The Guardian why he was now doing more TV. He said, “It’s getting harder and harder to tell the stories you want to tell in film. Television is becoming a viable medium for movie stars to come and do the work they want. The independent film world is pretty much gone.”

And while younger audiences still might not recognize Nolte’s face, they may be familiar with his voice if they watch The Mandalorian. The actor has lent his authoritative tones to Kuiil for several episodes of the hit Disney+ show. His character belongs to the “species of diminutive humanoids” known as Ugnaughts. But you already knew that.

In a 2017 interview with AARP, Nolte admitted, however, that the aging process is catching up with him. He said, “I forget everything. But it’s not good to get emotional or upset or hurt or ashamed or whatever. You just move forward, go past it. I don’t look forward anymore, and I don’t look backward either.” And he’s definitely not done yet.

In a 2018 chat with the New York Post, Nolte revealed that he has no plans to call time on his Hollywood career. He remarked, “I don’t understand retirement. I just don’t know what I’d do with myself. I’ll just keep at it until it doesn’t make any sense anymore… Learning lines and getting into new situations – I think that’s what keeps my brain moving.” This attitude is very different from the ones held by some of Nolte’s contemporaries. After all, when was the last time you saw, say, Jack Nicholson in a movie?

There’s still an audience hungry to see Nicholson at work. In 2002 About Schmidt scored over $100 million at the box office and another Academy Award nod for the star. And this is a character-study movie about a very unlikeable old guy! So clearly filmgoers know that when Nicholson acts in a film, it’s going to be of the highest quality.

And what can we say about 2006’s The Departed? Critics and audiences alike loved his turn as villainous Frank Costello. The movie also ran away with four Oscars and a host of other awards. If Nicholson was still at the top of his game, then, what was it that scared him away from Hollywood?

It’s definitely not for a lack of trying on the part of moviemakers. We know that Steven Spielberg tried to get Nicholson to take part in Ready Player One. And director Mike Flanagan also wanted to tap the star for a cameo in Doctor Sleep, the Shining sequel. The problem must lie elsewhere, then.

It couldn’t be a lack of desire, though. This is a man who’s worked in Hollywood for over 60 years because he always knew he wanted to act. His first movie role, in 1958, came as part of Roger Corman’s The Cry Baby Killer. And Nicholson was rarely off our screens for more than a year after that... until the 2000s.

So could family commitments be behind the star’s reasons for retreating from the limelight? Nicholson’s wild personal life has been extensively chronicled, of course. And in 2012 Nicholson told The Sun, “I didn’t see enough of my eldest daughter because I was trying to make a career.” That hints that perhaps the star would have liked more time with family. But is it true?

Nicholson’s eldest daughter, Jennifer, was born in 1963 — and Nicholson certainly was in the midst of building his career. His Oscar-nominated performance in 1969’s Easy Rider helped boost a sub-million-dollar film to a box-office smash. It also lifted Nicholson to the level of a hero of the counterculture. And the actor never looked back.

Another Academy Award nomination followed for Nicholson’s depiction of an oil worker in Five Easy Pieces. The 1970 film reinforced the actor’s “anti-hero” status, though, so he urged his agent to go out and find him roles that would stretch his talent. And the agent certainly found Nicholson some interesting parts.

In 1971 the star took the lead in dramedy Carnal Knowledge. Director Mike Nichols believed that Nicholson was one of the few people who could take on the part, and his faith was rewarded as the actor earned a Golden Globe nomination. Yes, Nicholson was one to watch. And a critic nailed the reason why audiences loved him so much.

In his book 27 movies from the Dark Side: Ebert’s Essentials, author Roger Ebert argued that the actor is “a man attractive to audiences because he suggests both comfort and danger… Nicholson created the persona of a man who had seen it all and was still capable of being wickedly amused.” That’s probably why it didn’t take long for him to bring home that Oscar.

It came for 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His character’s blend of caring for others and not giving a hoot for authority appealed strongly to audiences across the globe, eventually bringing in $163 million at the box office. A lot of the character came from Nicholson’s improvisations, too. And people even pondered whether this performance hinted at Nicholson’s reasons for retiring.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in a ward featuring people with reduced mental capacities. And in 2013 a rumor flew around the internet hinting that Nicholson also had a diminishing drive and apparently struggled to remember his lines. It was this reason, the rumors said, that Nicholson no longer acted. Those close to the star quickly shut down that talk, though.

And Nicholson’s list of interesting parts continued to grow as he took the lead in The Passenger in 1975. Then, the following year, he made a dream come true when he appeared with personal hero Marlon Brando in The Missouri Breaks. Apparently, Nicholson had watched Brando in On the Waterfront more than three dozen times. His passion for the art was still strong.

And the 1980s opened with another iconic role for Nicholson: the lead in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The meticulous director even trusted the actor’s talent enough to allow him to improvise the memorable line, “Here’s Johnny!” But Kubrick made things “almost unbearable” for co-star Shelley Duvall – who has also now stopped making movies.

Nicholson showed no signs of slowing down, though. He gave an understated performance to win a second Oscar, this time for Best Supporting Actor in 1984’s Terms of Endearment. Biographer Patrick McGilligan hailed this as one of the actor’s most complicated characters, too. And the rest of the decade proved a golden period for Nicholson, as he starred in hit after hit.

Oscar nods came for Ironweed, Reds and Prizzi’s Honor. And he rounded out the decade with a performance that he was personally extremely proud of: Joker, in 1989’s Batman. The movie was a huge hit – not least for Nicholson. He’d secured points in the film’s box office, potentially netting him as much as $90 million. Not a bad retirement fund, eh?

But in 1992 Nicholson was nominated for an Academy Award yet again for his role in A Few Good Men. And reviewers didn’t hold back in their praise for the star’s turn as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in the movie. One critic even called Nicholson’s turn “spellbinding” and suggested that his character “blazed and roared.” So it was no surprise when Nicholson won a third Oscar a few years later.

Nicholson picked up that award for Best Actor for his part in As Good As It Gets. The critics weren’t alone in loving the movie, either, as it proved a massive box-office success – confirming that Nicholson was still at the top of the acting game. But, unbeknown to the public, this role would mark the beginning of the end of the star’s output.

Around the end of the 1990s, Lara Flynn Boyle became the latest in a string of ladies who had fallen for “the man no woman could resist.” But Nicholson and Boyle split in 2004, and the once-legendary womanizer – it’s claimed that he’s bedded 2,000 women – became solitary. And apparently, by the late 2010s, Nicholson was a lonely figure.

The 1990s also highlighted a controversial occurrence in the actor’s career. In 1994 a motorist accused Nicholson of vandalizing his car with a golf club. The event was alleged to have taken place after the star had felt he’d been cut off while in traffic. Nicholson later referred to the moment as “a shameful incident in [his] life.” The actor subsequently faced charges of vandalism and assault.

But the case went away after Nicholson agreed to a settlement. In 2007 the star blamed his busy schedule and hectic personal life for the incident. He explained to Golf Digest, “I was on my way to the course, and in the midst of this madness I somehow knew what I was doing because I reached into my trunk and specifically selected a club I never used on the course: my 2-iron.”

Yet the 2000s saw little reduction of Nicholson’s star power. After About Schmidt came a couple of comedy roles. And then in 2006 he popped up in a monster success, as Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. The actor followed that up with another comedy called The Bucket List – and that was almost that.

In 2010 Nicholson made what is – at the time of writing – his last film appearance. And it all looked promising for How Do You Know. The cast was stellar, and director James L. Brooks had enjoyed countless successes – including helming Nicholson to Oscars with Terms of Endearment and As Good As It Gets. But what looked good on paper didn’t look so great on screen.

In fact, critics hated How Do You Know. The A.V. Club’s Nathan Rabin described it as “hopelessly muddled,” while Roger Ebert moaned, “I expected this movie to be better.” Ebert also suggested that the script had let Nicholson down, saying that his character had been written as a “creep.” Fans seemingly agreed, and moviegoers stayed away from the box office.

The film brought in less than $50 million – despite the eye-watering production costs of $120 million. So it may be that Nicholson decided after this kind of failure he was no longer the draw at the box office that he had been. And, if that is true, he wouldn’t be the first actor to come to the same conclusion.

After all, Gene Hackman has not been seen on screen since 2004’s Welcome to Mooseport – which ended up being a commercial and critical flop. And Sean Connery decided that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was an apt swansong in 2003. But both of these stars had been pretty open about their retirements...

Yet as the 2010s wore on, and Nicholson continued to stay away from the silver screen, nobody was certain that he’d actually given movies up. After all, hiatuses were getting more and more common for the 84-year-old star. He had a four-year break before The Pledge and three before The Departed. And he certainly seemed no worse for the rest.

But in the fall of 2013 Radar Online reported that a Hollywood source said the superstar had indeed retired. The reason given was a bombshell, too. According to the article, the insider said, “There is a simple reason behind his decision: it’s memory loss. Quite frankly… [Nicholson] has memory issues and can no longer remember the lines being asked of him. His memory isn’t what it used to be.”

Around that time, it was also reported that Nicholson had passed on a role that he’d been tipped to take on. He’d been wanted for 2013’s Nebraska – whose central role seemed ideally suited to the acting legend. Nicholson didn’t show any interest, though, and the role went to Bruce Dern – who gained an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Yet Nicholson is still a presence around town. According to Radar Online, the source said, “[He] has no intention of retiring from the limelight. He’s not retiring from public life, at all.” And the insider suggested that he had a reason for not announcing a retirement, saying, “He just doesn’t want a tribute. He’s happy to tacitly join the retirees club, like Sean Connery.”

But people close to Nicholson soon struck back. They claimed that talk of retirement, let alone dementia, was completely untrue. In fact, NBC’s Maria Shriver told website E! News in September 2013 that the star had no plans to retire. And another person near to the star claimed that Nicholson was still reading scripts, intending to continue his career.

And the man himself gave an interview to U.K. newspaper The Sun in which he dismissed concerns about his mental acuity. Amid quotes from existentialist philosopher Albert Camus and facts about the drug war, Nicholson noted, “I have a mathematician’s brain. It looks at everything mathematically, including relationships. It’s all statistics and laws of probability.”

Yet Nicholson explained that he didn’t feel the same drive that he once had. He said, “I [learned] how to function within ‘out there.’ Then you get older, you change. I mean, I’m not a loner, I’m not a recluse, but I don’t need all that any more. I don’t enjoy it, simple as that. I’m not going to work until the day I die, that’s not why I started this. I mean, I’m not driven.”

In fact, even when at his height, Nicholson had always been choosy over which roles he’d accept. He knocked back parts in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Godfather, for instance. It’s also claimed that he said no to many other roles, including the 2013 sports film 42 and 2014’s The Judge.

In 2017 friend Peter Fonda told Page Six that he thought Nicholson “is basically retired” – although he did say that the star might return for something appealing. And for a while, that return looked like being a remake of Toni Erdmann – a 2016 German comedy that had taken the U.S. by storm and found its way into critics’ hearts.

Original director Maren Ade gave the idea a big thumbs up, saying, “Jack Nicholson is one of the best actors that has ever been alive… I actually think I will enjoy sitting and watching a remake of Toni Erdmann.” However, even that high praise was not enough to keep Nicholson interested in the project, and he pulled out.

So why did Nicholson stop starring in movies? Well, perhaps he just doesn’t feel that there is anything left for him to prove. He’s a legend with three Oscars under his belt, from a dozen nominated performances! And it may be that he has simply decided that enough is enough – leaving a legacy of great films and wonderful starring roles. He may have even looked to Gene Hackman and Sean Connery as inspiration.