The American actor, Jack Nicholson, has a net worth of $400 million. He was born on April 22nd, 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, United States. He is the son of a showgirl who stage name was June Nilson, she married on October 16th, 1936 (six months before Jack was born), in Elkton, Maryland, with the showman, with Italian background Donald Furcillo, also known as Donald Rose.
Early years.
His father was already married, and Ethel, June’s mother appeared as his legal mother, to allow June Nicholson build a career in show business, and because she was only 18 years old when Jack was born. Even though Furcillo affirmed that he was Jack Nicholson’s biological father, and committed bigamy when he married June, according to some biographers, Eddie King, who was June Nicholson’s manager could be his real father. Therefore, Jack grew up thinking that his grandmother was his real mother, while he thought June was his eldest sister.
The truth was revealed many years later, when a Time Magazine journalist found out the premise when he was preparing an article about the actor. His progenitor had Irish, English, and Dutch background. He was raised under the Catholic ritual, and before starting high school, his family moved to an apartment in Spring Lake, New Jersey.
Studies and acting career.
At the age of seventeen he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a messenger for the department of cartoon studies at Metro Golding Meyer. When Nicholson arrived in Hollywood, he worked as an errand boy for animation legends William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. He was offered to start as an animation artist, however, his desire to become an actor, made him reject the offer.
He studied drama at the Players Ring Theater where he met James Coburn and director and producer Roger Corman, who gave him his first film work.
In 1968 he wrote, produced and performed, Head, directed by Bob Rafelson and, in 1969, he played the role of a lawyer in Easy Rider, a Dennis Hopper’s film. His performance in the film launched him to the fame. The role won Nicholson’s critical acclaim throughout the world along with several winning awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Other films.
He worked with such disparate filmmakers as Bob Rafelson, Mike Nichols, Roman Polanski and Michelangelo Antonioni. Nicholson shone with his own light as the detective in Chinatown (1974), a black film by Roman Polanski, and in the lead role of Michelangelo Antonioni Professione: Reporter (1975). After several nominations, he received the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Milos Forman’s film based on Ken Kesey’s best seller. Nicholson rolled on it McMurphy, a gangster who pretends to be upset to avoid the prison, and is interned in a psychiatric center.
The 80’s
In the 80’s he starred in several outstanding titles, such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shinning (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Terms of Endearment (1983), for which he obtained his second statuette (that time as supporting actor) or Prizzi’s honor.
