Jack Nicholson has always been a favorite actor of mine. The first time I watched “The Shining” and the several sleepless nights that followed is something I don’t believe I’ll ever forget.
Thanks to Nicholson’s performance, I have riveted to the screen, which showed me the genuine power an actor or actress can have in a role.
Nicholson, now an incredible 81 years old, can reflect on a remarkable and adventurous career at the pinnacle of Hollywood.
Thanks to his unusual brows and deep growl, he has portrayed various deranged characters throughout the years, including parts in those above “The Shining” and “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
He has collaborated with some of the greatest actors and actresses of all time throughout a career spanning more than 50 years.
But did you know that his family had been keeping something from him for a long time? One that could only be found by accident?
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John Joseph Nicholson was born in New York on April 22, 1937. The little boy would spend his childhood in New Jersey with his grandmother Ethel Nicholson, a businesswoman in the beauty industry.
Jack Nicholson thought that his grandmother was his biological mother because his alcoholic father had abandoned the family when he was still a little child.
June, his 19-year-old sister, quit her job as a dancer to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Jack traveled to Los Angeles when he was 17 to follow suit.
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June passed from cancer in 1963, and Ethel, Nicholson’s grandmother, passed away seven years later.
Jack worked hard to fulfill his goals despite his life’s less-than-perfect start. He was quite tenacious in pursuing his acting goals, and success eventually came to him.
However, he got a call from a reporter who had written a story about him for the film “Chinatown” when he was 37.
The phone call had the power to alter everything.
The reporter in question had discovered a family secret during his research in 1974, which he would later reveal to Jack himself: Jack had mistaken his grandparents for his parents.
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In addition, June, his “sister,” had been his biological mother.
The aspiring Hollywood star initially found the claims offensive and rejected them. But in a tearful phone conversation, his second “sister,” Lorraine, confirmed the family’s secret.
“The incident was rather spectacular, but I wouldn’t describe it as traumatic.
I was quite well formed psychologically,” Jack commented in response to the realization.
Since June had given birth to Jack while she was 18 and unmarried, her parents opted to raise Jack as their own. June would pretend to be his older sister, it was determined.
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The identity of Nicholson’s biological father has never been established as of this writing.
While other sources contend June was unaware of the father’s identity, there has been substantial speculation that it may have been June’s manager.
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Growing up while being fed a lie of this scale must be quite a shock, as we can understand. Ethel and June had each carried the knowledge with them to their graves.
Jack, though, has no resentment for them.
He said, “I didn’t have to deal with it with them.” “They were no more. I am the type of person that can identify their emotions and has the tools to do so. Gratitude. Show me any ladies who could maintain that kind of intimacy, confidence, or secrecy, and you’ve got my sort of gal; I’ve frequently stated about them.
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Despite this long-standing family secret, Jack has become one of history’s most renowned and successful actors.
He does not place blame on his family for the information they hid from him, which I believe is character-defining because it demonstrates a rare insight.
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