Nick Nolte

Nick Nolte

Nolte at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival
Born Nicholas King Nolte
February 8, 1941 (1941-02-08) (age 70)
, U.S.
Occupation Actor/Producer
Years active 1969–present
Spouse Sheila Page (1966–1970)
Sharyn Haddad (1978–1983)
Rebecca Linger (1984–1994)
Partner Karen Louise Ecklund (1970–1977)
Vicki Lewis (1994–2003)
Clytie Lane (2003–present)

Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor, film producer and former model.

Contents

Early life

Nolte was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Helen (née King), a department store buyer, and Franklin A. Nolte, a farmer's son who worked in irrigation pump sales and who was an All-American football player at Iowa State University in 1934.[1][2] Nolte's father was of German descent.[3] Nolte's maternal grandfather, Matthew Leander King, invented the hollow-tile silo and was prominent in early aviation. His maternal grandmother ran the student union at Iowa State University. He has an older sister, Nancy, who was an executive for the Red Cross.

Nolte went to Omaha Benson High School, where he was the kicker on the football team. Nolte got kicked out of Benson for digging a hole and hiding beer before practice and then getting caught drinking it during a practice session. After his expulsion, he attended Westside High School in Omaha. He also attended Pasadena City College. Nolte went on to attend Arizona State University (on a football scholarship); Eastern Arizona College, Thatcher, Arizona; and Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona. At Eastern Arizona Nolte lettered in football as a tight end and defensive end, in basketball as a forward, and as a catcher on the baseball team. Poor grades eventually ended his studies, at which point his career in theatre began in earnest. While in college, Nolte worked for the Falstaff Brewery in Omaha. In 1965, he was arrested for selling counterfeit documents and was given a 45-year jail sentence and a $75,000 fine, however the sentence was suspended.[4] The conviction prevented him from joining the army—at the time, he felt obliged to serve in the Vietnam War. As a result, Nolte says he felt incomplete as a young man for not going to Vietnam.[5] After stints at the Pasadena Playhouse and The Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles, Nolte spent several years traveling the country and working in regional theaters.

Modeling

Nolte was a model in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In one national magazine advertisement in 1972, he appeared in jeans and an open jean shirt for Clairol's "Summer Blonde" hair lightener sitting on a log next to a blonde Sigourney Weaver. The pair also appeared on the packaging.

Acting career

Nolte first gained national attention and critical acclaim for his performance in Rich Man, Poor Man, the 1976 television miniseries based on Irwin Shaw's 1970 best-selling novel. Since then he has had a successful career playing a wide variety of characters in more than 40 films. Diversity of character is the signature of Nolte's film career. He is known for his trademark athleticism and graveled-voice characters. In 1973, he appeared in Lorne Greene's ABC crime drama Griff in the episode "Who Framed Billy the Kid?", in the role of Billy Randolph, a football player accused of murder. He co-starred alongside Andy Griffith in the pilot of a TV movie, Winter Kill, and another one, Adams of Eagle Lake, neither of which materialized.

Nolte's first major film role was in 1977's The Deep starring opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw. This was followed by Who'll Stop the Rain in 1978 and North Dallas Forty, based on the Peter Gent novel, in 1979. The buddy cop/convict film 48 Hrs. (1982) would strongly bolster his film career and make his co-star Eddie Murphy a box-office sensation.

Nolte would continue starring in films throughout the 1980s, including Under Fire (1983) with Gene Hackman, Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) with Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler, Extreme Prejudice (1987) and New York Stories (1989) under the direction of Martin Scorsese.

He would begin the 1990s working again with Murphy in the sequel Another 48 Hours. 1991 would bring perhaps his greatest box office success as he starred in The Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand and in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange. Nolte received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Prince of Tides (which he lost to Anthony Hopkins for The Silence of the Lambs) and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

Nolte's solid work continued with Lorenzo's Oil (1992) opposite Susan Sarandon, Mulholland Falls (1996), and After Glow (1997) for which his co-star Julie Christie received her third Academy Award for Best Actress nomination. Nolte received his second Academy Award for Best Actor nomination the same year for his work in Affliction (he lost to Roberto Benigni for Life Is Beautiful). His co-star James Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the father of Nolte's character. He also starred in Terrence Malick's highly anticipated film The Thin Red Line that same year.

Nolte continued working through the 2000s, taking smaller parts in Clean and Hotel Rwanda; both performances received positive reviews.

He will star opposite Dustin Hoffman in the new HBO series Luck.

Personal life

Nolte has been married and divorced three times. His ex-wives are Sheila Page, Sharyn Haddad and Rebecca Linger, with whom he has a son named Brawley Nolte (born June 20, 1986). Nolte's son is also an actor, having been prominently featured as Mel Gibson's kidnapped son in the 1996 film Ransom. Nolte was also involved with Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis. On October 3, 2007, Nolte's longtime partner Clytie Lane gave birth to their daughter, Sophie Lane Nolte.

Nolte currently resides in Malibu, California. On October 6, 2008, a fire which started from a computer printer burned a section of his residence. Nolte escaped unharmed but there was a reported $1.5 million worth of damage to the house.

Legal troubles

In September 2002, he checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut for counseling after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Malibu a few days earlier.[6] Tests later showed that he was under the influence of GHB, the "date rape" drug. Nolte responded that he has "been taking it for four years and I've never been raped".[7] On December 12, 2002 he pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence. He was given three years' probation with orders to undergo alcohol and drug counseling with random testing required.

Awards

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1973 Electra Glide in Blue Hippie Kid
1974 The California Kid Buzz Stafford
1975 Return to Macon County Bo Hollinger
1976 Northville Cemetery Massacre Chris
Rich Man, Poor Man Tom Jordache (mini-series) (1976)
1977 The Deep David Sanders
1978 Who'll Stop the Rain Ray Hicks
1979 North Dallas Forty Phillip Elliott
1980 Heart Beat Neal Cassady
1982 Cannery Row Doc
48 Hrs. Jack Cates
1983 Under Fire Russell Price
1984 Teachers Alex Jurel
1985 Grace Quigley Seymour Flint
1986 Down and Out in Beverly Hills Jerry Baskin
1987 Extreme Prejudice Jack Benteen
Weeds Lee Umstetter
1988 Grace Quigley 2, Gracie Seymour Flint (unfinished)
1989 Three Fugitives Lucas
New York Stories Lionel Dobie
Farewell to the King Learoyd
1990 Everybody Wins Tom O'Toole
Q&A Captain Michael Brennan
Another 48 Hrs. Jack Cates
1991 Cape Fear Sam Bowden
The Prince of Tides Tom Wingo Nominated— Academy Award for Best Actor
The Player (cameo)
Lorenzo's Oil Augusto Odone
1994 I'll Do Anything Matt Hobbs
Blue Chips Pete Bell
I Love Trouble Peter Brackett
1995 Jefferson in Paris Thomas Jefferson
1996 Mulholland Falls Max Hoover
Mother Night Howard Campbell
1997 Affliction Wade Whitehouse Nominated for Academy Award and Golden Globe.
Nightwatch Inspector Thomas Cray
U Turn Jake McKenna
1998 The Thin Red Line Lt. Col. Gordon Tall
Hayes Hours
1999 Breakfast of Champions Harry Le Sabre
Simpatico Vincent Webb
2000 The Golden Bowl Adam Verver
Trixie Senator Drumond Avery
2002 The Good Thief Bob Montagnet
2003 Hulk David Banner/Father
Northfork Father Harlan
2004 Clean Albrecht Hauser
Hotel Rwanda Colonel Oliver
The Beautiful Country Steve
2005 Neverwas T.L. Pierson
2006 Over the Hedge (voice) Vincent
Off the Black Ray Cook
Paris, je t'aime Vincent (segment "Parc Monceau")
Quelques jours en septembre Elliott
Peaceful Warrior Socrates
2007 Intimate Affairs Faldo
2008 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh Joe Bechstein
The Spiderwick Chronicles Mulgarath
Tropic Thunder John "Four Leaf" Tayback
2009 Arcadia Lost Benerji
2010 Warrior
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Butch Replacing Alec Baldwin
2011 Arthur

References

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Patrick Swayze
People's Sexiest Man Alive
1992
Succeeded by
Brad Pitt