FROM THE MORGUE
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Copyright 2012 by William A. Mays, Proprietor
April 1976
| Jack Nicholson Talks About His Sexploits |
Nicholson grins. "Jeezers, I've had some good ones, haven't I?" he exclaims, like a schoolboy counting his many conquests.
Last year he turned over a new leaf. He "settled down" with the beautiful, dark-haired Anjelica Huston, 23-year-old daughter of America's most irascible director, John Huston. They met at a party at Jack's home high in the hills overlooking Los Angeles and a few months later Anjelica moved in. "It's all wine and roses," breathes Jack, talking of their relationship now. "Love, wonderful love..."
The tall, lithe Anjelica is one of America's top models. She has striking features and a calm attitude and friends regard her as the thermometer which guides them on Nicholson's mercurial temperament.
"She can cope with me. Yep," nods Jack, sagely.
Anjelica's out of circulation since she moved in with Jack.
"She hasn't given up her career completely," he says, "but she's not what I call ambitious."
She tends to live a nocturnal sort of life, which suits his own night-owl tendencies perfectly. "She'll get up in the afternoon and start really livening up about seven. We both love dressing up and going out. I love her in black. She could wear it every day for me. But she's always beautiful.
"I think people should dress up and look more glamorous. It's fun. I wish everyone would go to the movies in black ties. I'm a big fan of glamor. I think it's something films contributed to society. But when I started in films, I didn't think I could be a glamorpuss. That's why I concentrated on character roles."
Marriage, or even the prospect of it, hasn't occurred to either of them, he says. "We dig it the way it is now. Society no longer frowns on non-marital couples.
"There is no feeling of guilt either, in today's world, that a girl is cheated by such a relationship. Living together is a sufficient commitment for a couple to make without having to make a lot of promises on the future."
Nicholson's attitudes are contemporary, but he is predominantly a realist. He comes from a middle-class New Jersey family; the son of sign painter John Nicholson and his wife Ethel. His mother ran a beauty shop from their home until she was able to open premises downtown when the business flourished.
Jack was a bright, progressive pupil at school and he might well have won a place at university, but having once sung at a school concert he found himself strangely drawn to the idea of working on the stage. "The first seeds had been sown..." Jack recalls, with a smile.
By the time he was 19 he was working at MGM, delivering the mail—grasping bundles of fan letters addressed to the big stars, Clark Gable, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart among them.
Crossing the studio floor one day the famous producer Joe Pastenak caught his eye and yelled out to him: "Hey, kid—how'd ya like to be in pictures?"
"My heart leaped," reflects Jack, "but when the test came I blew it. I couldn't remember the lines."
The experience only served to make Nicholson more determined than ever.
He enrolled in a drama school at the same time as James Coburn but as a student he didn't always agree with the direction. He would endeavor to inject his own interpretation into some of the parts he was asked to play in the school's productions.
When hen left the drama school, Nicholson returned to canvass his talents round the Hollywood studios. One small part led to another; but the impatient, ambitious Nicholson thirsted for the major break through.
In the 1960s he was playing juveniles in low-budget films like The Raven and The Terror, a smiling villain in Back Door To Hell, a murderer in Cry Baby Killer. He produced and acted in a couple of Western films, The Shooting and another one, Ride the Whirlwind.
"I did over a dozen movies," he says, "most of which I had the lead in. I'd done what I thought was good work, but it hadn't created much of an impression.
"Then it happened—Easy Rider, And suddenly I was a 'star'. And what got me is the change that happens when they suddenly notice you, like you haven't been around at all until these notices come in. I was shocked at what happened with me.
"Before, I was an actor-director-writer-producer looking for work. Suddenly I was much sought-after. Your name becomes a brand image like a can of soup."
Nicholson has come through the whole Hollywood game. His newly found success isn't likely to color his attitudes. But now he grants with satisfaction that he can be discriminating in his choice of roles and he needs no longer play in a film merely to make a fast buck.
Also over are his hell-raising days, which may have been exaggerated if one looks hard at Nicholson. He may be 37 years old but there's still barely a suggestion of a single hard-living wrinkle in the unblemished, sun-tanned face.
Yet not so long ago Nicholson shocked us all by his notorious revelations that he'd once hit the bottle hard, smoked cannabis and indulged in a few snorts of cocaine—as well as participating in sex orgies.
"I didn't create them, you know. I haven't come across a sex orgy for years. Anyway, I think it's all overrated. Most of my sexuality is on a one-to-one basis. And today I don't even drink."
And the drugs?
"Yep—I did the whole trip," nods Nicholson, the voice softer now but unrepentant. "But that scene is over. I've decided to live my life like an open book. In that way I won't be ashamed to admit anything I do. At anytime, or in any place..."
Last year he turned over a new leaf. He "settled down" with the beautiful, dark-haired Anjelica Huston, 23-year-old daughter of America's most irascible director, John Huston. They met at a party at Jack's home high in the hills overlooking Los Angeles and a few months later Anjelica moved in. "It's all wine and roses," breathes Jack, talking of their relationship now. "Love, wonderful love..."
The tall, lithe Anjelica is one of America's top models. She has striking features and a calm attitude and friends regard her as the thermometer which guides them on Nicholson's mercurial temperament.
"She can cope with me. Yep," nods Jack, sagely.
Anjelica's out of circulation since she moved in with Jack.
"She hasn't given up her career completely," he says, "but she's not what I call ambitious."
She tends to live a nocturnal sort of life, which suits his own night-owl tendencies perfectly. "She'll get up in the afternoon and start really livening up about seven. We both love dressing up and going out. I love her in black. She could wear it every day for me. But she's always beautiful.
"I think people should dress up and look more glamorous. It's fun. I wish everyone would go to the movies in black ties. I'm a big fan of glamor. I think it's something films contributed to society. But when I started in films, I didn't think I could be a glamorpuss. That's why I concentrated on character roles."
Marriage, or even the prospect of it, hasn't occurred to either of them, he says. "We dig it the way it is now. Society no longer frowns on non-marital couples.
"There is no feeling of guilt either, in today's world, that a girl is cheated by such a relationship. Living together is a sufficient commitment for a couple to make without having to make a lot of promises on the future."
Nicholson's attitudes are contemporary, but he is predominantly a realist. He comes from a middle-class New Jersey family; the son of sign painter John Nicholson and his wife Ethel. His mother ran a beauty shop from their home until she was able to open premises downtown when the business flourished.
Jack was a bright, progressive pupil at school and he might well have won a place at university, but having once sung at a school concert he found himself strangely drawn to the idea of working on the stage. "The first seeds had been sown..." Jack recalls, with a smile.
By the time he was 19 he was working at MGM, delivering the mail—grasping bundles of fan letters addressed to the big stars, Clark Gable, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart among them.
Crossing the studio floor one day the famous producer Joe Pastenak caught his eye and yelled out to him: "Hey, kid—how'd ya like to be in pictures?"
"My heart leaped," reflects Jack, "but when the test came I blew it. I couldn't remember the lines."
The experience only served to make Nicholson more determined than ever.
He enrolled in a drama school at the same time as James Coburn but as a student he didn't always agree with the direction. He would endeavor to inject his own interpretation into some of the parts he was asked to play in the school's productions.
When hen left the drama school, Nicholson returned to canvass his talents round the Hollywood studios. One small part led to another; but the impatient, ambitious Nicholson thirsted for the major break through.
In the 1960s he was playing juveniles in low-budget films like The Raven and The Terror, a smiling villain in Back Door To Hell, a murderer in Cry Baby Killer. He produced and acted in a couple of Western films, The Shooting and another one, Ride the Whirlwind.
"I did over a dozen movies," he says, "most of which I had the lead in. I'd done what I thought was good work, but it hadn't created much of an impression.
"Then it happened—Easy Rider, And suddenly I was a 'star'. And what got me is the change that happens when they suddenly notice you, like you haven't been around at all until these notices come in. I was shocked at what happened with me.
"Before, I was an actor-director-writer-producer looking for work. Suddenly I was much sought-after. Your name becomes a brand image like a can of soup."
Nicholson has come through the whole Hollywood game. His newly found success isn't likely to color his attitudes. But now he grants with satisfaction that he can be discriminating in his choice of roles and he needs no longer play in a film merely to make a fast buck.
Also over are his hell-raising days, which may have been exaggerated if one looks hard at Nicholson. He may be 37 years old but there's still barely a suggestion of a single hard-living wrinkle in the unblemished, sun-tanned face.
Yet not so long ago Nicholson shocked us all by his notorious revelations that he'd once hit the bottle hard, smoked cannabis and indulged in a few snorts of cocaine—as well as participating in sex orgies.
"I didn't create them, you know. I haven't come across a sex orgy for years. Anyway, I think it's all overrated. Most of my sexuality is on a one-to-one basis. And today I don't even drink."
And the drugs?
"Yep—I did the whole trip," nods Nicholson, the voice softer now but unrepentant. "But that scene is over. I've decided to live my life like an open book. In that way I won't be ashamed to admit anything I do. At anytime, or in any place..."
| (continued from Page 1) |