80 and counting: the thrilling life of Jack Nicholson

begin >>

When it comes to legendary actors and actresses, there are a few that will forever go down in the history books. There’s Tom Hanks, Judi Dench, Humphrey Bogart, Barbra Streisand, Laurence Olivier, Henry Fonda, Audrey Hepburn, James Stewart, and Bette Davis (of course, there are loads more, but we’d need a whole other article for that list). But perhaps one of the best modern-day actors is Jack Nicholson.

Over the course of his career, Jack Nicholson has graced our movie screens with some of the most iconic characters in cinematic history. With a penchant for dark and mysterious antiheroes, Nicholson has proven that he has the ability to apply his acting talents to anything that is put in his way. He brought us the incredibly scary character of Jack Torrance in the 1980 slasher The Shining. He appeared as R.P. McMurphy, the man who pleads clinical insanity in the 1975 cult classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. He even appeared as the craziest character of them all, The Joker, in the 1989 Batman adaptation. Although it’s pretty scary that he can take on these characters with such ease (kinda creepy), we still love him and his talent. Nicholson has also made a name for himself as a comedic genius and has appeared alongside the likes of Adam Sandler and Danny DeVito to bring us some feel-good comedies. I mean, is there anything he can’t do?

It seems we’re not the only ones impressed by Nicholson’s acting skills, as the talented actor has officially become the most nominated male actor in the history of the Academy Awards (yay!) – but behind the actor, there’s a man who’s pretty darn intriguing. Want to know more? Check out the fascinating secret life of Jack Nicholson. You know you want to…

begin >>

Occasionally, we may joke that we wish we could swap our parents or not have them in our lives (we really are joking though – we love you, parents) but there are some people in the world who don’t know who their mother or father is – including Jack Nicholson. Jack Nicholson has absolutely no clue who his dad is, although there are many rumors floating around as to who it could be. However, Jack doesn’t want to find out.

There’s no denying that Jack Nicholson has a reputation for being a bit of a ladies man (who could resist Jack Nicholson?) but the actor also has another love in his life – apart from women. Nicholson is the fifth biggest art collector in Hollywood and loves to collect some of the biggest, best and most famous art pieces in the world. Across his numerous houses, Nicholson has a $100-million art collection that includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Magritte, and more.

During the late ’90s, Jack Nicholson was in top form when it came to his relationships, but they didn’t all end well for him. In 1999, Jack decided to ask out Lara Flynn Boyle, who was dating David Spade at the time, IN FRONT of David himself. However, the press got hold of the story and decided to manipulate it. The National Enquirer reported that Boyle and Nicholson were in a car crash, and that Boyle exited quickly, stating that she had a boyfriend and couldn’t be seen with him.

As his art collection will tell you, Jack has a love for all things arty – and is a very talented drawer himself. Before his acting days, Jack worked at the MGM cartoon studio and watched as Joseph Barbera and William Hannah brought some of the most iconic cartoons to life; including Tom and Jerry, and The Flintstones. One day, they saw Jack’s drawings and asked him to join them on the animating team for their cartoons. However, Jack rejected the offer.

It’s a well-known fact that Jack Nicholson’s big break came in the form of Dennis Hopper’s 1969 movie, Easy Rider. However, Jack wasn’t the first pick for George Hanson. Instead, Rip Torn was set to play the biker but had a fight with Hopper during dinner one evening. Not liking his attitude (you wouldn’t when someone is shouting at you), Hopper fired Torn and gave Nicholson the job instead. Cheers for that, Rip Torn!

It’s no secret that Jack has women falling at his feet, no matter their age. In 2004, rumors circulated around the Hollywood rumor mill that Jack was dating British model, Kate Moss. The pair were spotted leaving a restaurant together and looking pretty cozy. When asked about their relationship, Nicholson explained that there were two different types of women in the world – ones that want to slap him, and others that want to jump into his bed. He hoped Moss would be the latter.

Jack Nicholson holds his craft and talent in high regard, as do we. Because of this, Jack outright refuses to star in multi-million-dollar Hollywood Blockbuster movies. However, this decision does scare him, as more and more young people are going to see these high-profile movies complete with CGI, bombs, explosions, and more. But that’s just not what he does. Nicholson wants to move people with his acting, rather than what goes on around him.

When it comes to growing up, you’re lucky if you know even one person who later enters the world of show-business and really makes it big. And the people of New Jersey got two, as Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito were neighbors. In fact, they were best friends. Nicholson and DeVito practiced their acting skills on each other and even created some pretty epic scenes. I mean, that’s a friendship we would really want to get in on.

Jack Nicholson is known for playing some pretty darn scary and sinister characters – including Batman’s Joker. However, his Joker ways started way before his movie days. During his 1954 school year at the Manasquan High School in New Jersey, Jack was voted Class Clown for his funny ways and his slightly awful ways. After Jack earned his first major film role, his classmates didn’t think they would ever see him again…until he turned up at their 50-year reunion.

Let’s be honest, apart from in movies, have you ever seen Jack Nicholson WITHOUT his sunglasses on? Answer: Nope. Jack Nicholson’s signature sunglasses will rarely be seen off his face – even if he’s inside watching a Laker’s Game, or grocery shopping. However, Jack’s sunglasses aren’t just for protecting his eyes from the sun. His sunglasses are also prescription, and he just doesn’t like to take them off. In his words, he’s Jack Nicholson only with his sunglasses on.

Unlike many actors, Jack Nicholson got his big break when he was fairly old (well, old in Hollywood terms). Although he didn’t get his big break until he was in his 30s, that didn’t mean he didn’t try. From a young age, Jack spent most of his time auditioning for roles and received high praise indeed from one of the industry’s leading men – Louis B. Mayer. But as much as he loved his acting talent, Louis didn’t have a role for him at the time.

Jack Nicholson has brought us some of the most iconic mad men in history – and it’s a little worrying that he played them so well (dun dun dun). However, when his career really got going, Nicholson was so busy playing psychopaths and anti-heroes that he had to start turning down roles. And they weren’t small roles either. Nicholson turned down the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather AND Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. Wowza.

Like many actors, Nicholson had to start off small before he could really land those life-changing roles. In fact, his first ever feature film was in 1958 when he appeared in Roger Corman’s The Cry Baby Killer. In true Nicholson form, he took on the title character – a slightly deranged teenager who decided to take a load of people hostage. As you do. However, he impressed Corman so much he decided to re-cast Nicholson for his 1960 movie, Little Shop of Horrors.

When it comes to money; Nicholson has a load of it. When you’re such a high-profile and in-demand actor, people will pay big bucks to get you on their projects. Because of this, Nicholson has a fair few dollars to spare, and he likes to spend it on the finer things in life. As a fond golfer, Nicholson wouldn’t be seen dead with a store-bought set of golf clubs. Instead, he spent a whopping $75,000 on a set of prestigious and custom-made Honma golf clubs.

Yep, he’s coming back! Jack Nicholson fans have been pretty devastated over the past few years, as Nicholson hasn’t graced the big screen with his face since his role in the 2010 movie, How Do You Know. Thankfully, it’s been confirmed that Nicholson will be returning in 2017, as Paramount Pictures have signed the contract for Jack to star in a remake of the famous German movie, Toni Erdmann. He will star alongside Kristen Wiig.

Even as an adult, Jack Nicholson is extremely cheeky. But it seems he was even worse when he was a youngster. One of the many reasons Jack was crowned Class Clown was because he was constantly getting himself into trouble. In fact, during one school year, there wasn’t one single day where he didn’t receive detention! In a strange twist of fate, many students now look up to the successful actor (and pretty dismal student).

Over the course of his lifetime, Jack has had a string of relationships (and was even married at one point!), but none of them have ever really lasted long enough to call it anything serious. This is probably because Jack isn’t too keen on monogamy, if you know what we mean. Let’s just say that Jack is the kind of person who likes the conversation of multiple women at the same time. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

If we’re totally honest, we’re super jealous of anyone that gets to call Jack Nicholson their best friend. During the 60s, Nicholson developed a friendship with Harry Dean Stanton and Bruce Dern – and they soon became the three amigos. They struggled to find work together, they auditioned together, and they had a heck load of fun together. When delving into the realm of filmmaking, Jack often includes Harry’s initials in a scene to show their true friendship.

As we’ve previously stated, our beloved Jack Nicholson was once married. In 1962, Jack married the American actress, writer, and painter, Sandra Knight. A year later, Sandra gave birth to their daughter, Jennifer Nicholson. However, the marriage soon broke down, and the pair separated in 1966. Their divorce was finalized in 1968. Since then, Nicholson has not remarried, and it seems he doesn’t plan to (although we totally accept if he ever wants to ask us).

When he’s not dominating the acting circuit, there’s one pastime that Nicholson loves above all else – basketball. Nicholson is an avid basketball fan and is a firm supporter of the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, Nicholson is a season ticket holder and tries to make every single home game! There have been rumors floating around that Jack actually schedules his life and career around the Lakers’ matches, and if that’s true, that’s pretty darn cool. He looks so happy.

Before Jack Nicholson made it big in the world of Hollywood, he tried to get as much experience in the professional circuit as he could. Just one year before his iconic debut in Easy Rider, Jack worked on a movie project for the popular band The Monkees. Jack co-wrote and produced the film and even appeared in it himself (although it was uncredited). Many famous names also appeared in the production, including Sonny Liston and Frank Zappa.

If you’re ever invited to Jack Nicholson’s house (we wish), you might want to take a blindfold with you – because you never know what you might see. Years ago, a Rolling Stone journalist got a bit of a fright when he went to interview Nicholson in his home. It’s said that Nicholson went through a stage where he didn’t wear clothes for three months, to get used to being exposed in front of people. Apparently, this was to prepare for a movie role. We’re not convinced.

From a young age, Nicholson knew that he wanted to be an actor – but when the opportunities didn’t fall at his feet (if only it were that easy), he had to work a few part-time jobs to pay the bills. When he was living and working in New Jersey, Jack worked as a chef. However, he soon realized the job wasn’t great for his anger, and once punched a stack of pancakes and shouted at a customer. Oops.

For a modern-day lothario such as Jack Nicholson, it’s no surprise that he may have had one or two visits to the Playboy Mansion – especially as it was just around the corner from him. In fact, recently discovered blueprints of the Playboy Mansion have shown possible underground tunnels that linked the mansion to other houses in the area, including the houses of ‘Mr. K. Douglas’,’ ‘Mr. W. Beatty,’ and ‘Mr. J. Caan.’ The prints also point towards the house of a ‘Mr. J. Nicholson’…

One of the main reasons Jack Nicholson has never really been able to tie down a good relationship is because he (in his own words) has a ‘large appetite’ for intimacy. We think you all know what that means. According to previous girlfriends, Nicholson is an extremely intimate and physical man – and likes to be that way with numerous women. This has often put women off, and Nicholson accepts that his wiley ways aren’t too attractive to potential girlfriends or wives.

Jack Nicholson has always been the kind of writer to put his own experiences into his work – and he did just that in one of his most famous movie roles. There’s an iconic moment in Five Easy Pieces when Nicholson’s character orders toast. However, the waitress who works at the diner will not let him order unless he buys the full meal. His character then tells her to put the sandwich ‘between your knees.’ This situation happened to Nicholson in real life.

One of Jack Nicholson’s most memorable roles was in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, where he played the lead character, Randle Patrick McMurphy. However, in a cruel twist of fate (because we don’t understand it), Nicholson was not the first choice for this role. He wasn’t even the second choice. Or the third. Or the fourth. He was the fifth choice after various other actors, including Marlon Brando and James Caan, who turned the role down!

If you live in Hollywood, there’s a good chance you live right by some of the most famous faces in the business. Mulholland Drive is perhaps one of the most famous Hollywood streets – and Nicholson used to live there. And he had a slightly hungry neighbor. Marlon Brando would often stop by Nicholson’s house to steal some food from the fridge and leave behind his trademark -his underwear (as you do). Because of Nicholson, the road was unofficially renamed Bad Boy Drive.

Nicholson and Brando loved their time living next to each other – and Brando’s death in 2005 really affected Jack, and he knew he had to pay his respects in the right way. When Brando’s $5 million house (which Brando himself called ‘Frangipani’) went up for sale, Nicholson bought it. Instead of moving in, Nicholson demolished the house and planted the whole area with Frangipani flowers instead. By doing this, Nicholson properly laid his best friend to rest. Oh, our hearts.

There have been numerous Jokers throughout the history of Batman films, but Jack Nicholson is definitely up there with some of the best. However, fans were shocked when Nicholson was listed above Michael Keaton in the billing list, as the lead was almost always at the top of the bill. Through this, Nicholson managed to bag himself a cool percentage of merchandise profits and earned a hefty $60 – $90 million from this movie alone. That’ll nearly pay for the art collection.

Let’s be honest, we all have a little road rage sometimes – especially if someone gets in our way when we’re trying to get to the driving range (which, you know, always happens). This is exactly what happened to Nicholson, but instead of swearing like the rest of us, Jack smashed the windshield of the offending car with one of his golf clubs. Jack was taken to court and agreed to settle for a whopping $500,000.

The Charles Manson case is one of the biggest cases in American history. In the 60s, this cult murdered the famous actress Sharon Tate, as well as other victims. Sharon was a good friend of Jack’s, and he felt personally attached to the case. Because of this, Jack attended every single court hearing and watched all of the proceedings unfold to ensure that justice was served. Throughout the trial, Nicholson was intrigued by the killer and his personality.

Alongside his love for the LA Lakers, Jack Nicholson is also interested in another rather unusual sport. Yep, Jack Nicholson is obsessed with the WWE! Jack has followed the world of wrestling for decades and has been an active member of the community. Although his favorite wrestler of all time is John Cena, Nicholson has spent the last few years petitioning for the WWE Hall of Fame to induct Ric Flair into their ranks. Well, we didn’t expect that.

Jack Nicholson wouldn’t be Jack Nicholson with the odd scandal or two. During the filming of Nicholson’s 1987 movie, Ironweed, Nicholson became entangled in a scandal with his co-star, Meryl Streep. While on set, the two would often disappear for long lengths of time to his Winnebago. It soon became obvious that the two weren’t helping each other read lines – which was embarrassing for both of them, considering Streep was married at the time. Awkward.

We’ve already mentioned that Jack Nicholson didn’t know his father – but it seems he didn’t really know the rest of his family, either. Throughout his life, his mother had lied to him about their relationship. In fact, she was not his mother at all; she was his grandmother. Nicholson’s ‘sister’ was his birth mother, and the family had moved away shortly after he was conceived to avoid scandal. Jack only found out when he was 37 years old.

Jack Nicholson has always had a soft spot for singer-songwriters, especially when he was younger. He once had a fling with singer Carly Simon and used to stay at her apartment. One day, Carly awoke to find Nicholson taking business phone calls while they were in bed and speaking in different voices – as if to really impress her. However, Nicholson soon put the brakes on their relationship, and Carly thanked him for this. Otherwise, she would have married him.

Alongside his acting talent, Jack Nicholson is also known for his ability to charm the ladies. In fact, he is often referred to as the Great Seducer and Jack the Jumper. Since his time in the spotlight, Jack has made significant additions to his very (very, very) long list of female conquests, many of them famous actresses and personalities – including Melanie Griffith, Michelle Phillips, Rebecca Broussard and Veronica Cartwright. He really, really likes women. If you couldn’t tell.

However, it’s only fair to say that Nicholson’s relationships aren’t just physical. When he ended things with Rebecca Broussard, he spoke to Vanity Fair about his feelings. Although he had been the one to break up with Rebecca, he still loved her to pieces. In fact, he still had a deep love for all of the women he had ever dated or had a fling with. I’m sure that statement made them all feel pretty special…

It can be said that Jack Nicholson has had enough relationships to last him a lifetime. Unfortunately, he has not been able to settle down with anyone during his later years. Nowadays, 80-year-old Nicholson stays out of the limelight and spends most of his time alone in his house. However, Nicholson has confirmed that he would like to find someone for his older years, as he doesn’t want to die old and alone. We volunteer as tribute.

Although we are focusing on his failed relationships, it doesn’t mean Jack hasn’t had a fair few successful ones. During his younger adult years, Jack spent seventeen years with Anjelica Huston. The two first met when they both attended a party, and they got on like a house on fire. She soon moved in with him and spent numerous happy years living together and working together. Their natural chemistry even won them both awards. Not bad, ey?

Jack initially knew of Anjelica through her father, the late director and actor John Huston. The two were extremely close and Huston even starred alongside Nicholson in the Award-winning film-noir Chinatown. The movie is considered today a modern classic, with many critics often praising both Nicholson and Huston’s performances in the film. Jack said in later interviews that John Huston was like a father to him and he still misses him very much.

Anjelica and Jack had a seemingly perfect relationship – mainly because Anjelica was oblivious to his infidelities. However, as time went on, Anjelica began to notice that he wasn’t the monogamous man she first thought. She often walked in on other girls in the house but decided to let it slide. After a while, her patience seemed to wane, and she called it quits when she found out Nicholson had got Rebecca Broussard pregnant. That was the last straw.

During the filming of Chinatown, there was a scene that required the protagonist Jack Gittes, portrayed by Nicholson, to slap his female co-star Faye Dunaway. After a few takes, Dunaway approached Jack and told him that the slaps were not real enough and asked him to do it with more intent. “I finally said, Jack, you are just gonna have to hit me,” said Dunaway, adding that eventually “he really did.”

While Nicholson is famous for his creepy role in Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining, King himself actually hates the movie to this day. In his opinion, Nicholson’s character, who was initially based on himself, did not progress throughout the movie and is mostly seen as the ‘villain’ in the film. While we can agree with King on that subject, we cannot ignore the fact that it has one of Nicholson’s most breathtaking performances of his career.

While filming Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, fellow co-star Leonardo DiCaprio was introduced to Jack Nicholson’s stage antics. “Jack Nicholson in character is so entirely unpredictable you almost expect the unexpected in a lot of ways,” said DiCaprio. “the prop guy sort of tipped me off that he had a gun and a fire extinguisher and a box of matches and whiskey under the table, and he had no idea what Jack was gonna do,” DiCaprio revealed. “Nicholson ended up pulling a gun on my face and lighting the table on fire.”

Jack Nicholson has been able to fall in love and maintain a long term commitment with a woman just one time in his life, and that was with fellow actress Sandra Knight, with whom he starred in the 1963 low budget horror film The Terror. She said that she knew that he would be a big star one day, but also saw that he was going to be tempted by other women because of that. As she says, she simply did not want to be “along for the ride,” so she was the one to end the relationship.

This being the 1960s art scene, Jack Nicholson was surrounded by people taking psychoactive substances and being in completely different frames of mind. The first time that Jack Nicholson ever took a psychedelic substance, he claimed to have seen the face of god himself, and realized that he was probably not ever wanted as an infant. Jack and his then-wife Sandra even took psychedelic substances to try and save their marriage, but it didn’t work.

Jack Nicholson really started to party hard after his divorce, and his philandering ways only got more and more intense. Nicholson was on all manner of psychoactive and mind altering substances, and his party guests were as well. However, he always had two different levels of substances for his guests, the “upstairs” version and the “downstairs” version. The “upstairs” substances were of higher quality and for close friends, while the “downstairs” were of lower quality and for all other guests.

In a recent interview with a website called “The Talks,” Jack Nicholson discussed his feelings about getting older and about how he feels now that the majority of his life is behind him. He says that he thinks about death a lot and that he debates how he wants his remains to be handled. Ideas include being interred in a 25 foot pink statue, cremation, or have his body hung on a tree for nature to take care of like the Native Americans used to do.

In the early 1980s Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston were long term partners, having been dating for some time. One day they were at a political fundraiser in Aspen, CO, when Huston got to talking with a young 12 year old girl who was with her parents. The girl, whose name turned out to be Gwyneth Paltrow, took one look at Huston’s boyfriend and said “that man scares me.” Huston replied “he scares me too.”

Jack Nicholson is not getting any younger, and it seems as if his womanizing days are slowly but surely coming to an end. In fact, Nicholson seems to be starting to regret all of his womanizing. He recently said in an interview with Closer that he now wishes that he could have had one more long-term, long-lasting lover to go into old age with. However, as he says, it’s probably never going to happen. Don’t give up, Jack!

When Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston broke up, the scene was not pretty in the least. Huston and Nicholson were having a fight over dinner about his philandering ways, and Nicholson said to her “well, somebody’s pregnant.” It turns out that Nicholson had been cheating (that time) on Hudson with actress Rebecca Broussard and had knocked her up. Hudson flew into a fit of rage, beating and punching Nicholson about the head. She looks back on her behavior and said that it was “childish.”

Jack Nicholson is getting up there in years, and with his hard partying ways, who knows how much longer he has on this earth. It’s for that reason that his kids want him to sell his enormous mansion in the Hollywood Hills where he has been living for years. They want him to move to a smaller, more manageable home in Beverly Hills. However, Nicholson is stuck in his ways and refuses to leave the home where he has had so many memorable experiences.

Jack Nicholson is worth $400 million dollars. That is, to say the least, a whole lot of money. He has certainly come a long way from his early roots in New Jersey. He began in the entertainment business as an errand boy for cartoonists William Hannah and Joseph Barbera before finally making it into film. Perhaps his lack of a family is the reason he has nearly half a billion dollars to his name.

As it turns out, when you have been acting for as long as Jack Nicholson has, you have a much higher chance of winning, or at least being nominated for, an academy award than the average Joe. And because of that Nicholson is one of only two actors to have been nominated for an academy award in every decade between 1960 and today with 12 nominations in total. He ended up winning three of them.

During that scene in The Departed when DiCaprio and Nicholson were arguing and suddenly Jack decided to pull out a gun, the gun was real and loaded and Nicholson started threatening DiCaprio with it. Scorsese said of that juicy detail during an interview with the New York Post, “He didn’t tell me he had a gun. It was great . . . we took a lot out, but Leo’s reaction is real-time. I still get chills when Nicholson says, ‘I smell a rat.’ It’s so real to me.”

Jack is a talent beyond measure, that is no question. He is also very good at ad-libbing when necessary, or when not. In his famous role in the film The Shining, the scene where he pokes his head through the broken door and states, “Here’s Johnny!” was actually of his own creation. That line became the most famous line of the whole film.

Another indicator that Jack is a pure thespian talent is the fact that he is the most nominated male actor in the history of the Academy Awards, with 12 nominations in total. Winning an Oscar is the dream for any actor, and it means you are not only doing what you love but are being rewarded for it in the highest possible way. And as we know, Nicholson won three academy awards.

Throwing it back for a moment to a time before Jack was a famous actor. Back in 1957, Jack joined the Air National Guard. He enlisted in order to prevent being drafted during the Korean War as the Military Selective service Act was still active. Nicholson finished basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and followed it up with weekend drills and training every year for two weeks.

Jack flew to Cuba in 1998 to meet with Fidel Castro, the communist leader of the nation. Jack described Castro as “a genius” and was very impressed with how the country managed itself and the condition it was in. We are sure that Jack got an elite view of the country and saw only what Castro wanted him to see, but that was still his opinion on the matter.

On the topic of how many children he could have possibly fathered, Jack said,  “There could be 9,000 for all I know – I used to live so freely. Women are never enough for me. There were days when I used to go to bed with four or more. But none of them can take away my freedom. Until the end of my days I’ll remain a bachelor!”

Diane played alongside Jack in the film Something’s Gotta Give. On her scenes with him, she said, ” Well you know, working with Jack is sort of like standing in front of the Grand Canyon. I don’’t know, there’’s too much going on there and you’’re just this little speck on a precipice. He’’s like this huge, massive kind of structure. He’’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World. That’’s the way it feels. It feels like that because I think there’’s something about the way Jack uses language.”

Jack is not only an actor but a writer, producer and director as well. He has directed three films in which he has also starred: Drive, He Said in 1971, Goin’ South in 1978, and The Two Jakes, in 1990. Jack really is a Jack of all trades. We had to, it was right there with his name being Jack, too!

Following up the page where we talked about him being close with Sharon Tate and being in the court room throughout the trial of Charles Manson, Jack also started sleeping with a hammer under his pillow after that event. Nicholson was so traumatized by what had happened to his friend that he felt unsafe for a very long time. Sleeping with a hammer was one way he felt he could protect himself.

Jack has been involved with several charities and foundations over the years. Some of the organizations he has donated to, or helped raise money for, are ActionAid, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation, and Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes. Jack also took part in the telethon for the victims of the September 11th terror attacks.

Jack has a total of five children (that he knows about). With Rebecca Boussard, he fathered daughter Lorraine and son Raymond. With Winnie Hollman he fathered daughter Honey, with Susan Anspach he had son Caleb, and with Sandra Knight, his only wife, he welcomed daughter Jennifer. As we all know, with the amount of women Jack has been with, it’s surprising that he didn’t father even more children.

While Jack was raised Catholic, he is actually an atheist these days. In an interview back in 1992 with Vanity Fair, Jack said, “I don’t believe in God now. I can still work up an envy for someone who has a faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience.” Perhaps he will rediscover his own faith now that he is older.

Jack has always said that he considers himself a “lifelong Irish Democrat”. On the subject of abortion he is against but he also says that he is pro-choice. “I’m pro-choice but against abortion because I’m an illegitimate child myself and it would be hypocritical to take any other position. I’d be dead. I wouldn’t exist.” He has also said that he has “nothing but total admiration, gratitude, and respect for the strength of the women who made the decision they made in my individual case.”

Jack has always had a temper problem but he has never actually hit someone. However, in 1994, Robert Blank had said that Jack approached his car and took a golf club to smash the windows and roof of the car because Blank had allegedly cut Jack off. Blank sued Jack and the case was settled. Perhaps this was what Jack needed to calm down.

Jack’s daughter Lorraine is getting quite a name for herself. Lorraine has also been bitten by the acting bug, appearing in films like Soul Surfer, and Room 105. She served as Miss Golden Globe in 2007. She graduated from Brown University in 2012 with a degree in Literary Arts. While she has acted, her true passion lies in screenwriting.

Not only does Ray look JUST like his father (and a strange mix of Leonardo DiCaprio as well), but he has also entered the world of entertainment. Ray has been in productions like The Benchwarmers, and R.I.P., and he is currently working on a short called Lexi and Micky. Ray is often seen with his dad at Lakers games sitting court side.