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Nicholson -- As Good As It Gets

© Dexter Wolfe

At the age of 37 John Joseph Nicholson, Jr, discovered a family secret by the questioning press. His mother (Ethel M.) and father (John Joseph Nicholson) were really his grandparents.

Since no record of his birth could be found, at the age of 17, a delayed birth report was finally filed with the New Jersey State Department of Health. It is speculated that he was born under a cousin’s name to avoid family questions.

Nicholson was born April 22, 1936 without a birth certificate. June Nicholson was his true mother, a showgirl with the renowned Earl Carroll Dancers. At 17 she had fallen in love with the handsome 27-year-old Don Furcillo Rose, a vaudevillian. Rose was debonair and legally married to Anne Born, awaiting an annulment of marriage from the Catholic Church.

After discovering her pregnancy, June married Don under a false name, June Nilson. Don by law already a married man -- became guilty of bigamy. Without a lawful marriage June's mother and father had taken Jack to raise as their own. June died of cancer in 1936 at the age 44. Ethel (Jack's grandmother) died in January of 1970, just missing Jack's movie success. Their secret went to the grave with them.

Don Furcillo Rose died of cancer in1997 having spent a lifetime without his son. Rose had remarried (Dorothy) and had a daughter, Donna. Jack and his father only spoke twice in their life time over a phone.

Jack Nicholson got his start into film by co-screenwriting his first movie Thunder Island (1963) and then went on to write solo several movies: Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), Flight to Fury (1966), The Trip (1967), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) and The Head (1968).

Nicholson’s film debut was in Roger Corman's Cry Baby Killer (1958), followed by Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) and The Raven (1963).

After appearing in several Westerns and low-budget films Nickolson made headlines with the film Easy Rider in 1969 where his character smokes weed and raves about UFO's.

Nicolson's characters are dramatic, comedic and maniacal leaving no gaps in his abilities. With movie titles like Back Door to Hell (1964), Carnal Knowledge (1971) and who will ever forget that psychotic smile in Stephen King's The Shining (1980).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) was another ground-breaking movie. This once stage play's rights were purchased years ago by Michael Douglas from his father which later he produced into the movie.

Romance is a character that becomes Nicholson in such movies as Terms of Endearment (1983) with Shirley MacLaine, and his suave devilish character in The Witches of Eastwick (1987) with the sexy trio of Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Cher.