Nick Nolte


Nicholas King Nolte is an American actor, producer, author, and former model. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides. He went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Affliction and Warrior.
His other film appearances include The Deep, Who'll Stop The Rain, North Dallas Forty, 48 Hrs., Teachers, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Another 48 Hrs., Everybody Wins, Cape Fear, Lorenzo's Oil, I Love Trouble, The Thin Red Line, The Good Thief, Hulk, Hotel Rwanda, Tropic Thunder, A Walk in the Woods, and Angel Has Fallen.
He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his role in the TV series Graves.

Early life

Nolte was born on February 8, 1941, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Franklin Arthur Nolte, was a farmer's son who ran away from home, nearly dropped out of high school and was a three-time letter winner in football at Iowa State University. His mother, Helen, was a department store buyer, and then became an expert antique dealer, co-owning a prestigious and successful antique shop despite having no formal education in the area. His ancestry includes German, English, Scots-Irish, Scottish and Swiss-German. 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 attended Kingsley Elementary School in Waterloo, Iowa. He studied at Westside High School in Omaha, where he was the kicker on the football team. He also attended Benson High School, but was expelled for hiding beer before practice and being caught drinking it during a practice session. Following his high school graduation in 1959, he attended Pasadena City College in Southern California, Arizona State University in Tempe, Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher and Phoenix College in Phoenix. 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.
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, including the Old Log Theater in Minnesota for three years.

Career

Modeling

Nolte was a model in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In a 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 Chris O'Connor; and they appeared on the packaging. In 1992, Nolte was named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.

Acting

Nolte first starred in the television miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, based on Irwin Shaw's 1970 best-selling novel. Later he appeared in over forty films, playing a wide variety of characters. Diversity of character, trademark athleticism, and gravelly voice are signatures of his career. In 1973, he guest-starred in the Griff episode, "Who Framed Billy the Kid?", as Billy Randolph, a football player accused of murder. Nolte also made two guest appearances in the television series Barnaby Jones in 1974 and 1975. He co-starred with Andy Griffith in Winter Kill, a television film made as the pilot of a possible television series, and another one, Adams of Eagle Lake, but neither was picked up.
Nolte starred in The Deep, Who'll Stop the Rain, North Dallas Forty which is based on Peter Gent's novel, and starred in 48 Hrs. with Eddie Murphy. During the 1980s, he starred in Under Fire, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Extreme Prejudice and New York Stories. Nolte starred with Katharine Hepburn in her last leading film role in Grace Quigley. Nolte and Murphy starred again in the sequel Another 48 Hrs.. In 1991, Nolte starred in The Prince of Tides and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Later, he starred in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange. Nolte also starred in Lorenzo's Oil, Jefferson in Paris, Mulholland Falls and Afterglow. He received his second Academy Award nomination the same year for Affliction. Nolte starred with Sean Penn in three films, including Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line, U Turn and Gangster Squad.
Nolte continued to work in the 2000s, taking smaller parts in Clean and Hotel Rwanda, both performances receiving positive reviews. He also played supporting roles in the 2006 drama Peaceful Warrior and the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. In 2011, Nolte played recovering alcoholic Paddy Conlon in Warrior, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Beginning in 2011, Nolte starred with Dustin Hoffman in the HBO series Luck. At the start of production of the second season, however, HBO ended the series after the death of three horses during filming. In 2013 he was in the movie Parker which starred Jason Statham. In 2015, Nolte starred in the biopic comedy-drama A Walk in the Woods and in the revenge thriller Return to Sender.
From 2016 to 2017, Nolte starred in Graves on Epix about a volatile, hard-drinking former U.S. president who has been retired for 25 years and who has a political epiphany to right the wrongs of his past administration in very public and unpredictable ways.
For Nolte, acting is not a career but something he needs to do. He likes to vanish into a role "if the story reaches up to where the great actor is, the great actor disappears, and the story becomes number one"...
Nolte appeared as recurring character Kuiil in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian in 2019.

Personal life

Nolte married Clytie Lane in 2016. He was previously married to Sheila Page, Sharyn Haddad, and Rebecca Linger, respectively. Nolte and Linger have a son, Brawley, who has had a few acting roles himself. Nolte and Lane have a daughter, Sophie. Sophie played his granddaughter in Head Full of Honey. Nolte and Linger also had a daughter in 1983 who was stillborn. Nolte has dated Karen Eklund, Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis.

Legal troubles and substance abuse

Nolte is known for his "bad-boy reputation".
In 1965, he was arrested for selling counterfeit documents and was given a 45-year prison sentence and a $75,000 fine; however, the sentence was suspended. This felony conviction did, however, negate his eligibility for military service. At the time, he felt obligated to serve in the Vietnam War. As a result, Nolte says he felt incomplete as a young man for not going to Vietnam.
On September 11, 2002, Nolte was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Malibu, California. Three days later, he checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut for counseling. Tests later showed that he was under the influence of GHB. Nolte responded that he has "been taking it for four years and I've never been raped." 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. Nolte entered a rehabilitation facility in Connecticut.
In 2005, The Independent reported that Nolte had struggled with substance abuse for "the majority of his adult life" and had begun abusing alcohol at an early age. After remaining sober for nearly 10 years, Nolte resumed drinking in the late 1990s. Following his 2002 arrest, Nolte stopped drinking. In 2018, Nolte told The Saturday Evening Post that he did not have a drug problem and that he had been "relatively clean outside of prescription stuff for years".

Filmography

Film

Television

Accolades

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResult
1976Rich Man, Poor ManPrimetime Emmy AwardsPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1977Rich Man, Poor ManGolden Globe AwardsGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama
1979Who'll Stop the RainNational Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Actor
1979North Dallas FortyNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsBest Actor
1980North Dallas FortyNational Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Actor
1988WeedsGolden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1991The Prince of TidesBoston Society of Film CriticsBest Actor
1991The Prince of TidesLos Angeles Film Critics AssociationBest Actor
1991The Prince of TidesNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
1992The Prince of TidesAcademy AwardsBest Actor
1992The Prince of TidesChicago Film Critics AssociationBest Actor
1992The Prince of TidesGolden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1992The Prince of TidesNational Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Actor
1997AfflictionValladolid International Film FestivalBest Actor
1998New York Film Critics CircleBest Actor-
1999Academy AwardsBest Actor-
1999Golden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture Drama-
1999Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead-
1999National Society of Film CriticsBest Actor-
1999Sant Jordi AwardsBest Foreign Actor-
1999Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Motion Picture Drama-
1999Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role-
1999The Thin Red LineChicago Film Critics AssociationBest Supporting Actor
2011WarriorChicago Film Critics AssociationBest Supporting Actor
2011WarriorDenver Film Critics SocietyBest Supporting Actor
2011WarriorSan Diego Film CriticsBest Supporting Actor
2011WarriorSatellite AwardsBest Supporting Actor
2011WarriorScreen Actors Guild AwardsBest Supporting Actor
2012WarriorAcademy AwardsBest Supporting Actor
2012WarriorBroadcast Film Critics AssociationBest Supporting Actor
2012WarriorOnline Film Critics SocietyBest Supporting Actor
2017GravesGolden Globe AwardsBest Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy

Other honors

Nolte received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 20, 2017.