Jack Nicholson: The Charismatic Everyman Behind Hollywood's Wildest Parties

As an actor, he played the everyman with a roguish twinkle. But Jack Nicholson, the charismatic three-time Academy Award winner—who rose from humble beginnings in New Jersey to star in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Easy Rider, Chinatown, The Shining, and more—was once considered the embodiment of excess. His home had the reputation as the wildest house in Hollywood.

“Genius,” “Difficult,” “Blunt,” “Party animal,” and “Lothario.” These are all adjectives that have been used to describe Nicholson by both the press and his associates over the years. Even in his eighth decade, a bad-boy aura still sticks to the actor, despite his now living a quiet life out of the spotlight.

Nicholson's Enjoyment of Simple Pleasures

Nicholson is the first to admit much of what makes up his Hollywood legend is true—at least to some degree. He revealed to Rolling Stone that he doesn’t remember hanging out with the Beatles and Bob Dylan in the sixties: “I saw this documentary with a scene of me and the Beatles out in Malibu, and I just couldn’t remember it. Of course, I could tell from the film I was a bit loaded—and no doubt about that…”

In the same interview, he defended his liberalism, partying, and womanizing, saying: “Free love is usually the root and the vitality of the movement. Once you deny that normal, simple, organic sexual flow, the country is going to move right.” This perspective highlights Nicholson's belief in living life to the fullest and embracing the joys that come with it.

Denying himself what he refers to as the “simple pleasures of life” is something Nicholson never appeared to struggle with, especially at the peak of his career in the 1970s and 1980s. “I do entertain a lot, but run a pretty tough policy. I’ve never had a party of mine crashed,” Nicholson said in 1980. “To be successful, a party has to have a completely private atmosphere.”

The Nonstop Party Lifestyle

According to author Marc Eliot’s unauthorized biography Nicholson, the actor’s Hollywood Hills home was the site of a seemingly continuous bacchanal filled with drinks, drugs, sex, and plenty of “tea” (the smoking kind). Eliot writes that the refrigerator was often empty except for milk, beer, and pot—indicative of the wild lifestyle Nicholson led.

Notorious for his nonstop parties, Nicholson and his former roommate, actor Harry Dean Stanton, were well-known for the lively atmosphere in their shared abode. Despite the chaos, Eliot notes that in the early days of their friendship, Nicholson was just as focused on making it in Hollywood: “Most of the time, though, while the action was hot and heavy in the other rooms, Jack would prefer to sit alone, in his bedroom, furiously pounding out his screenplay.”

Once he had attained Hollywood success, Nicholson purchased a party pad next door to Marlon Brando and began to fill his home with impressive artwork by Magritte, Picasso, Matisse, and Rodin. According to Eliot, drugs were also a common feature in this party lifestyle.

The Use of Drugs

Following director Roman Polanski’s alleged rape of a teen at Nicholson’s home in 1977, police found hashish in the upstairs master bedroom. “Fortunately, the rest of Jack’s ample stash of drugs was so well hidden in shaving cream containers and the like, the police missed it,” Eliot writes. Importantly, Nicholson was not at home at the time of the arrest.

In the John Belushi biography Wired, author Bob Woodward claims there were “upstairs” and “downstairs” drugs at Nicholson’s home—the former being higher-quality substances reserved for the man of the house and his inner circle. Anjelica Huston, Nicholson’s former girlfriend of over 17 years, reflected on these claims, stating, “I don’t know that that is a true story.”

When asked if Nicholson was a regular cocaine user, Huston replied, “Very much so. Never took overt amounts, he was never a guzzler. I think Jack sort of used it, probably like Freud did, in a rather smart way.” She noted that Nicholson had a bit of a problem with physical lethargy and believed that a little bump would cheer him up, much like a shot of espresso.

A Highly Sexed Individual

Kim Basinger once famously described Nicholson as “the most highly sexed individual I have ever met.” His friend Cher remarked, “The thing about Jack is that he likes women more than any man I’ve ever known.” This reputation followed him throughout his life and is indicative of his dynamic personality.

Nicholson has been married only once, to Sandra Knight, from 1961 to 1966. The couple has a daughter, Jennifer. He also has a son, Caleb, with actress Susan Anspach; a daughter, Honey, with Danish model Winnie Hollman; and a daughter, Lorraine, and son, Raymond, with actress Rebecca Broussard. Over the years, he’s been romantically linked to various notable figures, including Michelle Phillips, Diane Keaton, and Lara Flynn Boyle.

Slowing Down

While Nicholson once told Rolling Stone that he remembers “being at least mentally sexually excited about things from childhood,” he has slowed down lately. “Look, I’m less rambunctious these days, not because of change in character, but your physiognomy changes,” Nicholson said in 2006. “I’m not as obsessed. I am not as, you know—I’m still very—I have the same libido. But whether you want it or not, that part of your life changes a bit.”

Throughout most of his life, Nicholson enjoyed doing what he liked to do. He reflected on his fortunate circumstances, stating, “And I’ve been fortunate because that’s just the way it worked out for me.” This recognition of the changes that come with age shows a more grounded perspective, even for a man once known for his wild parties.