Detailed Biography

Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor, film producer and former model.

Early life

Nolte was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Helen , a department store buyer, and Franklin A. Nolte, a farmer's son who worked in irrigation pump sales and was an All-American candidate at Iowa State in 1934. Nolte's father was of German descent. 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 went to Omaha Benson High School, where he was the kicker on the football team. Nolte got kicked out of Benson for digging a hole and hiding beer before practice and then getting caught drinking it during a practice session. After his expulsion, he attended Westside High School in Omaha. He also attended Pasadena City College. Nolte went on to attend Arizona State University ; Eastern Arizona College, Thatcher, Arizona; and Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona. 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 Stella Adler's Academy in Los Angeles, Nolte spent several years traveling the country and working in regional theaters.

Modeling

Nolte was a model in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In one 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 Sigourney Weaver. The pair also appeared on the packaging.

Acting career

Nolte first gained national attention and critical acclaim for his performance in Rich Man, Poor Man, the 1976 television miniseries based on Irwin Shaw's 1970 best-selling novel. Since then he has had a successful career playing a wide variety of characters in more than 40 films. Diversity of character is the signature of Nolte's film career. He is known for his trademark athleticism and graveled-voice characters. In 1973, he appeared in Lorne Greene's ABC crime drama Griff in the episode "Who Framed Billy the Kid?", in the role of Billy Randolph, a football player accused of murder.

Nolte's first major film role was in 1977's The Deep starring opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw. This was followed by Who'll Stop the Rain in 1978 and North Dallas Forty, based on the Peter Gent novel, in 1979. The buddy cop/convict film 48 Hrs. would strongly bolster his film career and make his co-star Eddie Murphy a box-office sensation.

Nolte would continue starring in films throughout the 1980s, including Under Fire with Gene Hackman, Down and Out in Beverly Hills with Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler, Extreme Prejudice and New York Stories under the direction of Martin Scorsese.

He would begin the 1990s working again with Murphy in the sequel Another 48 Hours. 1991 would bring perhaps his greatest box office success as he starred in The Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand and in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange. Nolte received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Prince of Tides and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

Nolte's solid work continued with Lorenzo's Oil opposite Susan Sarandon, Mulholland Falls , and After Glow for which his co-star Julie Christie received her third Academy Award for Best Actress nomination. Nolte received his second Academy Award for Best Actor nomination the same year for his work in Affliction . His co-star James Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the father of Nolte's character.

Nolte took smaller parts in The Thin Red Line and Hotel Rwanda which were critically respected.

According to a written note owned by Richard Donner, Nolte was the first choice to play Superman in the 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve. He also lost the role of Han Solo to Harrison Ford in the 1977 classic, Star Wars.

Personal life

Nolte has been married and divorced three times. His ex-wives are Sheila Page, Sharyn Haddad and Rebecca Linger, with whom he has a son named Brawley Nolte . Nolte's son is also an actor, having been prominently featured as Mel Gibson's kidnapped son in the 1996 film Ransom. He was also involved with Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis. On October 3, 2007, Nolte's longtime partner Clytie Lane gave birth to their daughter, Sophie Lane Nolte.

Nolte resides in Malibu, California. On October 6, 2008, a fire starting from a computer printer burned a section of his residence. Nolte escaped, but there was a reported $1.5 million in damages to the house.

Legal Troubles

In September 2002, he checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut for counselling after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Malibu, CA a few days earlier. Tests later showed that he was under the influence of GHB, the "date rape" drug. 12 December 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 counselling with random testing required.

Awards