On His Own Terms

Riding high atop Hollywood's star machine, Jack Nicholson is enjoying the view.

Arthur Marx
From the Print Edition:
Jack Nicholson, Summer 95

(continued from page 8)

Nicholson went on to have two children with Broussard--Lorraine, who was born on April 16, 1990, and Raymond, born on February 20, 1992.

Nicholson and Broussard never wed, though he maintains today that "I would have preferred that Rebecca and I had married, mostly to do with the kids. But it just didn't work out." Instead, Nicholson set up Broussard in a two-bedroom house down the road from his own hilltop pad. He loves his children very much and enjoys their company. And he still sees Broussard on occasion, but refuses to categorize their present relationship.

"It's an unusual arrangement," admits Nicholson, "but the last 25 years have shown me I'm no good at cohabitation."

Despite his lack of a committed partner waiting at home every night, Nicholson doesn't let work take over. "I try not to let my work dominate my life, because I think that's dangerous for anyone. We've done a job on ourselves: Work is God, and everybody who says it isn't is an amateur and a utopian or both. What's important to me [is that] everybody needs to build their character and develop social graces. Otherwise they'll be very lonely in life."

Nicholson has lots of friends of both sexes. It would be difficult for a star of his magnitude and charm (when he wishes to turn it on) not to have all that he wants. But he admits to being "almost reclusive. I'm nocturnal. That's why I like Batman. That's why I like basketball, night comics and night games. I like high-spirited people, but I'm nonconfrontational."

Nicholson also loves to watch a good film, "though there haven't been too many of them of late, I'm sorry to say."

As for friends, he has more now than he has ever had--Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda and a host of others. Some of his golfing buddies are Joe Pesci and Jim Lampley, the former CBS sports announcer.

He admits that his relationship with the so-called Hollywood establishment is a difficult one to categorize. "I have a tremendous amount of friends in the business. I don't know how to put this statement to my advantage, but I'm actually older than most of the studio heads in town. I was here when they got here. I was already a big star." He grins, puffs on his cigar and adds, "So in a sense, I'm the establishment. Of course, I socialize with all the studio heads, but to say I go around with them--well, that's not exactly accurate. Let's just say they court me."

Recently, Nicholson attended a stag dinner hosted by DeVito in the banquet room at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. According to Nicholson, there was no special reason DeVito was throwing the party, except that he wanted to be with his friends. Among them were Douglas, De Niro, Pesci, Lampley and a dozen others. Wolfgang Puck, the illustrious West Coast purveyor of pizzas, showed up to cook dinner. "After dinner, we all sat around drinking vintage Port and smoking cigars," Nicholson says. "I had a great time. I think we all did. Danny's that way. He just wants to show his friends a good time."

Still, there are nights when Nicholson chooses to be alone. If he can't sleep, he falls back on his habit of playing rock or classical music (depending on his mood) on his living room stereo so loudly that it would drive his neighbors away--if he had any neighbors. Then, he'll light up a Cuban cigar, and in the reflection of the picture window overlooking the dark canyon below, he'll dance around the room by himself.

< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >