Jack Nicholson unknowingly had a pretty strange situation, growing up in New Jersey. But we covered that in part one of this list. Time to get even deeper in this list of interesting facts about the talented and singular actor.
Number Eight: One of His Most Famous Lines was Improvised. And it’s from one of his most successful films, both financially and critically. When his character in The Shining announces “Here’s Johnny,” it isn’t because it was written into the script. That’s just Jack Nicholson doing his thing.
Number Seven: He Turned Down The Godfather. This might be one he would like to take back. He was offered the role of Michael Corleone, which of course ended up in the more than capable hands of Al Pacino.
Number Six: He Lives on a Street Nicknamed Bad Boy Alley. Fitting enough. The street is Mulholland Drive (made sort of famous by the David Lynch film of the same name). It got its nickname because actors like Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty and, yes, Jack Nicholson have all lived on it.
Number Five: He Shared a Driveway With Marlon Brando. They lived directly next to each other on Mulholland Drive. And they engaged in what will probably go down as the most famous neighborly small talk in history.
Number Four: He Was a Writer Before He Became an Actor. Kind of gives his performance as a man with writer’s block in The Shining whole new meaning.
Number Three: He Wrote a Movie for The Monkees. The 1970’s rock band starred in a movie entitled Head. It was written by Nicholson before he starred in the now-iconic Easy Rider.
Number Two: He Loves Cuba. He found the landscapes to be paradise. And he also happened to meet Fidel Castro when he visited the country in 1998. Unsurprisingly, this upset some politicians in the U.S. who accused Nicholson of extolling the nice aspects of the country without criticizing it for all of its clear faults.
Number One: The Only Person With More Academy Award Nominations is Meryl Streep. She’s got 17, he’s got 12. This also happens to make him the male actor with the most nominations of all time.