THREE-TIME ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE
∗ Born February 8, 1941 in Omaha Nebraska
∗ Attended Arizona State University on a football scholarship but was expelled due to poor grades; also attended Phoenix College as well as Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher where he played football, basketball and baseball
∗ Made a name for himself locally as an actor (and photographer after taking a photography course at PC) for the Actors Inner Circle (AIC) theater company in Phoenix from 1966 to 1970; frequently billed as Nick King Nolte (his actual middle name); most of AIC’s productions were staged at Phoenix Little Theatre, Central and McDowell; married fellow AIC actor Sheila Page in 1966; divorced in 1970
∗ Starred in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker (June 1967), Tennessee Williams’s Orpheus Descending (January 1968) and N. Richard Nash’s The Rainmaker (May 1969) while at AIC; had AIC supporting roles in, among others, Jean Anouilh’s Waltz of the Toreadors (April 1967), Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt Of the Sun (October 1967), Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists (June 1968), William Faulkner’s Requiem For A Nun (October 1968) and Tennessee Williams’s The Rose Tattoo (December 1968)
∗ Appeared in 1969 on NBC-TV’s Walt Disney’s Wonderful World Of Color in The Feather Farm episode about a 1915 Arizona ostrich ranch; program also starred AIC co-founder and resident director Mel Weiser and featured several other AIC actors; narrated by cowboy movie star Rex Allen, who was born in Willcox
∗ Joined Southwest Ensemble Theater company in Phoenix, where he starred in William Inge’s The Last Pad (March 1972)
∗ Moved to Los Angeles and studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and the famous Stella Adler Academy
∗ Modeled in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including a 1972 national magazine ad with Sigourney Weaver for Clairol’s Summer Blonde hair lightener
∗ Appeared in various TV series with guest roles in Cannon, Medical Center, The Streets of San Francisco, Emergency!, The Rookies, Gunsmoke and Barnaby Jones, among others
∗ Began film career with an uncredited role in Dirty Little Billy (1972), followed by Electra Glide in Blue (1973) and Return to Macon County (1975)
∗ Co-starred in 1976 TV mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man as Tom Jordache — his breakthrough role — earning him an Emmy nomination, big ratings and critical acclaim
∗ Starred in a series of notable films – including The Deep (1977), Who’ll Stop The Rain (1978), North Dallas Forty (1979), Heartbeat (1980) as Beat poet Neal Cassady, and Cannery Row (1982) – earning praise for portraying challenging and offbeat characters
∗ Achieved huge commercial success in 48 Hrs (1982) co-starring Eddie Murphy, and its sequel, Another 48 Hrs (1990); scored another box office triumph with Down And Out in Beverly Hills (1986) playing a homeless bum taken in by a dysfunctional wealthy family
∗ Plagued by alcohol and drug abuse in the late 1980s threatening his career; returned to form after successful rehabilitation stint
∗ Earned Oscar nomination for Best Actor in Prince of Tides (1991) also starring Barbra Streisand, and won praise for Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) opposite Susan Sarandon
∗ Named “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine in 1992
∗ Earned second Best Actor Oscar nomination playing a small town cop in Affliction (1997), of which he also was executive producer
∗ Arrested in 2002 for driving under the influence (DUI); his disheveled mugshot went viral and was ranked #1 in VH1’s “40 Most Shocking Celebrity Mugshots” countdown in 2005
∗ Rebounded with critically acclaimed roles in Hotel Rwanda (2004), The Beautiful Country (2005), and Clean (2005)
∗ Earned Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Warrior (2011) playing troubled mixed martial arts fighter Paddy Conlon
∗ Appeared in three films released during 2015: Run All Night, Return To Sender and The Ridiculous 6
∗ Starred in 2016-2017 ePix TV series Graves as a former U.S. president, Richard Graves, earning a Golden Globe nomination
∗ Co-starred in 2018 films The Padre and Head Full of Honey
∗ Published memoir Rebel: My Life Outside The Lines in 2018
∗ Lives in Malibu, California
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