Nick Nolte facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nick Nolte
Nolte in 2008
Born	Nicholas King Nolte (1941-02-08) February 8, 1941 (age 84) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1969–present
Spouse(s)	Sheila Page ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1970)​ Sharyn Haddad ​ ​ (m. 1978; div. 1983)​ Rebecca Linger ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1994)​ Clytie Lane ​ (m. 2016)​
Partner(s)	Karen Eklund (1972–1977) Vicki Lewis (1994–2003)
Children	2
Relatives	Navi Rawat (daughter-in-law)

Nicholas King Nolte (/ˈnoʊlti/; born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. Known for his leading man roles in both dramas and romances, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Nolte first came to prominence for his role in the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for The Prince of Tides (1991). He has received three Academy Award nominations for The Prince of Tides (1991), Affliction (1998), and Warrior (2011).

His other notable films include The Deep (1977), Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), North Dallas Forty (1979), 48 Hrs. (1982), Cannery Row (1982), Under Fire (1983), Teachers (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Cape Fear (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Jefferson in Paris (1995), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Good Thief (2002), Hulk (2003), Hotel Rwanda (2004), Over the Hedge (2006), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), The Company You Keep (2012), Gangster Squad (2013), A Walk in the Woods (2015), Head Full of Honey (2018), and Angel Has Fallen (2019).

His television credits include the HBO series Luck (2011–2012), the Fox miniseries Gracepoint (2014), the Disney+ series The Mandalorian (2019) and Peacock crime drama Poker Face (2023). From 2016 to 2017, Nolte played President Richard Graves in the Epix series Graves for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy.

Early life

Nolte was born in Omaha, Nebraska on February 8, 1941. His father, Franklin Arthur Nolte (1904–1978) was a farmer's son who ran away from home, nearly dropped out of high school and was a three-time letter winner in football at Iowa State University (1929–1931). His mother, Helen (née King; 1914–2000), was a department store buyer, then became an expert antique dealer, co-owning a prestigious and successful antique shop. His ancestry includes German, English, Scots-Irish, Scottish and Swiss-German. 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 attended Kingsley Elementary School in Waterloo, Iowa. He studied at Westside High School in Omaha, where he was the kicker on the football team. He also attended Benson High School, but was expelled. Following his high school graduation in 1959, he attended Pasadena City College in Southern California, Arizona State University in Tempe (on a football scholarship), Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher and Phoenix College in Phoenix. At Eastern Arizona, he 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, he worked for the Falstaff Brewery in Omaha.

After stints at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles, Nolte spent several years traveling the country and working in regional theater, including the Old Log Theater in Minnesota for three years.

Career

Modeling

Nolte was a model in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In a 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 Anne Powers; and they appeared on the packaging.

Acting

Nolte as Tom Jordache in Rich Man, Poor Man, 1976

Nolte first starred in the television miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, based on Irwin Shaw's 1970 best-selling novel. Later, he appeared in over 40 films, playing a wide variety of characters. Diversity of character, trademark athleticism, and gravelly voice are signatures of his career. In 1973, he guest-starred in the Griff episode, "Who Framed Billy the Kid?", as Billy Randolph, a football player accused of murder. Nolte also made two guest appearances in the television series Barnaby Jones in 1974 and 1975. He co-starred with Andy Griffith in Winter Kill, a television film made as the pilot of a possible television series, and another one, Adams of Eagle Lake, but neither was picked up.

Nolte starred in The Deep (1977), Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), and North Dallas Forty (1979) which is based on Peter Gent's novel. In 1982, he starred in 48 Hrs. with Eddie Murphy and Cannery Row with Debra Winger. During the 1980s, he also starred in Under Fire (1983), Teachers (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987) and New York Stories (1989). Nolte starred with Katharine Hepburn in her last leading film role in Grace Quigley (1985). Nolte and Murphy starred again in the sequel Another 48 Hrs. (1990). In 1991, Nolte starred in The Prince of Tides and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Later, he starred in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange. Nolte also starred in Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Jefferson in Paris (1995), Mulholland Falls (1996) and Afterglow (1997). Nolte co-starred in I Love Trouble (1994) with Julia Roberts. Following its release, the Los Angeles Times reported that the two did not get along well and had multiple spats on-set. He received his second Academy Award nomination in 1997 for Affliction. Nolte starred with Sean Penn in three films, including Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line, U Turn, and Gangster Squad.

Nolte in 2003

Nolte continued to work in the 2000s, taking smaller parts in Clean and Hotel Rwanda, both performances receiving positive reviews. He also played supporting roles in the 2006 drama Peaceful Warrior and the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. In 2011, Nolte played Paddy Conlon in Warrior, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Beginning in 2011, Nolte starred with Dustin Hoffman in the HBO series Luck. At the start of production of the second season, however, HBO ended the series after the death of three horses during filming. In 2013, he was in the movie Parker which starred Jason Statham. In 2015, Nolte starred in the biopic comedy-drama A Walk in the Woods and in the revenge thriller Return to Sender.

From 2016 to 2017, Nolte starred in Graves on Epix about a volatile former U.S. president who has been retired for 25 years and who has a political epiphany to right the wrongs of his past administration in very public and unpredictable ways.

For Nolte, acting is not a career but something he needs to do, he says, "a need in the sense that I can't find anything as complex and interesting to do, but I need it in a story," and "I don't want to do reality because reality never runs smooth". He likes to vanish into a role "if the story reaches up to where the great actor is, the great actor disappears, and the story becomes number one, that's as real as it gets". Nolte appeared as recurring character Kuiil in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian in 2019.

Personal life

Nolte married Clytie Lane in 2016. He was previously married to Sheila Page, Sharyn Haddad, and Rebecca Linger. Nolte and Linger have a son, Brawley (b. 1986), an actor who is married to Indian-American actress Navi Rawat. Nolte and Lane have a daughter, Sophia (b. 2007). Sophia played his granddaughter in Head Full of Honey. Nolte and Linger also had a daughter in 1983 who was stillborn. Nolte lived with Karen Eklund, who later sued him for palimony. He has also dated Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis.

Acting credits

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Dirty Little Billy	Town Gang Leader	Uncredited
1973	Electra Glide in Blue	Hippie Kid
1975	Return to Macon County	Bo Hollinger
1976	Northville Cemetery Massacre	Chris	Voice; uncredited
1977	The Deep	David Sanders
1978	Who'll Stop the Rain	Ray Hicks
1979	North Dallas Forty	Phillip Elliott
1980	Heart Beat	Neal Cassady
1982	Cannery Row	'Doc' Eddie Daniels
	48 Hrs.	Inspector Jack Cates
1983	Under Fire	Russell Price
1984	Grace Quigley	Seymour Flint
	Teachers	Alex Jurel
1986	Down and Out in Beverly Hills	Jerry Baskin
1987	Extreme Prejudice	Texas Ranger Jack Benteen
	Weeds	Lee Umstetter
1989	Three Fugitives	Daniel James Lucas
	Farewell to the King	Learoyd
	New York Stories	Lionel Dobie	Segment: "Life Lessons"
1990	Everybody Wins	Tom O'Toole
	Q&A	Captain Michael Brennan
	Another 48 Hrs.	Inspector Jack Cates
1991	Cape Fear	Sam Bowden
	The Prince of Tides	Tom Wingo
1992	Lorenzo's Oil	Augusto Odone
	The Player	Himself	Cameo
1994	I'll Do Anything	Matt Hobbs
	Blue Chips	Coach Pete Bell
	I Love Trouble	Peter Brackett
1995	Jefferson in Paris	Thomas Jefferson
1996	Mulholland Falls	Lieutenant Max Hoover
	Mother Night	Howard Campbell
1997	Nightwatch	Inspector Thomas Cray
	Afterglow	'Lucky' Mann
	U Turn	Jake McKenna
	Affliction	Wade Whitehouse	Also executive producer
1998	The Thin Red Line	Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Tall
1999	Breakfast of Champions	Harry Le Sabre
	Simpatico	Vincent Webb
2000	The Golden Bowl	Adam Verver
	Trixie	Senator Drumond Avery
2002	The Good Thief	Bob Montagnet
2003	Northfork	Father Harlan
	Hulk	Dr. David Banner / The Father
2004	The Beautiful Country	Steve
	Clean	Albrecht Hauser
	Hotel Rwanda	Colonel Oliver
2005	Neverwas	T.L. Pierson
2006	Over the Hedge	Vincent	Voice
	Paris, je t'aime	Vincent	Segment: "Parc Monceau"
	Peaceful Warrior	Socrates
	Quelques jours en septembre	Elliott
	Off the Black	Ray Cook
	Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film	Narrator	Documentary
2007	Chicago 10	Thomas Horan	Voice; documentary
2008	The Mysteries of Pittsburgh	Joe Bechstein
	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Mulgarath
	Nick Nolte: No Exit	Himself	Documentary
	Tropic Thunder	Sergeant John 'Four Leaf' Tayback
2010	My Own Love Song	Caldwell
	Huxley on Huxley	Himself	Documentary
	Arcadia Lost	Benerji
	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Butch	Voice
2011	Arthur	Burt Johnson
	Zookeeper	Bernie the Gorilla	Voice
	Warrior	Paddy Conlon
2012	A puerta fría (Cold Call)	Battleworth
	The Company You Keep	Donal
2013	Gangster Squad	Bill Parker
	Parker	Hurley
	Hateship, Loveship	Mr. McCauley
	The Trials of Cate McCall	Bridges
2014	Noah	Samyaza	Voice
	Asthma	Werewolf
2015	A Walk in the Woods	Stephen Katz
	Run All Night	Eddie Conlon	Uncredited
	Return to Sender	Mitchell Wells
	The Ridiculous 6	Frank Stockburn
2018	The Padre	Nemes
	Head Full of Honey	Amadeus
2019	Angel Has Fallen	Clay Banning
2020	Last Words	Shakespeare
2022	Blackout	DEA Agent Ethan McCoy
2025	The Golden Voice	Barry
	Die, My Love		Post-production

Television

Theatre

Accolades

Nolte at 2000 Cannes Film Festival

Other honors

• Nolte received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 20, 2017.

See also

In Spanish: Nick Nolte para niños