Jack Nicholson: The Life and Times of an Actor on the Edge Hardcover - 1997

From the publisher

Easily the hippest, wildest, and most talented actor of his generation, Jack Nicholson has ridden the Hollywood roller coaster for more than forty tempestuous years. On April 22, 1997, Jack turns sixty. He will celebrate his birthday with four new movies -- Blood and Wine, Mars Attacks!, The Evening Star, and Old Friends. Since his breakout role in Easy Rider, in 1967, he has lived in the limelight.

Yet very few people outside his magic circle -- "the Jack Pack", as it's called -- know the shocking truth about the secret life of the man who calls himself Dr. Devil. To consummate moviegoers he is screen idol and double Oscar winner, a man of natural charm, restless intellect, and wicked sex appeal. To his enemies, however, he is a figure of immense guile and cunning, talent with a twist, wit with a cutting edge, passion tinged with blazing anger. An avenger with a killer smile.

In this explosive biography, writer and investigative journalist Peter Thompson catches Nicholson in his unguarded, off-screen moments to examine the contradictions of his personality: secretive yet unashamedly brash; magnanimous but tight-fisted; shrewd, outrageous, ingenious, seemingly untouchable.

Jack Nicholson reveals the inside stories behind his feud with Susan Anspach, the mother of his twenty-six-year-old son Caleb; the untold truth about his other illegitimate children; and the extraordinary movie he wanted to make about them.

It tells how Marlon Brando comforted him after the brutal murder of Jack's half-sister, Pamela, and why he continues to pursue a vendetta against her grieving husband.

It discloses the intimate secrets of his stormy relationships with Anjelica Huston and Rebecca Broussardand reveals why they, turned down his proposals of marriage.

It exposes Nicholson as a spoiled playboy hell-bent on escaping reality with sleazy sex-and-drug hinges with hookers and junkies.

It tells the full story of how Nicholson and Brando were caught in a $6 million sting over a "good friend's" ranch-and-spa resort.

It reveals for the first time Jack's forbidden love affair with his half-sister.

Penetrating the private world of Jack Nicholson, Thompson paints a vivid picture of a brilliant and tormented man who inflicts great pain on his loved ones and ultimately on himself. Jack Nicholson is truly the definitive portrait of a great American actor.