Nick Nolte

Nicholas King Nolte ( ; 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 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 .

His other notable films include , Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), North Dallas Forty (1979), 48 Hrs. (1982), , , , Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Three Fugitives (1989) Another 48 Hrs. (1990), , Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Jefferson in Paris (1995), , , , Hotel Rwanda (2004), Over the Hedge (2006), , Tropic Thunder (2008), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), , , A Walk in the Woods (2015), , 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 (1908–1969), 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 (1929–31). His mother, Helen (; 1914–2000), was a department store buyer, then became an antique dealer, co-owning an antique shop. His father was of German and Scottish ancestry. Nolte's maternal grandfather, Matthew Leander King, invented the hollow-tile silo and was involved in early aviation. Nick Nolte's mother was of mostly Scottish ancestry. 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 for hiding beer before practice and being caught drinking during a practice session. 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.

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 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 , 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 , , Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), , Three Fugitives (1989) 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 . 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 (Best Actor) nomination for the 1997 film Affliction. Nolte starred with Sean Penn in three films, including U Turn (1997), Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line (1998), and Gangster Squad (2013).

In 1992, Nolte was named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine. When asked about the selection he said "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? My personal choice is Walter Cronkite."

Nolte continued to work in the 2000s, appearing in , , and taking smaller parts in 2004's Clean and Hotel Rwanda, both performances receiving positive reviews. He also played supporting roles in the drama Peaceful Warrior (2006), the fantasy adventure and the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008). He provided voice work in the animated films Over the Hedge (2006), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010), Zookeeper (2011) and Noah (2014). In 2011, Nolte played recovering alcoholic 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. He appeared in the political thrillers and Angel Has Fallen (2019). 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, hard-drinking 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 had been 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. He has also dated Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis.

Legal troubles and substance abuse Nolte is known for his "bad-boy reputation". However, the felony conviction left him ineligible for military service. He had felt obligated to serve in the Vietnam War, and says that he felt incomplete as a young man for not going to Vietnam.

On September 11, 2002, Nolte was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in Malibu, California. Tests later showed that he was under the influence of GHB. Nolte responded that he has "been taking it for four years and I've never been raped." Three days later, he checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut for counseling. On December 12, 2002, he pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence. He was given three years' probation, with orders to undergo alcohol and drug counseling with random testing required.

In 2005, The Independent reported that Nolte had struggled with substance abuse for "the majority of his adult life" and had begun abusing alcohol at an early age. After remaining sober for nearly 10 years, he resumed drinking in the late 1990s. Following his 2002 arrest, he again stopped drinking.

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 2001 Investigating Sex Faldo Also producer James Ellroy's Feast of Death Himself Documentary 2002 The Good Thief Bob Montagnet 2003 Northfork Father Harlan This So-Called Disaster Himself Documentary Hulk Dr. David Banner / The Father 2004 The Beautiful Country Steve Clean Albrecht Hauser Hotel Rwanda Colonel Oliver 2005 Neverwas T.L. Pierson 2006Over the Hedge Vincent Voice Paris, je t'aime Vincent Segment: "Parc Monceau" Peaceful Warrior Socrates "Soc" A Few Days in September 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 Wisdom Himself Documentary 2009 My Horizon Lowell Short film 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 Cold Call Battleworth The Company You Keep Donal Fitzgerald 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 Harry 2026 Crime 101 Money Post-Production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1969 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Les Episode: "The Feather Farm" 1973 Griff Billy Randolph Episode: "The Framing of Billy the Kid" Cannon Ron Johnson Episode: "Arena of Fear" 1973–1974 Medical Center Tank / Lou 2 episodes 1974 The Streets of San Francisco Captain Alan Melder Episode: "Crossfire" Emergency! Dr. Fred Episode: "The Hard Hours" Death Sentence John Healy Movie The Rookies Tommy Episode: "The Teacher" Toma Wally Episode: "Friends of Danny Beecher"Chopper OneBobEpisode: "The Hijacking"GunsmokeBarney AustinEpisode: "The Tarnished Badge" Winter Kill Dave Michaels Movie The California Kid Buzz Stafford 1974–1975 Barnaby Jones Mark Rainey, Paul Barringer 2 episodes 1975 Adams of Eagle Lake Officer Jerry Troy The Runaway Barge Rou Blount Movie 1976 Rich Man, Poor Man Tom Jordache Miniseries 2011 Ultimate Rush Narrator Voice 2011–2012 Luck Walter James Smith 10 episodes 2014 Gracepoint Jack Reinhold Miniseries 2016–2017 Graves President Richard Graves 20 episodes 2019 The Mandalorian Kuiil Voice; 3 episodes 2020 Paradise Lost Judge Forsythe 10 episodes 2023 Poker Face Arthur Liptin Episode: "The Orpheus Syndrome"

Theatre

Year Title Role