Nick Nolte was one of Hollywood’s most dreamy actors during his prime years in the ’70s to ’80s because aside from his talent in acting, fans also praised him for his good and charming looks.
However, decades have already passed since some of his biggest roles, and he became viral all of a sudden in 2021 because he looked very different from what his loyal fans knew him to be.
Before diving into what he looks like these days, let’s take a look at his personal life and how he managed to have a successful career.
Born Nicholas King Nolte on Feb. 8, 1941, in Omaha, Nebraska, the actor grew up to have a simple life. His father was a high school dropout after he ran away from home while his mom was an antique shop co-owner.
During his college years, he attended several universities throughout the United States, but he ended up not graduating from any of those.
Although he never got his diploma from college as he ended his studies due to bad grades, it was around that time when he decided to pursue a career in theater.
Initially, he traveled around the country to work in regional theaters, but he eventually found his way into stardom.
At first, he became a model from the late 1960s to the early 1970s as he appeared in a magazine advertisement for hair lightening.
He then starred in his first-ever television show titled “Rich Man, Poor Man.” Following this, he continued acting in various projects like “Gangster Squad,” “The Thin Red Line,” “The Prince of Tides,” “48 Hrs.,” “A Walk in the Woods” and many more.
Nick Nolte’s efforts have paid off as he was able to be nominated and win several major awards from renowned award-giving bodies. His biggest accomplishment to date was winning the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes in 1988 for his role in the movie “The Prince of Tides.”
Despite having a successful career, there were also some moments in his professional life wherein he became controversial, one of which is when Julia Roberts publicly stated in a 1993 interview with The New York Times that working with him in the movie “I Love Trouble” was “completely disgusting.”
In a 2022 interview with Insider, Nolte opened up about the supposed feud and revealed that he never got the chance to reach out to the “Pretty Woman” actress.
“Though it’s buried. I mean it was absurd what we went through. It was partly my fault and a little bit of hers. Julia got married at the beginning of that film and it was one of those things where I just approached it all wrong,” he said.
Aside from the rumor surrounding him and Roberts, there were also a lot of negative connotations about him throughout his career which earned him a bad boy persona. He later reflected on his reputation in the industry in a 2018 interview with the Saturday Evening Post.
“I encouraged my reputation. Never want to be boring. I knew right at the beginning when I started doing things that were attracting attention that it was better to be naughty than nice,” he explained.
Despite being 83 in 2024, it appears that the actor has no plans of slowing down anytime soon as he has projects that are yet to be released. In the interview with Insider, he opened up about the things that he still wanted to achieve despite his age, and he revealed what keeps him going.
“I’ve always had something artistic outside of myself that I can turn to, so I’m still interested in the stories. I don’t really know what they are, as there are fewer and fewer of them these days. And I don’t find the 80s particularly fun because you’re falling apart in a way. But I’ve always said that I’ll keep on going until I just can’t go anymore,” he said.
In 2021, the actor made headlines all over the internet after behind-the-scenes photos of his movie “Rittenhouse Square” went viral. In the film, he played a homeless Vietnam veteran, and he looked completely unrecognizable from what the public had known him for decades.
Complete with a full beard and a sign that read “Singing For Tips,” the actor donned a simple outfit that consisted of a jacket, a pair of jeans, and a beanie, as seen in photos shared by the Daily Express.
In the same interview with Insider, he gave fans an insight into playing his role of a homeless man, saying homelessness is something that had been intriguing him.
“Homelessness is something that intrigues me, the scope of the character you can apply to it,” he explained, then added: “It was very impressive to be out there on the streets for those three or four days. There’s a lot to playing a homeless person.”
What do you think of Nick Nolte? Do you think he looks unrecognizable compared to what he looked like before? Let us know your thoughts, and make sure to pass this on to your friends and family.
