75 films, 3 Oscar nominations and 45 years in prison: this face of Hollywood escaped life behind bars

You may remember Nick Nolte’s (Red Line, The Warrior…) famous 2002 mugshot, where the three-time Oscar nominee has his hair pulled back and wears a Hawaiian shirt. But did you know he had another one a few years before this arrest?

In 1961, at the age of 20, before a judge pardoned him and suspended his sentence. Nick Nolte Arrested and fined $75,000 and sentenced to 45 years probation for selling fake incorporation cards. The judge then warned that if he was arrested for another crime, he would be jailed with the original terms of his sentence. Thus, he was on probation for the duration of the Vietnam War, in which he was unable to participate. In fact, his conviction made him ineligible for military service. Although he was forced to serve, he said he felt incomplete as a young man because he had not been to Vietnam.

In the court ID photo – or snapshot – related to this arrest, we find A Nick Nolte Before fame, with short hair and a button-down shirt.

In 2018, the actor returned to this belief, as well as his second arrest years later, in his memoirs. Rebel: My Life Outside the Lines. At 77, he was finally ready to tell his story.

“I had two shots in my life. It’s hard to get them. And if you do get them, you better make sure you consider the circumstances under which you got them“- the actor told the Associated Press. “The best way to deal with the biggest mistakes in your life is to talk about them. With everyone, including God.”

• Star Wars: Nick Nolte Joins Mandalore Live Series

The autobiography traces the rise of the actor, a Midwestern jock who rose to fame later by trading his stage performances for films.

“I have always been very attracted to acting because it involves taking risks. Actors take risks. And they risk their own mental health.“

risk taking

Yes, he took a risk. The book tells the story of his incredible appetite for drugs and the time he single-handedly saved the movie Under Fire (1983) by smuggling cartridges from Mexico, one step ahead of the law.

We also learn that he ate real dog food in The Tramp of Beverly Hills (1986) and that he took real heroin during the eight weeks of filming Riviera Man (2002) to better portray a heroin addict.

The actor also reviewed his interactions with his co-stars. While he had good things to say about Eddie Murphy, Katharine Hepburn, and Barbra Streisand, he did not for Debra Winger (Sardine Street) and Edward Norton (he also swore that “Cut his throat“). It also recounts a spectacular prank that Woody Harrelson played on Sean Penn in Australia, involving real policemen and guns blazing.

• Built from the Past: North Dallas Forty by Rambo Director

We are talking about shots…

And, of course, there is the story of his infamous arrest on September 11, 2002. He had gone to the gym that day for a GHB-enhanced workout, but felt sick. So he heads to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, but doesn’t get in and instead ends up on Pacific Coast Highway and gets arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

The photo of his arrest will be circulated in the press after that. In 2002, he pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence and was sentenced to 3 years probation, ordered to complete alcohol and drug counseling with random testing.

However, in a 2011 interview with GQ, he said that the famous photo was not a snapshot, but a Polaroid taken by a young cop at the police station, which he licensed so the cop and his friends could make money. Money by selling. The police said otherwise.

“I needed help“, he finally wrote in 2018 and added that he looked like this in the photo.An asylum inmate having fun in his floral Hawaiian shirt.” Now sober, he laughed at that. “I take full responsibility for this.“

We will find out in 2024 Nick Nolte In Rittenhouse Square, a drama in which he plays a homeless veteran who overcomes his difficult times with a young street singer through friendship and music.

In the meantime, you can find him in his latest film, eclipse (2022), with Josh Duhamel and Abby in CornishAvailable to stream on Netflix.