Five Easy Decades

Description

A Hollywood insider unspins the life of Jack Nicholson, one of Tinseltown's most successful and intriguing actors. Unconventional, uninhibited, and unrestrained, Jack Nicholson is a famous and infamous pop culture icon known for his romantic escapades, his hair trigger temper, and his love affair with the L.A. Lakers. This candid, probing biography gives legions of fans a spellbinding, incisive look at the megawatt method actor with the enigmatic Cheshire cat grin. Written by a veteran journalist with access to Hollywood's heavy hitters, this fascinating chronicle spans half a century of star power, focusing on one of filmdom's most celebrated folk heroes. Jack rose to fame with portrayals of antiheros ranging from the demented, demonic, or despicable to characters who were somehow lovable in spite of their eccentricities. He won three Oscars and seven Golden Globes, but beyond the accolades is a man who remains largely unknowable. His bad boy image masks a complicated past, a complex present, half a dozen children, and an art collection, real estate, and business empire that have made him one of the world's wealthiest entertainers.

Reviews

"model biography: exhaustive, full of action, and startlingly illuminating... .engrossing..." (Publishers Weekly, December 31st, 2007) "...painstakingly charts the actor's rise from decidedly humble beginnings...to the very top of the Hollywood pile" (Irish Independent, December 31st 2008)

Author description

Dennis McDougal writes about Hollywood for the New York Times. A former Los Angeles Times staff writer, he won more than forty awards for his hard-nosed coverage of the entertainment industry. He is the bestselling author of The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden History of Hollywood and Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty.

Table of contents

Preface.Prologue.Book I: Auspicious Beginnings, 1937 - 1968.Book II: Easy Riding, 1969 - 1975.Book III: Wanted Man, 1976 - 1984.Book IV: Idiot Wind, 1985 - 1992.Book V: Things Have Changed, 1993 - 2005.Epilogue.Acknowledgments.Notes.Bibliography.Photo Credits.Index.