Early life

Nolte was born February 8, 1941, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Franklin Arthur Nolte (1904-1978), 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 (1929-1931), and his mother, Helen (née King; 1914-2000), was a department store buyer. His ancestry includes German, English, Scots-Irish, Scottish and Swiss-German. Nolte's maternal grandfather, Matthew Leander King, invented the hollow-tile silo and was prominent in early aviation. 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, but was expelled for fighting and hiding beer before practice and being caught drinking it 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, Nolte lettered in football as a tight end and defensive end in basketball with 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, Nolte worked for the Falstaff Brewery in Omaha.

After stints at the Pasadena Playhouse and The Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles, Nolte spent several years traveling the country and working in regional theaters, including the Old Log Theater in Minnesota for three years.

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 Sigourney Weaver; 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 forty films, playing a wide variety of characters. Diversity of character, and his 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. 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 The Deep (1977), Who'll Stop the Rain (1978), North Dallas Forty (1979) which is based on Peter Gent's novel, and starred in 48 Hrs. (1982) with Eddie Murphy. During the 1980s, he starred in Under Fire (1983), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987) and New York Stories (1989). Nolte and Murphy starred again in the sequel Another 48 Hrs.. 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 Afterglow (1997). He received his second Academy Award nomination the same year for Affliction. Nolte starred with Sean Penn in three films, including Terrence Malick's war epic The Thin Red Line, U Turn and Gangster Squad.

Nolte continued to work in the 2000s, taking smaller parts in Clean and Hotel Rwanda, both performances received positive reviews. He also played supporting roles in the 2006 drama Peaceful Warrior and the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. In 2011, Nolte played recovering alcoholic Paddy Conlon in Warrior, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. While filming the HBO series Luck, it lasted for one season in March 2012, after the death of three horses.

In 2015, Nolte starred in the biopic comedy-drama A Walk in the Woods and in the revenge thriller Return to Sender.

Personal life

In 1965, Nolte was arrested for selling counterfeit documents and was given a 45-day jail sentence and a $75,000 fine; however, the sentence was suspended. This felony conviction did, however, erase his military-joining eligibility - at the time, he felt obligated to serve in the Vietnam War. As a result, Nolte says he felt incomplete as a young man for not going to Vietnam.

On September 11, 2002, Nolte was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Malibu. Three days later, he checked himself into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut for counseling. 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." 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.

Nolte has been in relationships with Debra Winger and Vicki Lewis. He has two children, Brawley (b. 1986) and Sophie (b. 2007).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Dirty Little Billy	Town Gang Leader	Uncredited
1973	Electra Glide in Blue	Hippie Kid	Uncredited
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
1982	48 Hrs.	Jack Cates
1983	Under Fire	Russell Price
1984	Grace Quigley	Seymour Flint
1984	Teachers	Alex Jurel
1986	Down and Out in Beverly Hills	Jerry Baskin
1987	Extreme Prejudice	Jack Benteen
1987	Weeds	Lee Umstetter
1989	Three Fugitives	Lucas
1989	Farewell to the King	Learoyd
1989	New York Stories	Lionel Dobie	Segment: "Life Lessons"
1990	Everybody Wins	Tom O'Toole
1990	Q&A	Captain Michael Brennan
1990	Another 48 Hrs.	Jack Cates
1991	Cape Fear	Sam Bowden
1991	The Prince of Tides	Tom Wingo
1992	Lorenzo's Oil	Augusto Odone
1992	The Player	Himself	Cameo
1994	I'll Do Anything	Matt Hobbs
1994	Blue Chips	Pete Bell
1994	I Love Trouble	Peter Brackett
1995	Jefferson in Paris	Thomas Jefferson
1996	Mulholland Falls	Max Hoover
1996	Mother Night	Howard Campbell
1997	Nightwatch	Inspector Thomas Cray
1997	Afterglow	Lucky Mann
1997	U Turn	Jake McKenna
1997	Affliction	Wade Whitehouse
1998	The Thin Red Line	Lt. Col. Gordon Tall
1999	Breakfast of Champions	Harry Le Sabre
1999	Simpatico	Vincent Webb
2000	The Golden Bowl	Adam Verver
2000	Trixie	Senator Drumond Avery
2001	Investigating Sex	Faldo
2002	The Good Thief	Bob Montagnet
2003	Northfork	Father Harlan
2003	Hulk	Dr. David Banner
2004	The Beautiful Country	Steve
2004	Clean	Albrecht Hauser
2004	Hotel Rwanda	Colonel Oliver
2005	Neverwas	T.L. Pierson
2006	Over the Hedge	Vincent (voice)
2006	Paris, je t'aime	Vincent (segment "Parc Monceau")
2006	Peaceful Warrior	Socrates
2006	Quelques jours en septembre	Elliott
2006	Off the Black	Ray Cook
2007	Chicago 10	Thomas Horan (voice)	Documentary
2008	The Mysteries of Pittsburgh	Joe Bechstein
2008	The Spiderwick Chronicles	Mulgarath
2008	Tropic Thunder	John "Four Leaf" Tayback
2010	My Own Love Song	Caldwell
2010	Huxley on Huxley	Himself	Documentary
2010	Arcadia Lost	Benerji
2010	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Butch (voice)
2011	Arthur	Burt Johnson
2011	Zookeeper	Bernie the Gorilla (voice)
2011	Warrior	Paddy Conlon
2012	The Company You Keep	Donal
2013	Gangster Squad	Bill Parker
2013	Parker	Hurley
2013	Hateship, Loveship	Mr. McCauley
2013	The Trials of Cate McCall	Bridges
2014	Noah	Samyaza (voice)
2015	A Walk in the Woods	Katz
2015	Run All Night	Eddie Conlon	Uncredited
2015	Return to Sender	Mitchell Wells
2015	The Ridiculous 6	Frank Stockburn

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color		Episode: "The Feather Farm"
1973	Griff	Billy Randolph	Episode: "The Framing of Billy the Kid"
1973	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"
1974	Emergency!	Fred	Episode: "The Hard Hours"
1974	The Rookies	Tommy	Episode: "The Teacher"
1974	Toma	Wally	Episode: "Friends of Danny Beecher"
1974	Chopper One	Bob	Episode: "The Hijacking"
1974	Gunsmoke	Barney Austin	Episode: "The Tarnished Badge"
1974	Winter Kill	Dave Michaels	Movie
1974	The California Kid	Buzz Stafford	Movie
1974-1975	Barnaby Jones	Mark Rainey, Paul Barringer	2 episodes
1975	Adams of Eagle Lake	Officer Jerry Troy	2 episodes
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	Graves	President Richard Graves	Pre-production

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man	Primetime Emmy Awards	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Nominated
1977		Golden Globe Awards	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama	Nominated
1979	Who'll Stop the Rain	National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	3rd place
	North Dallas Forty	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor	3rd place
1980		National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	3rd place
1988	Weeds	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama	Nominated
1991	The Prince of Tides	Boston Society of Film Critics	Best Actor	Won
		Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Actor	Won
		New York Film Critics Circle Awards	New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor	Nominated
1992		Academy Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Actor	Nominated
		Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama	Won
		National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	3rd place
1997	Affliction	Valladolid International Film Festival	Best Actor	Won
1998	New York Film Critics Circle	Best Actor	Won
1999	Academy Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama	Nominated
	Independent Spirit Awards	Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead	Nominated
	National Society of Film Critics	Best Actor	Won
	Sant Jordi Awards	Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated
	The Thin Red Line	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
2011	Warrior	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Denver Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		San Diego Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor	Won
		Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
2012		Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
		Online Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated

Other honors

• 1992 - People Magazine: Sexiest Man Alive

Charities

Nick Nolte supports the following charitable cause: Civil Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]