Jack Nicholson has portrayed some of the most intense and complicated characters in cinema, but one of the most astonishing twists of his life came not from a movie script, it happened in his own family.
For nearly 40 years, the Oscar-winning actor believed the woman who raised him was his mother, only to later learn that she was actually his grandmother, and that the woman he thought was his sister was, in fact, his real mother.
A Carefully Kept Family Secret
Born in 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, Jack Nicholson’s childhood was built on a lie meant to protect his family from scandal. His biological mother, June Nicholson, was just 18 when she became pregnant. The father, a man named Don, was already married, so June’s mother, Ethel May, stepped in to raise Jack as her own child.
Under this arrangement, June was introduced to Jack as his much older sister, and her sister Lorraine as another sibling.
As a young woman, June left New Jersey to pursue a career as a showgirl in Miami, while Jack remained behind with Ethel May, the woman he believed to be his mother, InStyle details.
Rising Star in Hollywood
At 17, Nicholson followed June to Los Angeles, unaware of their true relationship. “Since my only relative in the world was June, who was out here, I came out to look around,” he told Rolling Stone in 1986.
He began his career as an office assistant in the animation department at MGM Studios before finding his footing as an actor. His undeniable charisma and intensity quickly made him one of Hollywood’s most promising young talents.
The Truth Emerges
Everything changed in 1974, just as Nicholson’s film Chinatown was about to be released. While researching a feature profile, journalists from Time magazine uncovered the truth about his family. They revealed that Ethel May, the woman Nicholson thought was his mother, was actually his grandmother and that June, the woman he believed to be his sister, was in fact his biological mother.
Even more shocking, the report suggested that Nicholson’s father might still be alive and living in New Jersey.
“This is the most f***ed thing I’ve ever heard,” Nicholson reportedly said upon hearing the news, according to biographer Patrick McGilligan.
When he called his aunt Lorraine’s husband for confirmation, the relative initially denied the claims but later admitted they were true. Both June and Ethel May had already passed away, leaving Nicholson unable to confront either woman about the deception.
Nicholson’s Reaction
Despite the revelation, the actor said he didn’t harbor resentment toward his family. “I was very impressed by their ability to keep the secret, if nothing else,” he later told Rolling Stone. “It’s done great things for me.”
Although he has occasionally joked about June being his “sister-mother,” Nicholson rarely speaks about the discovery publicly.
The revelation remains one of Hollywood’s most extraordinary real-life twists, a secret that could have come straight from one of his own movies.