Jack Nicholson’s Life Took a Dramaticโค Turn When ‘Sister‘ Revealed asโ Mother,Decades After Grandmother’s Death
Los Angeles,CA – Hollywood icon Jack Nicholson learned a life-altering truth in 1974: the โwoman he believedโค to beโค his sister was,in fact,his mother. The revelation came during research for a documentary about the actor, forever reshapingโ his understanding of his family history and origins.
for decades, nicholson believed โhis parentsโ were Ethel May and John Nicholson. Though, a phone โฃcall fromโ a Time โmagazine journalist investigating a documentary about him unearthed a deeply โguarded secret. โขThe journalist inquired about Nicholson’s mother, June Nicholson, leading to a confrontation where Jack discovered June had given birth to him at theโ age of 17.
To avoid the social stigma of teenage motherhood and allowโ June to pursue her artistic ambitions, Jack was raised by his grandparents, Ethel May and John, who were presented โas his parents. The grandmother he knew as “mother,” Ethel May, had passed away in 1963.
While initially preferring โto keep the truth private, the documentary dr. Jack the Sr. Live brought the story toโ light. Nicholson later publicly acknowledgedโ his origins, stating, “After all, when I found out who โmy mother was, I was already psychologicallyโข mature. In fact,it clarified a โคlot of things for me. If I felt anything,โ it was, above all, gratitude.”
He further creditedโฃ the women in his life for instilling a strong sense of self-reliance. In a 1984 Rolling Stone interview, Nicholsonโ remarked, “If June or Ethel had had less character, I wouldโ never have lived. Thoseโข women gaveโ me the gift of life. Thay trained me well. To this day I โhave not โborrowed a nickel from anyone and I have never believed that I can’t take โcare of myself. They made my self-sufficiency โimperative.”
Despite uncovering this meaningful piece of his past, the identity of nicholson’s father remainsโค unknown. At 88 years old, the actor has yet to definitively learn who his paternal โparent is. Biographyโ Jack’s Life by Pat MacGilligan points to two potential candidates: Don Furcillo-Rose,a singer and showman June married shortly before Jack’s birth,and Eddie King,an actor and June’s dance partner.
Don Furcillo-Rose passed away inโข 1998,but before his death,he urged his daughter,donna Rose,to continue โคadvocating for his recognition as Nicholson’s father. Donna published a โคbook in 2001, You Don’t Know jack: The Story of an Eliminated Father, detailing her father’s claim. Tragically,โ Donna Rose died of cancer in 2005 without ever receiving a response from Nicholson.
The revelation of June Nicholsonโฃ as hisโข mother, and theโข ongoing mystery surrounding his father, adds a complex layer to the life story of one ofโ Hollywood’s most enduring and enigmatic figures.