Nick Nolte's Real Name: Nicholas King Nolte

Quick answer: Nick Nolte's documented full name is given as Nicholas King Nolte by Encyclopaedia Britannica, which dates his birth to February 8, 1941, in Omaha, Nebraska. Encyclopedia.com gives the same date and place under the name Nick Nolte (Encyclopaedia Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

Britannica lists Nicholas King Nolte. Encyclopedia.com records the professional name Nick Nolte and the same Omaha birth. Britannica says he spent much of his childhood moving from town to town before the family settled again in Omaha, where he was active in high-school sports. He attended Arizona State University on a football scholarship but left after one semester, then attended several other colleges without earning a degree. In the early 1960s he settled in California and began a stage career at the Pasadena Playhouse. Encyclopedia.com notes later study at Pasadena City College and Phoenix City College and stage work in Phoenix, Denver, Minneapolis, and Chicago.

Career highlights

After a decade in repertory theater, he returned to Los Angeles in 1973 with William Inge's The Last Pad. Small television parts led to his first credited feature, Return to Macon County (1975), and to the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), in which Britannica says his performance as Tom Jordache brought him wide notice. Film roles followed in North Dallas Forty (1979) and 48 Hrs. (1982), opposite Eddie Murphy. He later appeared in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991) and earned Academy Award nominations for The Prince of Tides (1991), Affliction (1997), and Warrior (2011). Encyclopedia.com also lists a Golden Globe Award for The Prince of Tides. Later credits cited by Britannica include Hotel Rwanda (2004), Tropic Thunder (2008), the HBO series Luck (2011–12), and a voice role on The Mandalorian (2019).

Legal matters

Britannica records that Nolte was arrested in 2002 for driving under the influence and later spent time in a rehabilitation clinic. CNN reported that on December 12, 2002, he pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to a misdemeanor DUI charge and was placed on three years' probation, fined $500, and ordered to complete a 90-day substance-abuse program and submit to random testing (CNN).

Name notes for searchers

Britannica gives Nicholas King Nolte; Encyclopedia.com lists him as Nick Nolte. He is known professionally as Nick Nolte. Searchers looking for Tom Jordache in Rich Man, Poor Man, or for the star of 48 Hrs. and The Prince of Tides, are usually aiming at the same person.