True Hollywood Story: Jack Nicholson Was A Nudist Literally All The Time

Jack Nicholson is best known for his iconic performances in movies like Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and that one GIF where he creepily nods in slow motion at Adam Sandler. One thing he’s less known for? Getting naked, and remaining naked, for extended periods of time. But apparently, one summer in the 1960s, that was Nicholson’s whole deal. As Jack once recounted to Playboy magazine, he decided to “wear nothing” as an “experiment” for three months “no matter who came by.”

Apparently, this understandably irritated his family, and even bothered legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman, despite the fact that Nicholson asserted that he “wasn’t throwing my wang around or anything” – and really just try to read that sentence and not hear it in the famous Jack Nicholson voice. It’s impossible. 

One acquaintance who was cool with it? The great character actor Harry Dean Stanton who “loved it” and “couldn’t wait to get over and be nude.” Although this experiment wasn’t just about airing out his junk, reportedly it was “designed to help Nicholson get over his body self-consciousness ahead of a pivotal sex scene” in a movie. 

While Nicholson confessed to indulging in the occasional 2 am nude pie-eating session, he claims that the experiment worked at the time but “it didn’t last.” So Nicholson eventually went back to wearing clothes all of the time – lest The Shining have had a way different vibe. Nicholson did end up showing his butt in the 2003 romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give – and head’s up, that link is Not Safe For Work, unless your work involves meeting with Jack Nicholson in his home.

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Top Image: Warner Bros.