Rebel - by Nick Nolte (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The legendary icon tells his story--a tale of art, passion, commitment, addiction, as intense and hypnotic as the man himself.

In a career spanning five decades, Nick Nolte has endured the rites of Hollywood celebrity. Rising from obscurity to leading roles and Oscar nominations, he has been both celebrated and vilified in the media; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine; and suffered public humiliation over his drug and alcohol issues, including a drug-fueled trip down a "long road of nothingness" that ended in arrest.

Despite these ups and downs, Nolte has remained true to the craft he loves, portraying a diverse range of characters with his trademark physicality and indelible gravelly voice. Already 35 when his performance in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man launched him to stardom, Nolte never learned to play by Hollywood's rules. A rebel who defies expectations, an obsessive method actor who will go to extremes for a role (he lived among the homeless to prepare for Down and Out in Beverly Hills), Nolte is motivated more by edgier, more personal projects than by box office success. Today he is clean yet still driven, juggling a number of upcoming works and raising his young daughter.

A man who refuses to hide his mistakes, Nolte now delivers his most revealing performance yet. His revealing memoir, filled with sixteen pages of color photos, offers a candid, unvarnished close-up look at the man, the career, the loves, and the life.

From the Back Cover

In a career spanning five decades and hundreds of roles, legendary actor Nick Nolte has become a true Hollywood icon. Rising from a difficult childhood in the rural Midwest to leading roles and a trio of Oscar nominations in the golden West, he has been both celebrated and vilified; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive"; and suffered public humiliation over his addiction issues, including a drug-fueled trip down the Pacific Coast Highway that resulted in his infamous arrest.

Despite these ups and downs, Nolte has remained true to the craft he loves, portraying a diverse range of characters with his trademark physicality and indelible gravelly voice. Already thirty-five when his performance in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man launched him to stardom, Nolte never learned to play by Hollywood's rules. A rebel who defies expectations, a committed actor willing to go to extremes for a role, Nolte is motivated by personal, edgy projects, not box office success. Today, he has found peace on his own terms, yet is still driven, juggling projects while raising his young daughter.

Nolte's untold story, with never-before-seen photos, offers a candid, unvarnished, close-up look at the man, the career, the loves, and the life.

Review Quotes

"The noted film actor and notorious bad boy hunkers down and tells a few tales of his life...Better than the usual run of actor memoirs and plenty of fun to boot." - Kirkus Reviews

"And now we have "Rebel: My Life Outside the Lines," playing at a bookstore near you. Touching, funny in parts, full of the excesses postwar America readily supplied, and, hopefully, truthful. Pick it up." - Washington Post