How Jack Nicholson discovered

Jack Nicholson, known for his iconic film roles, experienced one of life’s biggest plot twists off-screen. Born in 1937, he grew up believing his grandmother, Ethel May, was his mother and that his actual mother, June, was his older sister. June had become pregnant at 18 by a married man, and to avoid scandal, the family decided to raise Jack under this deception. June later moved to Miami to pursue a showbiz career while Jack stayed in New Jersey. He eventually joined her in Los Angeles at 17 to start his own path in Hollywood, working first as an office boy at MGM before turning to acting.

In 1974, while preparing a profile on Nicholson, Time magazine researchers uncovered the truth about his parentage. The shocking news came just before the release of his film Chinatown: June was his mother, not his sister, and Ethel May was actually his grandmother. Nicholson, stunned, confirmed the truth with a family member but could never confront June or Ethel May as they had already passed away. Although deeply surprised, he later expressed admiration for how well the secret had been kept, and said it didn’t traumatize him—remarking instead that it had even benefited him in some ways.