Easy R Robert Alken FADE in: I first met Jack Nicholson at a talk given by J. Krishnamurti, the author of The First and Last Freedom (1967), in Ojai, California. He was impressed by the great teacher’s “awesome pres- ence” + Nicholson had recently scen him in New York. I was with director, Curtis Harrington, who was taken by K's beauty and - refinement. I was impressed by what he was saying... “The ulti- inate is in the immediate...” “Total negation equals total free- dom,” ctc. fade out. "DON'T Bogart that joint my friend: Jack Nicholson ‘and Peter Fonda on the set of Easy Rider. deo : With actress, Diane Varsi. I am in the living room, she, in the. kitchen making tea... Jack had snuck in the back door; + noticed; he was embracing her from behind and undulating, satyt-like... she alerted him that I was there. oe “*: Nicholson reluctantly stopped, scowled, slowly sauntered in, _ arrogandy plopped himself directly in front of me (in my face) - ‘and regarded me critically, He looked tired, scruffy, dusty having "just returned from alone peyote-inspired vision quest in the =~ desert. “Who is this guv?” he wondered — “Astrologer, actor, __ ” pretty-boy friend of Curtis Harrington, hanging out with Diane, _ der trio found t together with Jcff Corey. She was rejecting him. Why? Fade out. Take three: Ar U.C.L.A., I was with Harrington, again, (who had directed Jack’s friend, Dennis Hopper, in Night Tide) Curtis was acquainted with Monte Hellman, director of two low-budget existential westerns, Back Door To Hell and The Shooting, written by Adrien Joyce and starring Jack. They were very popular in France... “like Jerry Lewis!” we joked. The screening room was packed. Nicholson was incredibly nervous — really sweating it that evening. I had thought he had more confidence. Fade out. Take four: I delineated Jack’s horoscope at Stewart Stern’s home (Stern, the writer of Rebel Without A Cause, was in Connecticut with pal, Paul Newman working on Rachel, Rachel). Nicholson was born in Neptune, New Jersey (April, 1937). “Neptune, astrologically, rules the motion picture industry,” I told him. This reading was one month betore principal photogra- phy was to begin on Easy Rider (February °68). He was worried about his voice. He was being told that it wasn’t good enough. I scofted “Look at Brando’s voice... Warren Bearty’s! These aren't _deep, resonant, studied, phony, mellifluous Richard Chamberlain-like voices. You have a perfeerly decent, natural voice.” He was also concerned about not being “good looking enough... I"m a ‘character,’ y’know,” . “Well,” I told him, “if you don’: compare yourself with the tikes of Cary Grant, Rock Hudson... or the Tab Hunter's you'll be better off. You don’t want to be like them, do you? You're a more serious actor, right?” . It was crystal clear trom his powerful chart that he would soon, very soon, graduate from low-budget Roger Corman pic- tures and movics like The Trip and become a major star, a phe- nomenal success as director and writer as well as actor, and that he would have staying power — that he would play all sorts of roles, outrageous characters, and be known as onc of the two or three greatest American actors of our time. “You'll probably wind up with Oscars up the kazoo.” I recall saying (or something like that). : He took a deep breath, flared his nostrils, squinted, scruti- nized me suspiciously, clearly, he didn’t belicve it. Pregnant pause. “They say {’m too short,” he responded. “Yeah, and Diane says your butt’s too big and you sometimes walk like a lady —look at Tony Curtis, jack. They put Alan Ladd on a box until they found him a leading lady shorter than he was.” That's when we discovered that we were both fans of Veronica Lake. Again, I strongly suggested he drop all such concerns and predicted that he would be elevated to great heights within the next two years, and would remain there. At that point he grinned broadly and announced with great flare, “Yeah, well, everybody wants to be a movie star!” Then, he offered me a joint, we par- took and out went the focus of'a two-hour, free-wheeling read- ing — it was aimless reveric and laughter from then on. = “had wanted him to help out Diane Varsi financially at least Friday, December 35,1999 — Hort: Shore News - 47. heir route get er a job. He confessed that he loved her, too. There was a competitive edge there. Then, one evening, I was giving a lecture at L.A.’s Anderson Research Centre on “The Next Twenty Five Years” —~ astrology. metaphysics, even the significance of L. Ron Hubbard's contro- versial Scientology (I had been given some free Dianetics audit- ing in return for bringing them a few celebrities). Nicholson was there with Joc Steffano, author of Psyche. They talked animatedly throughout my presentation. I didn’t mind. I was glad they had come. At the end of it, he approached me, fooked me intently in the eye and stated, “You're talking over their heads, man.” This, of course, I knew. “Well, did you get what I was saving?” See Hopper Page 38 - ARTHRITIS? GLUCOSAMINE & € 2 ALLERGY, ARTHRITIS? - MSM - 1000 mg 1 ENERGY - \) % t B**ii00 caps H 5 90 caps H = 500 mg j ANDERSONS PHARMACY 273 Lonscate Ave. 988-5271 | SAVE-ON-SUPPLEMENTS DEPOT, (1520 Lonsdate Ave. WALK — ay: = lurday - Sunday NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY — a : Walk in doctors: ae . 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