Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor.
His famous roles include The Deep (1977), 48 Hrs., Down and Out in Beverly Hills, The Prince of Tides, Cape Fear, Lorenzo's Oil, Affliction, The Thin Red Line, Hulk, The Good Thief, and Warrior. He has earned numerous accolades during his career, including three Academy Award nominations (twice for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor).
Filmography on TV Tropes:
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Film
- Electra Glide in Blue (1973) as Hippie Kid (uncredited)
- The Deep (1977) as David Sanders
- North Dallas Forty (1979) as Phillip Elliott
- Cannery Row (1982) as "Doc" Eddie Daniels
- 48 Hrs. (1982) as Inspector Jack Cates
- Under Fire (1983) as Russell Price
- Teachers (1984) as Alex Jurel
- Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) as Jerry Baskin
- Extreme Prejudice (1987) as Texas Ranger Jack Benteen
- New York Stories (1989) as Lionel Dobie
- Three Fugitives (1989) as Daniel James Lucas
- Farewell To The King (1989) as Learoyd
- Q & A (1990) as Capt. Michael Brennan
- Cape Fear (1991) as Sam Bowden
- The Prince of Tides (1991) as Tom Wingo
- Lorenzo's Oil (1992) as Augusto Odone
- The Player (1992) as Himself
- I Love Trouble (1994) as Peter Brackett
- Mulholland Falls (1996) as Lt. Max Hoover
- Mother Night (1996) as Howard Campbell
- U Turn (1997) as Jake McKenna
- Affliction (1997) as Wade Whitehouse
- The Thin Red Line (1998) as Lt. Col. Gordon Tall
- Breakfast of Champions (1999) as Harry Le Sabre
- The Good Thief (2002) as Bob Montagnet
- Hulk (2003) as Dr. David Banner/The Father
- Clean (2004) as Albrecht Hauser
- Hotel Rwanda (2004) as Col. Oliver
- Neverwas (2005) as T.L. Pierson
- Off the Black (2006) as Ray Cook
- Over the Hedge (2006) as Vincent (voice)
- Paris, je t'aime (2006) as Vincent
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008) as Joe Bechstein
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) as Mulgarath
- Tropic Thunder (2008) as Sgt. John "Four Leaf" Tayback
- Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010) as Butch (voice)
- Arthur (2011) as Burt Johnson
- Zookeeper (2011) as Bernie the Gorilla (voice)
- Warrior (2011) as Paddy Conlon
- The Company You Keep (2012) as Donal Fitzgerald
- Gangster Squad (2013) as Bill Parker
- Parker (2013) as Hurley
- Noah (2014) as Samyaza (voice)
- Run All Night (2015) as Eddie Conlon (uncredited)
- The Ridiculous 6 (2015) as Frank Stockburn
- Angel Has Fallen (2019) as Clay Banning
TV
- Cannon (1 episode, 1973) as Ron Johnson
- The Streets of San Francisco (1 episode, 1974) as Capt. Alan Melder
- Emergency! (1 episode, 1974) as Fred
- The Rookies (1 episode, 1974) as Tommy
- Gunsmoke (1 episode, 1974) as Barney Austin
- Barnaby Jones (2 episodes, 1974–75) as Mark Rainey/Paul Barringer
- Luck (2011–12) as Walter James Smith
- Gracepoint (2014) as Jack Reinhold
- Graves (2016–17) as President Richard Graves
- The Mandalorian (3 episodes, 2019) as Kuiil (voice)
- Poker Face (1 episode, 2023) as Arthur Liptin
Tropes and Trivia in his works:
- Cool Old Guy: Tends to play such roles since the early 2000s.
- Death Glare: IMDb notes that he has a "cold and unsettling" stare.
- Large Ham: In some movies, such as Tropic Thunder, he lets it really loose. Hell, our page image for Chewing the Scenery is Nolte literally doing that following a hammy rant in Hulk.
- Production Posse: One of his closest friends is writer-director Alan Rudolph. They have worked together on four films.
- The Rival: Harrison Ford and Kurt Russell are his biggest competitions in his prime.
- Typecasting: Is often cast as crazed and unstable characters.
- What Could Have Been:
- He, along with Christopher Walken, were both considered for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
- Turned down the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Noticing a pattern here?
- Was supposed to host Saturday Night Live back in 1982 as part of the promotional tour for 48 Hrs., which was the film debut of then SNL star Eddie Murphy, but fell ill at the last minute and had to drop out, so Murphy hosted in his place.
- Was considered for the role of Superman/Clark Kent in Superman: The Movie.
- He eagerly pursued the role of Cpt. Willard in Apocalypse Now. When Harvey Keitel was fired, Nolte thought he had the part, but Coppola gave it to Martin Sheen.
- Considered for the lead in The Thing (1982).
- Considered for the role of the titular John Rambo.
- Was cast in Pride And Glory, but just before shooting began, an old knee injury flared up from his footballing days and he had to drop out.
- Was considered for the role of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, one of three roles that ultimately went to Harrison Ford.
- Was considered for the role of Jeffrey Goines in 12 Monkeys.
- Was set to star in Tequila Sunrise, but dropped out. Kurt Russell got the part.
- Declined the role of Snake Plissken in Escape from New York. The part eventually went to Kurt Russell.
