Donald Furcillo: Who is Jack Nicholson’s father?

Donald Furcillo is the father of Jack Nicholson. Donald Furcillo’s son is one of the most celebrated American actors of all time. For more than 50 years, Jack Nicholson dominated blockbuster films in Hollywood and earned countless awards in the process. He is known for films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, As Good as It Gets,  The Shining,  Batman, and Chinatown just to mention a few.  His 12 Academy Award nominations make Nicholson the most nominated male actor in the Academy’s history.

Donald Furcillo: Bio Summary

Who is Jack Nicholson’s father, Donald Furcillo?

Donald Furcillo was born on May 23, 1909, in  Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Furcillo was an Italian-American showman.  Jack Nicholson’s mother  June Frances Nicholson married Furcillo on October 16, 1936, before realizing that he was already married. June was a Showgirl.

Biographer Patrick McGilligan stated in his book Jack’s Life that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), who was June’s manager, may have been Nicholson’s biological father, rather than Furcillo. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of the father’s identity.

ALSO, READ; June Frances Nicholson: What happened to Jack Nicholson’s mother?

June was only 16 and unmarried when she got pregnant with his son Jack, her parents- Ethel May Nicholson and John Joseph Nicholson agreed to raise Nicholson as their own child without revealing his true parentage, with June acting as his sister.

This went on for a very long time until 1974, when Jack Nicholson’s movie Chinatown was opening in theaters and Time Magazine chose to do a cover story on him. A reporter from the Outlet who was working on the story called him to verify some information about the actor.  Among these, was the fact that the person who he’d thought was his sister, June Nicholson, was in fact his mother.

Jack Nicholson then knew nothing about this, so denied it.  At this point his “sister” was dead, and so was his “mother”, dying in 1963 and 1970 respectively. After a few calls, his aunt who he thought was his “sister” told him his mother was in fact the deceased June, who he had thought his sister and the woman he had thought was his mother, in fact, his grandmother, and that she was not his sister but rather his aunt.

Nicholson was 37 years old at this point and both his real mother and the woman he had thought was his mother, were already dead;  both had chosen not to tell him.

Talking about the experience Nicholson said he’s glad they kept this secret to their graves, “I didn’t have to deal with it with them. They were dead.”; “I am that kind of person-what do I feel-and had the tools to know what I feel. Gratitude. I’ve often said about them: Show me any women today who could keep a secret, confidence, or an intimacy to that degree, you got my kind of gal.”

ALSO, READ; Jennifer Nicholson: Inside the Life of Jack Nicholson’s Daughter

What happened to Donald Furcillo?

Donald Furcillo passed away on July 27, 1997, in Ocean Grove, Monmouth Co., NJ. He was 88 years old at the time of his passing. His wife  June Frances Nicholson passed on earlier on July 31, 1963. Nicholson even spent time with his “sister”, who was his mother, at the hospital just before she died. 

At that time, the actor was filming one of his first movies at the time and shooting in Mexico, so he had to leave her as he desperately needed the money and it was his first major film.  He recalled her last words to him to be “Should I wait?” and he said “No” and left.  She died shortly thereafter succumbing to cancer; he got the call about her death when he arrived on set in Mexico.