EXCLUSIVE: Jack Nicholson's Love and Loss — Reclusive Hollywood Star Lives in Regret of Losing 'Love of His Life' Anjelica Huston as He Celebrates 89th Birthday
Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston dated on and off for 17 years.
April 22 2026, Published 3:33 p.m. ET
Jack Nicholson famously dated Anjelica Huston on and off for nearly 20 years, but she called it quits for good in 1990 after constantly dealing with his playboy ways.
As the reclusive Hollywood star turns 89 years old, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal that he still "misses" Huston and "can't believe what a fool he was" for ruining their romance.
'She's the Love of His Life'
A source called Anjelica Huston the 'love' of Jack Nicholson's 'life.'
Huston and Nicholson met at a party held at his Los Angeles home in 1973 and quickly became embroiled in a heated on-again, off-again relationship for the next 17 years.
While the Addams Family actress admitted he'd stepped out on their romance in the past, her breaking point came when he revealed that he'd fathered a child with waitress-turned-actress Rebecca Broussard during their relationship.
"She’s the love of his life," a source spilled in resurfaced quotes. "He feels like such an idiot for messing it all up because he couldn't keep it in his pants."
"There's not much Jack can do but pine from a distance," added the source. "He talks a lot about how much he regrets the way he treated her. He was unfaithful in the worst possible way because he got another woman pregnant while they were together. It's no wonder Anjelica dumped him."
Jack Nicholson got Rebecca Broussard pregnant during his relationship with Anjelica Huston.
Despite more than three decades passing since their breakup, the source claimed Nicholson – who has lived primarily out of the public eye for years – would still "love another chance with her" in his old age.
In fact, during the Pacific Palisades fires in early 2025, the As Good As It Gets actor was "hoping to play the hero" and potentially spark a new connection, according to the source.
Reconnecting During Tragedy
Jack Nicholson contacted Anjelica Huston during the 2025 Pacific Palisades fires.
Huston herself said Nicholson reached out to her when she was escaping her home with her pets and her housekeeper.
"He called and asked if I was all right, and if I had someplace I was staying," she said at the time. "That’s the bottom line with he and I – when the chips are down, he’s there."
However, Huston wasn't open to the possibility of re-sparking their long-gone romance.
"She was touched but it didn't change anything for her," the source explained. "She will always love Jack in her own way, but there's no interest in a reunion."
Jack Nicholson's Cheating Ways Weren't 'Personal'
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Anjelica Huston said she 'knew how to protect' herself emotionally amid Jack Nicholson's infidelities.
Huston opened up about the ups and downs of their past relationship in a 2025 interview with The Guardian. Despite Nicholson's infidelities, the French Dispatch star said she stayed with him because she "loved him."
"I think in the world that I was living in, it wasn’t disrespectful. It was how he was, and it wasn’t so personal," she shared. "I think as soon as I clocked that, it was all right, I knew how to protect myself. It didn’t make me happy, but I knew what I was doing."
