These days, Nick Nolte is best known for playing tough, no-nonsense characters, but he was once a major sex symbol.

Now, the talented actor is 82 years old, and I must admit, he looks very different from his heartthrob days in the 1970s.

I have a lot of respect for Nick Nolte’s incredible talent – he’s truly one of the greatest actors in American cinema.

I love how his strong facial features, square jaw, pronounced forehead, and wild hair make him look like a powerful, almost larger-than-life character, like someone from a Shakespeare play.

His ability to play different roles, along with the intensity and emotion in his eyes, is what makes his acting so powerful. Nick always gives raw and honest performances, and his career shows that many people admire his work.

In 1991, Nolte won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in *The Prince of Tides*.

Nick Nolte’s powerful roles in movies like *Affliction* and *Warrior* earned him more Academy Award nominations. But today, he looks very different from his Golden Globe-winning days.

His famous messy mug shot from 2002 damaged much of his reputation. His legal problems and personal scandals made things worse.

For younger audiences, it might be hard to believe that Nolte was once the all-American hero of the 1970s. He was even named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.

So how did Nick Nolte become one of the most famous faces in America?

In high school, Nolte wasn’t much of an actor, according to his football coach in Omaha. He was a talented football player, but also a “skinny, awkward kid with a crew cut.”

Nolte says he was very shy as a child and didn’t feel comfortable in groups. He struggled in school, and later in life, he found out he had dyslexia.

The handsome Nick Nolte, born in Omaha, Nebraska, on February 8, 1941, got his big break in the TV miniseries *Rich Man, Poor Man* (1976). Soon after, he became a well-known name and an American heartthrob.

However, Nolte started as a model in the 1960s. One of his most famous photos was with Sigourney Weaver for Clairol’s “Summer Blonde” hair color campaign in 1972. According to *Eighties Kids*, it’s the only time a man has ever appeared on a box of women’s hair dye.

When Nick Nolte was cast in *Rich Man, Poor Man*, he was mostly unknown, but he stole the show as Tom, the brother of Rudy Jordache. He played the role like a true all-American hero.

The series completely changed Nolte’s life, as he won over fans as the ultimate bad boy, Tom. Nolte also had to put a lot of effort into his physical appearance. In the early scenes, where he played a younger version of his character, he weighed about 150 pounds.

“I remember the different stages I went through for *Rich Man, Poor Man*. That was the biggest age range, from 16 to 45. I thought about my weight in high school, which was 150 pounds. So I dropped down to that weight and got my teenage body back. I ran around the Hollywood reservoir day and night,” Nolte told *Insider* in 2022.