Jack Nicholson's daughter, actress Lorraine Nicholson, penned a personal essay for Vanity Fair describing her father's relationship with actress Lara Flynn Boyle.
Just days after the passing of Twin Peaks creator David Lynch, Lorraine, 34, shared her story of growing up and finding a role model in Lara, now 54, who came to prominence for her in Twin Peaks as well.
"When I was nine, my best friend was 30-year-old ingénue Lara Flynn Boyle," she wrote, first describing the car crash Lara and Jack, now 87, were in when they first began dating in 1999.
"Their union was presented as something to be ashamed of, inspiring the kind of tsk-tsk condemnation that belies the thrill of imagining such a life," she continued, emphasizing the public scandal over their 33-year age gap.
Lorraine also described what her family life with Jack and her younger brother Ray, now 32, was like when she was younger. "In our house, we lived more by the motto 'Children are to be seen, not heard' than any hippie California ethos."
"And yet, this was the marvelous world of Jack Nicholson," she added, describing driving "drive golf balls into the canyons," 9 PM dinners, and living in fear of their "reclusive neighbor" Marlon Brando as kids. "In other words, like the Banks family of Mary Poppins fame, we were primed for the arrival of magic."
© Getty ImagesLorraine continued to depict the separation of her parents Jack and actress Rebecca Broussard, who had found a partner of her own by that point, and first interacting with Lara when she joined her to play with dolls.
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Lorraine and Lara bonded over feeling insecure about their appearance, with the former pointing out that her father's girlfriend could even tell she engaged in "self harm" as a nine-year-old.
© Getty Images"Though she and my father weren't married, I grabbed onto Lara like she was made of glue," she affectionately remembered, mentioning that she "acted as a bridge between [Jack] and his children," speaking of board games with the family, Lara's affectionate relationship with her and Ray, and her father's softening demeanor.
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However, as Lara's career began to decline in Hollywood, her relationship with Jack came to a close as well in 2004, spurred on by Rebecca's continuing issues with alcoholism, which Lorraine revealed left her devastated as a 12-year-old.
© Getty ImagesShe looked back on her public ups and downs, saying it offered to her a new perspective on the perception of women in the spotlight that emboldened her own ideas of herself.
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The actress revealed that she had asked Lara to speak with her for the story, their first interaction in 20 years, but she declined the offer. Since 2006, Lara has been married to Donald Ray Thomas II, a real estate investor.
© Getty ImagesLorraine concluded with: "In Lara, I saw characteristics that I liked — her irreverent sense of humor, her refusal to conform, her compassion for the underdog — and made them my own. Or, to quote the last words Lara ever said to me, 'I'll always have you in my heart, baby.'"
