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Copyright
(c) Eve Berliner 2001. All Rights Reserved. [Terms and Conditions.] Young Jack
Nicholson: Auspicious Beginnings By Eve Berliner It was in reality the sign above Siverio
Furcillo's business reading "James Rose Real Estate", a sign that
Siverio inherited when he bought the building in the early 1900's, and as
many immigrant families disguised their origins in business, so too did Siverio
who permitted the sign to remain overhead for years to come, Mr. Rose this
and Mr. Rose that, and the assumption, of course, that Don and his brothers
and sister were all named Rose. Siverio, a man of old world values and
precepts, a devout Italian Catholic, was deeply distressed and angered by the
imbroglio his son had gotten himself into. But for his wife Antoinette, it festered
in her her whole life. Her last act on this earth was to claim her grandson
before God's eyes. Inscribed upon the stationery of Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, "To Rev.
Father Marcellino, Our Lady of "Jack
Nicholson my grandson. Donald D. Furcillo my son he is the father and his
mother she's June Nicholson stage name June Nilson was born in Antoinette Furcillo, known simply as the
Contessa to those who knew and loved her, nobility in her line and a great
fragile beauty. It is one of the strange phenomena of this
tale that Antoinette Furcillo's mother was to bear the same maiden name of
Soma as another rarefied beauty, Enrica Soma Huston, the mother of Anjelica
Huston. So that Jack's great grandmother and Anjelica's mother were to share
the same last name - (leading to the aberrant speculation that Jack and
Anjelica in their heyday were distant cousins!) It was to be old lady Furcillo who passed
away in 1984 at age 98, who was to preserve the historical record. For
stuffed behind the sofa in chaotic piles, paper bags, boxes, were a cache of
documents. The record left behind: The Marriage Certificate of Don and June,
the love letters, family letters, precious photographs, a collection of
newspaper clippings disclosing her intense interest in Jack from his earliest
days, records of moneygrams, an early publicity shot of June Nilson on the Hollywood
page of the Sunday Times, Chicago, May 1, 1938, performing at the College Inn
Revue. Chicago, 1938, Jack one year of age: Air Mail to Victor Furcillo, Murray State
College, Vic down in On the stationery of The Gramere Hotel: "Dear Vic:
...I'd like to give you a ringside of 'Battlin' Nilson vs. The People of
Chicago. She's in the neutral corner at all times but holding her own never
fear...I miss "Him" no end and I guess that goes double with
him. He writes me regularly and I called him a week ago. (Don't say anything
to "In a
minute I'll be crying on your shoulder and I didn't want to...I get so
terribly lonely and have so much time to think and I miss "My
Stinky" so much it's not even funny." Letter from Victor Furcillo to his mother
and father: "Dear Ma
and Pa: I'm sorry to hear that Don isn't doing so good...I sure like him no
matter what he does, he'll always be my favorite. "I hope he
gathers himself together soon. I know he still loves June. It is too bad.
Don't tell him I said that because you know he gets mad anytime anyone
mentions her name...." Vic to Don, undated: "You sure
are a peach of a brother but all kidding aside, if you need that money for
yourself I wish you wouldn't send it to me, not that I don't appreciate it. "Well
Eagle, how are the women treating you? Valentine Greetings by "Through
all the years, come rain or shine, I'll always be your Valentine." The communication is signed " * * * |
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Antoinette Furcillo was a volatile woman.
"What's running through his veins is running through mine," she
would proclaim and pound the kitchen table with her fist. Born in Monteforte Irpino, a small town
outside of "Things happen in the best of
families," she would utter. It was always a heartache, this boy with
the same bloodline as she. His career was of great interest to her
and her lady friends dropped by often with clippings and news of Jack. There is an accompanying photograph of the intense and searching countenance of a very young and captivating Jack Nicholson. Inscribed under it in Antoinette's unmistakable immigrant hand: "Donald R. |
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Furcillo's son." "His father
Donald R. Furcillo" she scrawls across the headline. "My son Donald
Furcillo." In the meantime," continues the article,
"friends and neighbors who remember Jack and his mother, Mrs. Ethel
Nicholson, now a * * * The rumor came via Gladys Whatley, a close
friend and confidante of Ethel Nicholson, who called Don. "They are
thinking of putting the baby up for adoption," said Gladys. Don called his mother. Antoinette phoned Ethel Nicholson. "You bring that child over here and
I'll raise him. I want that boy," she told Mrs. Nicholson who sharply
informed her that the rumor had no foundation and was absolutely false. And then there was the episode at
Newberry's Department Store, Antoinette walking with Eva Poinsette, suddenly
spying little Jackie in the aisle, "There's Don's little boy!" she
exclaimed, and walked over to the child, peered deep into his expressive eyes
and said: "Hello Jackie, I'm your grandma." "No, no. You're not my grandma. My
grandma's at home," responded the innocent boy. * * * Grandma's collection of photographs, gems
all: Little infant Jackie on a swing, finger in
mouth, which Grandma has cut and pasted onto a photo of June playing the
ukelele on the beach, sister Lorraine standing demurely behind her; Jack, age
four, an enchanting little fellow, most adorable, surrounded by no less than
five women, including Mud, June and Lorraine (an inclination toward females
that is to dog him all his days); cherubic, serious, ponderous Jack, seven or
eight years of age, at his Holy Communion; and a photograph of a very sweet
young girl named June Nicholson with her graduating class from Whitesville
Elementary School. The ties with Antoinette were to persist,
even as the years elapsed. Undated fragment of a letter from Grandma: "Dear
June...I can't tell you how happy I was to have received the picture of your
husband and children. I wish that I could see you and your family in person.
I also received the Mother's Day card. I was so happy I had to cry. I hope
that God will give you and your family good health and much
happiness...." And a second fragment in frail hand: "Dear June.
I was so happy to receive your children's pictures. Sorry I could not write
before. Have been ill and my son Victor is paralyzed and you know how I feel. "I sure
would love to see you and your family. If you go to see your Mother, stop
over and see me and all those you hold dear." |