Best Jake Nicholson Podcasts (2025)

1
Bonus Episode – Triple Threats, Mobbed Up Producers, and Post Prison Movies 41:44

4h ago41:44

41:44

On this week in the Wrap Party, Zeth and Jake are talking about entertainers who simultaneously dominate the small screen, the big screen, and the airwaves, as well as responding to your messages about everything from Jack Nicholson’s wild Hollywood nights to how one big studio head may or may not have had mob ties. Next week, get ready for our epi…

1
John Belushi: Punk Rock Riots, Chicago Street Brawls, and Missions from God 43:14

2d ago43:14

43:14

John Belushi may have been one of the funniest comedians of his generation, but he wasn’t just a funny guy. He was a rock star. He partied with the Stones, fronted a world-class band of R&B legends, and was responsible for a punk rock riot in Rockefeller Center. He drew the ire of street gangs in Chicago, attempted to steal a boat with his blues br…

1
Bonus Episode – Join Us in the Wrap Party 45:33

7d ago45:33

45:33

Welcome to the Wrap Party, the weekly bonus episode of the HOLLYWOODLAND podcast hosted by longtime Double Elvis writer and editor Zeth Lundy, along with HOLLYWOODLAND's host, Jake Brennan. This week we're talking about crimes of the century, rock star comedians, and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Next week, get ready for our episode on John Belushi. In …

1
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: Underground Brothels, Hush Money, Bootlegged Booze, and the Making of Hollywood’s Greatest Scandal 47:33

9d ago47:33

47:33

A century ago, at the birth of movie superstardom, silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was at the center of a scandal that rocked Hollywood to its core. He was accused of a murderous sex crime so depraved that it turned the nation not only against him but against Hollywood itself. It led to the trial of the century, and a test of whether Ameri…

1
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: A Teenage Jewel Thief, a Heel Turn Betrayal, and Raising the People’s Eyebrow 39:40

16d ago39:40

39:40

Long before he raised the People’s Eyebrow, dropped the People’s Elbow, and laid the smackdown on the candyass world of Hollywood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ran a jewelry theft ring in Waikiki. He and his peers worked the posh shopping district, snatching and grabbing whatever they could get their hands on and then pawning their haul for cold, hard…

1
Jack Nicholson: Hidden Drugs, Road Rage, and a Shocking Crime 43:37

23d ago43:37

43:37

In some of Hollywood’s best-loved movies, Jack Nicholson played jokers, sailors, inmates – even the Devil himself. But he never played by the rules. He allegedly mooned a crowd of thousands at a basketball game. His bedroom kinks were laid bare in the papers. He fought the MPAA and the LAPD. And in 1994, he attempted to establish his own set of rul…

1
Will Smith: Fist Fights, Jail Cells, and the Slap Heard Round the World 40:26

1M ago40:26

40:26

In 1989, shortly after winning his first Grammy Award at just 20 years old, Will Smith was arrested and charged with assault after a brawl at a popular Philadelphia radio station left one man nearly blind. It almost ended his career just as things were getting started. But Will Smith overcame this challenge, and so many others, to become one of the…

1
Tim Allen: Cocaine in Kalamazoo, Life in Prison, and Flipping for the Feds 43:25

1M ago43:25

43:25

Before he was headed to infinity and beyond, Tim Allen was headed to life in prison for a low-level drug deal in Michigan. This is the story about how his first career ended in a life-changing bust, and what he had to do in order to survive and find a way out. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including discussi…

1
Presenting You Must Remember This: Frank Capra 1:25:28

1M ago1:25:28

1:25:28

Today we’re bringing you an incredible episode from You Must Remember This about director Frank Capra. The director of It’s a Wonderful Life, who won five Oscars in the 1930s for films that embodied the pre-World War II notion of American exceptionalism, was pushed into semi-retirement by the early 50s by changes in tastes and political priorities.…

1
Phil Hartman: Blackmail, an Attempted Presidential Assassination, and a Murder-Suicide 44:48

1M ago44:48

44:48

Before he was deemed “the Glue” by his castmates at Saturday Night Live, Phil Hartman worked as a rock ‘n roll roadie and a graphic designer. He created album covers for the bands Poco and America, as well as the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash. He did those things as a card-carrying member of the peace and love movement. A movement that was infamou…

1
Robin Williams: A Manic Mind at Breakneck Speed, an Addiction to Laughter, and the Devil’s Dandruff 43:35

2M ago43:35

43:35

Robin Williams’ manic mind moved at such a breakneck speed that cocaine had the opposite effect than it had on most other people: it slowed him down. Robin’s primary addiction, however, wasn’t cocaine. He was addicted to the dopamine rush of being on a stage, where he could let his mind run wild with free association, and be rewarded with uproariou…

1
SEYSES: George Berczely 40:48

2M ago40:48

40:48

George Berczely's journey from corporate executive to search fund entrepreneur is a testament to adaptability and personal growth. He shares his candid experiences navigating the search process, acquiring SEYSES, and the challenges of integrating into a new role and industry. This episode highlights the personal transformation that comes with embra…

1
Sharon Tate Pt 2: Rape, Drugs, and Murdering New Hollywood 41:10

2M ago41:10

41:10

Sharon Tate’s entanglement with Charles Manson and her husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, as well as her involvement in some of the long-rumored hedonistic events at her home on Cielo Drive put her at the center of a counter-narrative that explosively disrupts the supposed motive for the Manson family murders. Was Sharon Tate blissfully ignorant of…

1
Sharon Tate Pt 1: Wild Parties and Dangerous Company 44:50

2M ago44:50

44:50

Sharon Tate was a sophisticated beauty who literally stopped traffic when she walked down the street. She began her movie career when America was becoming sexually liberated, and despite the ease with which she was made a sex symbol, she aspired to be respected as a serious actress. Decades later, however, she is perhaps best-remembered as one of t…

1
David Lynch: A Brutal Murder, a Corrupt Small Town, and the Secret Origins of Twin Peaks 42:57

2M ago42:57

42:57

In 1908, a girl was brutally murdered in a small town in upstate New York. The town was seemingly idyllic, but beneath the surface, it was crawling with prostitution, orgies, deceit, and corruption. It was fueled by a political machine so powerful it could cover up not just one but multiple murders. The truth behind the murder of Hazel Drew was mea…

1
John Waters: Subversion, Shock, and the Ultimate Outsider 42:12

2M ago42:12

42:12

The films of John Waters were so nasty, so shocking ,and so subversive that shock author William Burroughs called him "The Pope of Trash." But from his beginnings in X-rated art films to cult classics like Hairspray and Crybaby, John Waters created and cultivated his own peculiar niche in film while nurturing the unique company of players who becam…

1
Introducing: HOLLYWOODLAND… 2:09

3M ago2:09

2:09

…the Hollywood and true crime spinoff from the award winning music and true crime podcast, DISGRACELAND, and the newest expansion from the folks at Double Elvis. The most dramatic non-fiction stories ever heard come from the world of entertainment. Specifically the dark side of entertainment. The true crime stories from Hollywood; the mysterious de…

1
James Dean: A Death Foretold, a Gruesome Publicity Stunt, and a Haunted Car 39:27

3M ago39:27

39:27

James Dean died in a high speed car crash at the age of 24, but his legend lives on. Fan clubs held monthly memorial services and wrote movie studios begging for relics of their patron saint. Professional illusionists swore they could resurrect his body. Rumors that Dean survived the deadly crash were spurred on, and in some cases planted, by a fil…

1
Charlie Sheen: Tiger Blood, Porn Stars, and the High-Priest Vatican Assassin Warlock 40:55

3M ago40:55

40:55

Not one but two of Charlie Sheen’s Mercedes were found crashed into a ravine off Mulholland Drive on separate occasions. By that point, he was working on running his career off the road for a second or third time, in a haze of alcohol, cocaine, $30,000 one-night stands, awkward dinner dates with porn stars and his ex-wife, livestream rants, LAPD ho…

1
Danny Trejo: A Prison Riot, the Gas Chamber, and Becoming Fear 37:34

3M ago37:34

37:34

Danny Trejo holds the record for most on-screen deaths by an actor. His go-to role is the bad guy – the baddest guy. The guy you do not mess with. And for the first 25 years of his life, he was that guy for real. He led a life of violence and drugs that landed him in just about every hardcore prison in California, including Folsom and San Quentin. …

1
Drew Barrymore: Curses, Corpses, and a Coked-Up Child Star in the Club 41:33

3M ago41:33

41:33

Drew Barrymore spent her childhood charming audiences on movie screens and cramming cocaine up her nose at the most exclusive clubs in the country. Her breakout role as Gertie in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial rocketed her to such far-reaching fame that she became a regular at Studio 54 when she was only 7 years old. Her early taste for unchaperoned ni…

1
Sean Penn: A Prison Escape, The Night Stalker, and Madonna’s True Blue Bad Boy 41:23

3M ago41:23

41:23

In the summer of 1985, Sean Penn’s marriage to preeminent material girl Madonna was an epochal moment for ‘80s-era Hollywood. The bad boy from Bad Boys and the boy-toy pop superstar blissfully brought together the worlds of movies and music on a Malibu bluff overlooking the Pacific. But their subsequent attempt to make a movie together was anything…

1
Patty Hearst: Brainwashing, Cyanide Bullets, and an Heiress-Turned-Terrorist 43:18

3M ago43:18

43:18

Before Patty Hearst appeared as an actress in John Waters' movies, she captivated America on the silver screen as a hostage terrorized by the Symbionese Liberation Army. When the newspaper heiress was kidnapped by the radical organization in 1974, the country sympathized with her plight. But after just a few months, the SLA’s guns weren’t pointing …

1
Mel Gibson: Sin, Salvation, and Staring Down the Barrel of a Gun 39:43

3M ago39:43

39:43

Mel Gibson is the explosive action star who plunged straight into Mad Max’s Wasteland and straight into insanity. Molded by a violent childhood and an early taste for alcohol, his reputation as a thrill-hungry lunatic extends from movie sets to the director’s chair, where he’s unflinchingly recreated scene of bone-crushing torture and human sacrifi…

1
The Black Dahlia (Elizabeth Short): A Gruesome Murder, a Corrupt Police Department, and an Unsolvable Mystery 44:26

3M ago44:26

44:26

In January 1947, the mutilated body of 22-year old Elizabeth Short was found, literally cut in half, in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Even though hundreds of suspects were investigated and dozens of confessions were made, her murder remains unsolved to this day. In the years since, the case has gotten warm and cold again. Speculation into motive and…

1
Armie Hammer: Dirty Texts, Bloodthirsty Fetishes, and a Cannibal Kink 38:44

3M ago38:44

38:44

With his chiseled jawline and matinee idol good looks, Armie Hammer could have been another leading man like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. But Armie Hammer was not most movie stars. He wasn't even most people. On the surface, his life was perfectly curated and appeared picture-perfect, with no major public scandals or dirt-digging by the press. But his …

1
John Huston: A Duel, a Fatal Car Crash, and Living Hand to Mouth 39:44

3M ago39:44

39:44

Director John Huston lived the adventurous life that was frequently depicted in his movies. As a young man, he was made an honorary lieutenant in the Mexican army. He was nearly shot during a poker game and challenged to a duel in the middle of the street. His thrill-seeking antics soon turned fatal, when he accidentally struck and killed a woman w…

1
Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Sofia Coppola, and The Bling Ring 39:36

3M ago39:36

39:36

In the early 2010s, a group of burglars ransacked Hollywood homes like the city was their personal shopping mall. No celebrity was safe from their sticky fingers: Not Lindsay Lohan, not Orlando Bloom, and especially not Paris Hilton, who perhaps lost the most luxury loot of anyone. The thieves pocketed over $3 million dollars' worth of custom coutu…

1
The Dating Game Killer: Persuasion, Charm, and a Depraved Murderer at Large 42:38

3M ago42:38

42:38

Rodney Alcala, AKA The Dating Game Killer, was a depraved murderer who eluded authorities for years. He hid his true identity behind charm and persuasion. He worked as a summer camp counselor while on the lam for the savage assault of an eight-year-old girl. He convinced his parole officer to let him take a vacation to the other side of the country…

1
Lucille Ball: Gun Wounds, Refugees, and the Redhead Who Survived the Red Scare 42:39

3M ago42:39

42:39

Lucille Ball might have been a natural boundary-pusher, but America's top TV comedienne had some ‘splaining to do when a damning news broadcast unveiled her former ties to the Communist Party. The hysteria of the Red Scare threatened to bury this redhead at the bottom of the Hollywood blacklist overnight. Even when America put rampant McCarthyism t…

1
Robert Blake: Child Actors, Killer Roles, and the Murder of Bonny Lee Bakley 38:08

3M ago38:08

38:08

Robert Blake was a former child actor and tough-talking TV cop. He was also a tough customer. He talked like a mobster, lived like a cowboy, and was intimately familiar with the rougher side of life. That rough side of life caught up with him in 2001, when he was charged with murder when his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was found shot dead in the front …

1
Jane Fonda: Hailed for Heroism, Accused of Treason, and Targeted by the President 39:54

3M ago39:54

39:54

Jane Fonda was so beloved that she was once named the fourth most admired woman in the world. She was also so hated that her face was used for target practice in urinals at military bases across the country. This all stemmed from a ten-day tour she took of North Vietnam in 1972: a trip that would forever cement her as either a patriot or a traitor …

1
George Reeves: Elusive Truth, Absent Justice, and the American Way...Hollywood Style 40:37

3M ago40:37

40:37

Superman may be more powerful than a locomotive, but George Reeves, the actor who famously portrayed the Man of Steel on TV in the 1950s, was very much a mortal man. Did George Reeves really take his own life in June 1959, as the official report stated? Was he actually murdered by an impulsive girlfriend? Or was his death a highly orchestrated hit …

1
Judy Garland: Seconals, Benzedrine, and Dexedrine…Oh My 42:49

3M ago42:49

42:49

With a few clicks of their ruby slippers, MGM made 16-year-old Judy Garland a box office giant, but their strict rules nearly killed the budding starlet in the process. The studio’s strict diet of chicken soup, uppers, and downers set up teenage Judy for a life fraught with addiction, malnutrition, extreme health complications, and regular visits t…

1
The Misfits: Car Wrecks, Heart Attacks, Marilyn Monroe, and One of Hollywood’s Most Cursed Films 42:38

3M ago42:38

42:38

Glenn Danzig named his punk band after one of the most cursed Hollywood films of all time. The Misfits was where actor Montgomery Clift, permanently disfigured from a car accident, tried in vain to restart his stalled career. The director, John Huston, lost the film’s entire production budget at a craps table. The lead actor, Clark Gable, suffered …

1
Bob Crane of Hogan’s Heroes: Sex, Lies, Videotape, and Murder 41:38

3M ago41:38

41:38

On the surface, the star of one of the most popular television series of the 1960s was a squeaky-clean symbol of America’s innocence. But Hogan’s Heroes’ Bob Crane lived a secret double life that very few people knew about. His custom-built pornographic paradises were hidden behind the closed doors of his dressing room and apartment. He was obsesse…

1
Andy Warhol: Fame, the Future, and Back from the Dead 43:27

3M ago43:27

43:27

Andy Warhol was the first artist to achieve rock star status. He was a Beatle with a silkscreen printer. His work and play space, the Factory, attracted people of all ages; rich and poor, straight and gay, sane and…not so sane. It was in the Factory that he was shot by a would-be assassin. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced clinically dead.…

1
Steve McQueen: Mustangs, Magnums, and Manson's Hit List 41:25

3M ago41:25

41:25

Hustling on the streets of New York. Wagering with a U.S. president over who could sleep with more women. Knocking back beers with Elvis. Waving his gun around at the funeral of Jay Sebring, one of the victims of Charles Manson’s murderous family. The same family that had their sights now set on the King of Cool, Steve McQueen, who needed the speed…

1
Heath Ledger: Baited with Drugs, Beaten to a Pulp, and Beyond the Point of No Return 43:23

3M ago43:23

43:23

Heath Ledger’s preparation for and disappearance into his movie roles is legendary, and it’s what helped him play repressed cowboys, junkies, and maniacal clowns equally well. His research led him to junkies who taught him how to properly shoot up using a stolen prosthetic arm and fake blood, and to a personal diary full of cut-and-paste madness. T…

1
William S. Burroughs: Obscenity, a Decapitated Mouse, and the Deadly William Tell Routine 43:53

3M ago43:53

43:53

William S. Burroughs was a literary icon whose novel Naked Lunch, one of the signature works of the Beat Generation, was banned and went on trial for obscenity. His writing inspired generations of musicians, from the Rolling Stones and Patti Smith to Nirvana and Sonic Youth. But long before all that, in 1951, when he was an unknown and mostly faile…

1
Gianni Versace: Sly Stallone, Madonna, Elton John, a Serial Killer, and the Death of the Sun King 47:18

3M ago47:18

47:18

Gianni Versace was a runway iconoclast who outfitted the likes of Madonna, Demi Moore, Prince, Sylvester Stallone, and Don Johnson. He lived like Louis XIV and counted Princess Di and Elton John among his friends. He was plagued by rumors of ties to the Calabrian mafia and a secret health diagnosis. Those rumors continued to persist long after he w…

1
Al Pacino: Good and Evil, Attempted Robbery, and the Role of a Lifetime 39:17

3M ago39:17

39:17

The death of a neighborhood friend, an attempted robbery that almost went horribly wrong, good vs. evil, and the road not taken: this is the Al Pacino origin story. It all culminates in the role of a lifetime. Not Michael Corleone. Not a role on stage or screen. The most important role of Al Pacino’s young life played out in front of a couple of de…

1
Brittany Murphy: Pills, Paranoia, and Poison 45:41

3M ago45:41

45:41

The only thing more shocking than Brittany Murphy’s untimely death at the age of 32 was what happened next: more unexpected deaths, rumors of poisoning, and even murder. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adcho…

1
Alfred Hitchcock: Killers, Auteurs, and Survivors 42:17

3M ago42:17

42:17

Alfred Hitchcock grew up on murder. He was the OG crime junkie; obsessed with true stories of stranglers, bodysnatchers, necrophiliacs, and serial killers. He was also afraid – not so much with these ghoulish figures, but of authority, the dark, crowds, and of being alone. He channeled his obsessions and his fears into some of the greatest movies o…

1
Harry Houdini: A Ghost Story 41:15

3M ago41:15

41:15

Harry Houdini was the world's greatest escape artist and at the height of his powers was one of the world's most famous people. His unearthly ability to escape any prison and to break free of any bondage was matched only by his aggressive self-promotion. Anyone who tried to get in his way, rewrite his story, steal his thunder or question his abilit…

1
River Phoenix: Religious Cults, Street Kids, Speedballs, and Viper Rooms 41:43

3M ago41:43

41:43

River Phoenix was a once-in-a-generation talent. In the 1980s, a decade known for artifice and excess, he brought raw acting chops to performances in Stand by Me, Running on Empty, and My Own Private Idaho. His career was only just getting started when he died tragically at the age of 23 outside a notorious nightclub in Hollywood. The story of his …

1
Sigourney Weaver: A Goddess, Beasts and Demons, and Paying Tribute from Death Row 38:56

3M ago38:56

38:56

In classic ‘80s films like Ghostbusters and Aliens, Sigourney Weaver battled beasts and demons. But to one particular inmate on death row in Georgia, Sigourney Weaver battled beasts and demons in real life as well. To Alexander Williams, a convicted murderer, she was a goddess, a divine being sent to this earth to do battle with evil. He worshiped …

1
Brandon Lee: Hungry Ghosts, Cursed Movies, and a Goth Masterpiece 38:29

3M ago38:29

38:29

Haunted by the legacy of his superstar father. Haunted by an old family curse. Brandon Lee tried to outrun his past, but it came after him all the same. It was said that his father, Bruce Lee, was taken by that family curse at just 32 years old. And that it then followed Brandon, when he was 28, to the set of The Crow, a cross between a superhero b…

1
Woody Harrelson: Contract Killers, JFK Conspiracies, and Fathers & Sons 41:41

3M ago41:41

41:41

One of Hollywood’s most eclectic and unpredictable actors, Woody Harrelson has played a hayseed barback, a streetball hustler, a natural born killer, a true detective, and so many more. But his most profound and difficult role might be his real-life role: the son of an infamous contract killer. Woody’s father, Charles Harrelson, was sent to prison …

1
Chris Farley: Raging Bulls, Insatiable Appetites, Dead Comics, and a Four-Day Plunge off the Edge 37:54

3M ago37:54

37:54

Everything about Chris Farley was larger than life. His comedy, his laughs, the risks he took in front of a live studio audience – they were all bigger than anyone else's. So were his appetites. Not just for performance, but for life. He plowed through a plate glass window, 15 stories above downtown Chicago. He was kicked out of college for burning…

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