Nevertheless, Nolte was virtually unknown when he was cast for Rich Man, Poor Man, though he stole the series as Rudy’s brother Tom. He played the part of Jordache like only a true all-American hero could.

The series changed Nolte’s life completely – he swept ladies off their feet as the quintessential bad boy, Tom. Nolte also had to put a lot of work into his own body. When he starred as a young man in the early scenes of the project, he weighed about 150 pounds.

”I remember the different stages I went through for Rich Man, Poor Man. That was the biggest expanse in age. It went from 16 to 45. Physically, I thought of the weight I was as a sophomore in high school, which was 150 pounds.

“So I dropped down to that weight and got that boy body back. I ran around that Hollywood reservoir day and night,” Nolte told Insider in 2022.

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After the success of Poor Man, the Nebraskan-born-and-raised Nolte continued to show that he was an outstanding actor, producing consistently good performances. In 1982, he sky-rocketed to fame, becoming one of the biggest stars in Tinseltown after starring in the groundbreaking action-comedy 48 Hrs.

The movie, where Nolte starred alongside Eddie Murphy, was a game-changer in many ways.

“The thing about 48 Hrs. that really isn’t thought about much is that’s the first film where the black and the white criticize each other,” Nolte said in 2011.Continue reading…

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