One street in Hollywood earned the nickname “Bad Boy Drive” due to the exploits of stars like Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Marlon Brando, and shaped the history of American cinema forever. Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty were pivotal figures in the so-called New Hollywood movement that would eventually lead to two of Marlon Brando’s best movies, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. All three of these Hollywood revolutionaries lived on the same street during this iconic period of 1970s American cinema, earning the neighborhood its “Bad Boy Drive” nickname.
“Bad Boy Drive”, therefore, was intrinsically linked with this pivotal period in Hollywood history. The exploits of Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando were later documented in a book, Bad Boy Drive: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson by Robert Sellers. Nowadays, “Bad Boy Drive” is better known by the street’s original name, Mulholland Drive, which has become intrinsically linked with the next generation of Hollywood filmmakers via the classic David Lynch movie.
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Hollywood’s “Bad Boy Drive” Explained
After starring in Easy Riders, arguably the movie that kick-started the New Hollywood era, Jack Nicholson used his earnings to buy a house on Mulholland Drive in the early 1970s. Nicholson’s new home was tucked away in its own private canyon in the Hollywood Hills, which was perfect for the actor’s round-the-clock parties. There was an open door policy at Jack Nicholson’s house, meaning that anyone could let themselves in and enjoy the actor’s impressive art collection, or the less salubrious items that were also on offer.
One star who took advantage of Jack Nicholson’s open door policy was The Godfather‘s Marlon Brando, who would help himself to the snacks in his neighbor’s kitchen. The refrigerator in Brando’s own home was chained shut, due to the actor’s constant struggle with overeating. Brando’s home was heavily fortified, patrolled by guards and vicious dogs, in sharp contrast to the younger Jack Nicholson’s open door policy. Brando’s prolific womanizing earned him the “bad boy” label, and he had numerous affairs with his housekeeper, West Side Story’s Rita Moreno, and more.
Warren Beatty joined the trio when he moved to Mulholland Drive in the mid-1970s, to be closer to Jack Nicholson. Like Brando, Beatty had an insatiable sexual appetite, and entertained various female stars at his home, including Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Brigitte Bardot. After Beatty settled down with Annette Benning in 1992, he left the days of “Bad Boy Drive” behind him. 12 years later, Marlon Brando died at the age of 80, leaving the house empty. To protect the property from developers, Brando’s friend and neighbor Jack Nicholson bought it and turned it into a sprawling garden extension to his own home.
Mulholland Drive Has A Long History Of Stars
Jack Nicholson still lives on Mulholland Drive, the sole representative of the days of “Bad Boy Drive”. However, Nicholson and his fellow bad boys aren’t the only Hollywood legends to have lived on Mulholland Drive over the years. Other famous former residents include Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson’s Chinatown co-star Faye Dunaway, and legendary actress and director Ida Lupino. There’s a good reason that David Lynch once said that he could feel the history of Hollywood while standing on Mulholland Drive.
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Hollywood Would Be Completely Different Without Bad Boy Drive’s Influence
The three residents of Hollywood’s “Bad Boy Drive” were at the forefront of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. While the precise neighborhood that Nicholson, Brando, and Beatty lived in was immaterial to their success in pushing the boundaries of cinema, it contributed to their legend. Many of the highest-grossing movies of the 1970s were complex character studies that tackled the societal mood of the 1970s. Films like The Godfather went to challenging moral gray areas that Hollywood was previously scared to address.
The success of movies like Warren Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde or Jack Nicholson’s Easy Rider proved to the studios that there was an appetite for more challenging cinematic fare. This mood paved the way for filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppolla and David Lynch to rise to prominence in the mid-1970s to 1980s. The stories of all-night parties, drug-taking, and infidelity on “Bad Boy Drive” will raise eyebrows as attitudes change, but there’s no doubting the lasting impact of Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson.
Mulholland Drive
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David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive is a neo-noir mystery about aspiring actress Betty, who becomes involved with a woman suffering from amnesia and a mysterious blue box. Starring Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, the 2001 surrealist film explores themes of identity, memory, and Hollywood’s dark side.
