JACK Nicholson almost gave up acting, PAGE SIX reports.

JACK Nicholson almost gave up acting.

In his upcoming memoir, "A Fortunate Life," Robert Vaughn recalls watching the future Oscar-winner stumble his way through a scene of "Bus Stop" in a mid-1950s acting class without the "confidence" to carry it off. "He declared, 'Vaughnie, I'm going to give myself two more years in this business. Then I'm going to look for another way to make a living.' 'Hang in there, Jack,' I told him. 'You're too young to quit.' " Nicholson took the advice, finally "figured out how to do this thing called acting," and shot to superstardom in "Easy Rider."

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