Sandra Knight grew up on Venice beach and in Santa Monica, California. She began performing when she was three, singing on the radio, dancing at community events, acting in children’s theater, and eventually fronting her own group called “The String Busters.” She hung around the studios as a kid because her father worked at MGM.
When she was fourteen she became an MGM messenger girl, a very coveted summer job where she met fellow messengers Jack Nicholson and Luana Anders. From that time, at age fourteen, Sandra decided to be an actress. During that same summer she was discovered by an agent, and within a few years she received a theater arts degree, moved to Hollywood, and starred in her first professional play, “The Moon Is Blue.” During that run she was seen by a casting director who put her up for the leading female roll opposite Robert Mitchum in “Thunder Road.” It was Mitchum himself, as producer of the movie, who chose Sandra and launched her career. From there she went on to star in many films and episodic television shows.
Along the way she studied acting with Jeff Corey and Martin Landau who both taught “The Method.” In Marty Landau’s class she again met Jack Nicholson, but this time they fell in love and were married 2 years later. Her marriage to Jack Nicholson lasted seven years, from 1962 to 1969 and they have one daughter, Jennifer Nicholson.
Along the way she studied acting with Jeff Corey and Martin Landau who both taught “The Method.” In Marty Landau’s class she again met Jack Nicholson, but this time they fell in love and were married 2 years later. Her marriage to Jack Nicholson lasted seven years, from 1962 to 1969 and they have one daughter, Jennifer Nicholson.
Sandra gave up acting when her daughter was born, thinking that she could not raise a child and work as an actress at the same time. It was at this time she started her painting career. Jack would go on location for a movie and Sandra would turn their home into a salon where she invited other artists to paint with her. Actor friends would come by and pose, and the sessions would usually end in lively critiques of the work that would evolve into deep philosophical discussions.
In the late 1970s Sandra moved to Hawaii with her daughter Jennifer, and a few years later married international spiritual teacher, author and artist John Stephenson. Together they travel the world conducting seminars, exhibiting art and researching new literary projects.