New York, August 4 (ANI): Actor Jack Nicholson has refuted claims that he may be the father of an illegitimate handicapped son, and that he may have been keeping it a secret to date.

His lawyer Abe Somer has issued a rebuttal of the claims made in an unofficial biography called 'Five Easy Decades', where in author Dennis McDougal has said that the Oscar-winning actor is known "by most counts" to have one legitimate daughter and five love children.

"There are two other possibles whom those closest to Jack whisper about, including one young man who lives with handicaps brought on by his actress mother's drug abuse . . .These are among the closely held secrets he has generally succeeded in keeping from his fans," the New York Post quoted McDougal as stating in the book.

McDougal also said that his information about the alleged disabled son "comes from a very good source, but she . . . would not let me use her name."

Apart from his first child, Jennifer, who was born out of his six-year marriage to actress Sandra Knight, Nicholson has fathered a son named Caleb born in 1970 after a relationship with his "Five Easy Pieces" co-star Susan Anspach.

The actor also has a daughter with a former Monkey Bar waitress, Jennine Gourin, and two love kids Lorraine, 16, and Raymond, 15, with his ex-girlfriend, actress Rebecca Broussard.

But Somer insisted that the "allegations of the handicapped son are false and inaccurate." The lawyer, however, refused to comment on McDougal's claim of a second mysterious love child.

"There is no handicapped son of Mr. Nicholson. Let's respect his privacy," Somer said.

Somer also added that Nicholson has four, not five, illegitimate kids. (ANI)