Actor Nick (The Deep) Nolte is another item on Mitchelson's post-Marvin agenda. "This one is a hot potato," says the lawyer, who is representing Karen Louise Eklund, 32, Nolte's roommate from 1972 to 1977.
Eklund, an actress, wants $2.5 million—half of Nolte's earnings during their five years together—plus $2 million in punitive damages for "oppression, fraud and malice." Nolte's lawyer, Howard Thaler, doesn't think she'll get it in light of the Marvin decision. "I was pleased with Judge Marshall's decision in terms of his determination that there existed no implied or expressed agreement between them," he says. Thaler is concerned, however, that the $104,000 award amounts to alimony, or "spousal support." Nolte, 38, has observed philosophically, "All of this invalidates marriage to a certain degree. Most of these suits deal with money, but we're talking about bedroom agreements." Nonetheless, the actor is now a legal husband—as of last year to Sharyn Haddad, a 23-year-old nightclub singer who has billed herself "Legs" in her act.