Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Jack Nicholson gave up one night stands over fears he would catch AIDS.

The screen legend - who is famous for his womanizing ways - was terrified of catching the potentially deadly STD when it emerged and admits he became far more careful about sleeping with strangers.

Jack said, "In my lifetime, from World War II on, life got freer and freer until herpes, then AIDS. That was the end, ask any bar owner. Things moved to the right."

"Once this idea that you can die from sex got into people's heads, it became a weapon in the hands of stiff, erect, martinet father/parent fascists to suppress sensuality. When you start doing that, society gets rigid, and social life as I knew it was over, fast. I loved that era, and it's gone."

Jack also says he pities young people because they have been warned about the dangers of promiscuity.

He explained, "Everything is about infections now. Anybody under 30 has never known the freedom I knew. They're frightened, they have no idea about alternative lifestyles."

"Freedom has never been part of the air they breathe. Naturally, I reacted differently to this fear of freedom, because it is a fear of feeling. I'm not talking about being profligate with sex and drugs. Fear of freedom is a withholding of love, and it's unyielding."