Jack Nicholson
Encyclopedia
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor
twice: for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
and for As Good as It Gets
. He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment
. He is tied with Walter Brennan
for most acting wins by a male actor (three), and second to Katharine Hepburn
for most acting wins overall (four). Nicholson is well-known for playing Jack Torrance
in The Shining
and The Joker in 1989's Batman
, among many other roles.
Nicholson is one of only two actors who has been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s (the other being Michael Caine
). He has won seven Golden Globe Award
s, and received a Kennedy Center Honor
in 2001. In 1994, he became one of the youngest actors to be awarded the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. Notable films in which he has starred include, in chronological order, Easy Rider
, Five Easy Pieces
, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
, The Postman Always Rings Twice
, Reds, Terms of Endearment
, Batman
, A Few Good Men
, Hoffa
, Wolf
, As Good as It Gets
, About Schmidt
, Something's Gotta Give
and The Departed
.
showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose) six months earlier in Elkton, Maryland
, on October 16, 1936. Furcillo was already married. Although he reportedly offered to take care of the child, June's mother Ethel insisted that she bring up the baby, partly so that June could pursue her dancing career. Although Furcillo claimed to be Nicholson's father and to have committed bigamy
by marrying June, biographer Patrick McGilligan asserted in Jack's Life that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), June's manager, may have been Nicholson's biological father. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of who the father was. Nicholson's mother was of Irish
, English
, and Dutch descent, though he and his family reportedly self-identified as Irish.
Nicholson was brought up believing that his grandparents, John Joseph Nicholson (a department store window dresser in Manasquan, New Jersey
) and Ethel May (née Rhoads, a hairdresser, beautician and amateur artist in Manasquan), were his parents. Nicholson only discovered that his "parents" were actually his grandparents and his sister was in fact his mother in 1974, after a journalist for TIME magazine who was doing a feature on Nicholson informed him of the fact. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). Nicholson has stated he does not know who his biological father is, saying "Only Ethel and June knew and they never told anybody", and has chosen not to have a DNA
test or to pursue the matter.
Nicholson grew up in Neptune City, New Jersey
. He was raised in his mother's Roman Catholic religion. Before starting high school, his family moved to an apartment in Spring Lake, New Jersey
. "Nick", as he was known to his high school friends, attended nearby Manasquan High School
, where he was voted "class clown" by the Class of 1954. A theatre and a drama award at the school are named in his honor. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50-year high school reunion
accompanied by his aunt Lorraine.
When Nicholson first came to Hollywood, he worked as a gofer
for animation legends William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
at the MGM cartoon studio
. Seeing his talent as an artist, they offered Nicholson a starting level position as an animation artist. However, citing his desire to become an actor, he declined.
He made his film debut in a low-budget teen drama The Cry Baby Killer
, in 1958, playing the title role. For the following decade, Nicholson was a frequent collaborator with the film's producer, Roger Corman
. Corman directed Nicholson on several occasions, most notably in The Little Shop of Horrors
, as masochistic dental patient Wilbur Force, and also in The Raven
, The Terror
, and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He worked frequently with director Monte Hellman
as well on low-budget westerns, though two in particular, Ride in the Whirlwind
and The Shooting
, initially failed to find interest from any US film distributors but gained cult success on the art house circuit in France and were later sold to television.
With his acting career heading nowhere, Nicholson seemed resigned to a career behind the camera as a writer/director. His first real taste of writing success was the LSD-fueled screenplay for the 1967 film, The Trip
(directed by Corman), which starred Peter Fonda
and Dennis Hopper
. Nicholson also co-wrote, with Bob Rafelson
, the movie Head
, which starred The Monkees
. In addition, he also arranged the movie's soundtrack. However, after a spot opened up in Fonda and Hopper's Easy Rider
, it led to his first big acting break. Nicholson played hard-drinking lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The part of Hanson was a lucky break for Nicholson—the role had in fact been written for actor Rip Torn
, who was a close friend of screen writer Terry Southern
, but Torn withdrew from the project after a bitter argument with the film's director Dennis Hopper
, during which the two men almost came to blows.
A Best Actor nomination came the following year for his persona-defining role in Five Easy Pieces
(1970). Also that year, he appeared in the movie adaptation of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
, although most of his performance was left on the cutting room floor
. Jack was the first choice to play the role of Father Damien Karras
in The Exorcist
, but the role was turned over to Jason Miller
.
Other Nicholson roles included Hal Ashby
's The Last Detail
(1973), for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival
, and the classic Roman Polanski
noir thriller, Chinatown (1974). Nicholson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
for both films. Nicholson was friends with the director long before the death of Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate
, at the hands of the Manson Family, and supported him in the days following the deaths. After Tate's death, Nicholson began sleeping with a hammer under his pillow, and took breaks from work to attend the Manson trial. It was at Nicholson's home where the rape case for which Polanski was arrested occurred. Nicholson would go on to star in The Who
's Tommy
(1975), directed by Ken Russell
, and Michelangelo Antonioni
's The Passenger (1975).
Nicholson earned his first Best Actor Oscar
for portraying Randle P. McMurphy in the movie adaptation of Ken Kesey
's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
, directed by Miloš Forman
in 1975. His Oscar was matched when Louise Fletcher
received the Best Actress Award
for her portrayal of Nurse Ratched
. After this, he began to take more unusual roles. He took a small role in The Last Tycoon
, opposite Robert De Niro
. He took a less sympathetic role in Arthur Penn
's western The Missouri Breaks
, specifically to work with Marlon Brando
. He followed this by making his second directorial effort with the western comedy Goin' South
. His first movie as a director was a 1971 quirky release called Drive, He Said
.
Although he garnered no Academy Award for Stanley Kubrick
's adaptation of Stephen King
's The Shining
(1980), it remains one of his more significant roles. His second Oscar, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
, came for his role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment
(1983), directed by James L. Brooks
. Nicholson continued to work prolifically in the 80s, starring in such films as The Postman Always Rings Twice
(1981), Reds (1981), Prizzi's Honor
(1985), The Witches of Eastwick
(1987), Broadcast News
(1987), and Ironweed
(1987). Three Oscar nominations also followed (Reds, Prizzi's Honor, and Ironweed).
Nicholson introduced several acts at Live Aid
at the JFK Stadium in July 1985. He turned down the role of John Book in Witness
. The 1989 Batman
movie, wherein Nicholson played the psychotic murderer and villain, The Joker
, was an international smash hit, and a lucrative percentage deal earned Nicholson about $60 million. For his role as hot-headed Col. Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men
(1992), a movie about a murder in a U.S. Marine Corps
unit, Nicholson received yet another Academy nomination. This film contained the court scene in which Nicholson famously explodes, "You can't handle the truth!", in one of the Aaron Sorkin
-penned monologue
s to become part of popular culture.
In 1996, Nicholson collaborated once more with Batman director Tim Burton
on Mars Attacks!
, pulling double duty as two contrasting characters, President James Dale and Las Vegas
property developer Art Land. At first studio executives at Warner Bros. disliked the idea of killing off Nicholson's character, so Burton created two characters and killed them both off. Not all of Nicholson's performances have been well received. He was nominated for Razzie Awards as worst actor for Man Trouble (1992) and Hoffa
(1992). However, Nicholson's performance in Hoffa also earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Nicholson went on to win his next Academy Award for Best Actor
for his role as Melvin Udall, a mean-spirited, compulsive obsessive neurotic author in As Good as It Gets
(1997), again directed by Brooks. His Oscar was matched with the Academy Award for Best Actress
for Helen Hunt
as a Manhattan waitress drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall, a frequent diner in the restaurant in which she worked. In 2001, Nicholson was the first actor to receive the Stanislavsky Award
at the Moscow International Film Festival
for "conquering the heights of acting and faithfulness".
(2002), Nicholson portrayed a retired Omaha, Nebraska
actuary
who questions his own life following his wife's death. His quietly restrained performance earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. In Anger Management (2003), he plays an aggressive therapist assigned to help overly pacifist Adam Sandler
. In 2003, Nicholson also starred in Something's Gotta Give
, as an aging playboy who falls for the mother (Diane Keaton
) of his young girlfriend.
In late 2006, Nicholson marked his return to the "dark side" as Frank Costello, a sadistic Boston Irish Mob
boss presiding over Matt Damon
and Leonardo DiCaprio
in Martin Scorsese
's Oscar-winning The Departed
, a remake of Andrew Lau
's Infernal Affairs
.
In November 2006, Nicholson began filming his next project, Rob Reiner
's The Bucket List
, a role for which he shaved his head. The film starred Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
as dying men who fulfill their list of goals. The film was released on December 25, 2007 (limited) and January 11, 2008 (wide). In researching the role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses. His last film role to date saw him reunite with Terms of Endearment
and As Good as It Gets
director James L. Brooks
for a small supporting role as Paul Rudd
's father in How Do You Know.
Nicholson has been romantically linked to numerous actresses and models, including Michelle Phillips
, Bebe Buell
, and Lara Flynn Boyle
. Nicholson's longest relationship was for 16 years with actress Anjelica Huston
, daughter of film director John Huston
, from 1973 to 1989. However, the relationship ended when the media reported that Rebecca Broussard
had become pregnant with Nicholson's child. Nicholson and Broussard had two children together, Lorraine
(born 1990) and Raymond Nicholson (born 1992). Nicholson's other children are Jennifer (born 1963 with Sandra Knight) and Honey Hollman (b. 1981 with Winnie Hollman). Actress Susan Anspach
contends that her son, Caleb Goddard (born 1970), was fathered by Nicholson, though he is not convinced he is the father.
for a number of years on Mulholland Drive
in Beverly Hills. Warren Beatty
also lived nearby, earning the road the nickname "Bad Boy Drive". After Brando's death in 2004, Nicholson purchased his neighbor's bungalow for $6.1 million, with the purpose of having it demolished. Nicholson stated that it was done out of respect to Brando's legacy, as it had become too expensive to renovate the "derelict" building which was plagued by mold.
Nicholson shared a friendship with author-journalist Hunter S. Thompson
, described in his autobiography "Kingdom of Fear" where, according to Thompson, they would exchange "bizarre" presents which resulted in a perceived assassination attempt against the actor. Thompson appeared outside his home on the night of Nicholson's birthday, having set off a high-powered spotlight and gunfire, playing a tape of animal cries through an amplifier to awaken him. He then left a freshly-cut elk's heart on his door as a joke before leaving when it appeared that nobody would exit the house. Following the death of Thompson in 2005, he and fellow actors Johnny Depp
, John Cusack
, and Sean Penn
attended his private memorial service in Colorado.
and Los Angeles Lakers
. His attendance at Lakers games is legendary, as he is a season ticket holder since 1970 and has held courtside season tickets for the past 25 years at both The Forum
and the Staples Center
, missing very few games. In a few instances, Nicholson has engaged in arguments with game officials and opposing players, and has even walked onto the court. His ardent refusal to miss a Lakers home game means that studios are rumored to have to schedule filming around the Lakers home schedule although he disputed this claim in an interview with BBC radio in 2008.
Nicholson is a collector of twentieth century and contemporary art, including the work of Scottish artist Jack Vettriano.
Then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
and First Lady Maria Shriver
announced on May 28, 2008 that Nicholson would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame
, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts
. The induction ceremony took place on December 15, 2008 where he was inducted alongside 11 other legendary Californians.
In 2010, Nicholson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
.
In 2011, Nicholson received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
degree from Brown University
at its two hundred and forty-third commencement. At the ceremony Ruth Simmons, Brown University's president, called him, "the most skilled actor of our lifetime."
have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five different decades: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. With three Oscar wins, he also ties with Walter Brennan
for the second highest-number of Oscar wins in acting categories (all of Brennan's wins, however, were for Best Supporting Actor).
At the 79th Academy Awards
, Nicholson had fully shaved his hair for his role in The Bucket List
. Those ceremonies represented the seventh time he has presented the Academy Award for Best Picture
(1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, and 2007). Nicholson is an active and voting member of the Academy. During the last decade he has attended almost every ceremony, whether nominated or not, sitting in the front row.
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
twice: for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
and for As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
. He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
. He is tied with Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
for most acting wins by a male actor (three), and second to Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
for most acting wins overall (four). Nicholson is well-known for playing Jack Torrance
Jack Torrance
Jack Torrance is a fictional character, the antagonist in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King. He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 movie adaptation of the novel, and by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries. The American Film Institute rated the character the 25th greatest film...
in The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
and The Joker in 1989's Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, among many other roles.
Nicholson is one of only two actors who has been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s (the other being Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
). He has won seven Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s, and received a Kennedy Center Honor
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
in 2001. In 1994, he became one of the youngest actors to be awarded the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. Notable films in which he has starred include, in chronological order, Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and...
, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
, The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film)
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1934 novel by the same name by James M. Cain. The film was produced by Lorimar and originally released theatrically in North America by Paramount Pictures. This version, based on a screenplay by David Mamet and directed by Bob...
, Reds, Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
, Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men is a play by Aaron Sorkin, first produced on Broadway by David Brown in 1989. It tells the story of military lawyers at a court-martial who uncover a high-level conspiracy in the course of defending their clients, United States Marines accused of murder.It opened on Broadway at the...
, Hoffa
Hoffa
Hoffa is a 1992 biographical film directed by Danny DeVito and written by David Mamet, based on the life of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Jack Nicholson plays Hoffa, and Danny DeVito plays Hoffa's fictional longtime friend Robert "Bobby" Ciaro, an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over...
, Wolf
Wolf (film)
Wolf is a 1994 American horror film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick, and an uncredited Elaine May, with music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno....
, As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
, About Schmidt
About Schmidt
About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado...
, Something's Gotta Give
Something's Gotta Give (film)
Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,...
and The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
.
Early life
Nicholson was born in St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City, the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson). June had married Italian AmericanItalian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose) six months earlier in Elkton, Maryland
Elkton, Maryland
The town of Elkton is the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,893 as of the 2000 census and 14,842 according to current July 2008 census estimates. It is the county seat of Cecil County...
, on October 16, 1936. Furcillo was already married. Although he reportedly offered to take care of the child, June's mother Ethel insisted that she bring up the baby, partly so that June could pursue her dancing career. Although Furcillo claimed to be Nicholson's father and to have committed bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
by marrying June, biographer Patrick McGilligan asserted in Jack's Life that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), June's manager, may have been Nicholson's biological father. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of who the father was. Nicholson's mother was of Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, English
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
, and Dutch descent, though he and his family reportedly self-identified as Irish.
Nicholson was brought up believing that his grandparents, John Joseph Nicholson (a department store window dresser in Manasquan, New Jersey
Manasquan, New Jersey
-Government:Manasquan is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office and only...
) and Ethel May (née Rhoads, a hairdresser, beautician and amateur artist in Manasquan), were his parents. Nicholson only discovered that his "parents" were actually his grandparents and his sister was in fact his mother in 1974, after a journalist for TIME magazine who was doing a feature on Nicholson informed him of the fact. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). Nicholson has stated he does not know who his biological father is, saying "Only Ethel and June knew and they never told anybody", and has chosen not to have a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
test or to pursue the matter.
Nicholson grew up in Neptune City, New Jersey
Neptune City, New Jersey
Neptune City is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 4,869.The Borough of Neptune City was incorporated on October 4, 1881, based on a referendum held on March 19, 1881...
. He was raised in his mother's Roman Catholic religion. Before starting high school, his family moved to an apartment in Spring Lake, New Jersey
Spring Lake, New Jersey
Spring Lake is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,993....
. "Nick", as he was known to his high school friends, attended nearby Manasquan High School
Manasquan High School
Manasquan High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Manasquan, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Manasquan Public Schools...
, where he was voted "class clown" by the Class of 1954. A theatre and a drama award at the school are named in his honor. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50-year high school reunion
High School Reunion
High School Reunion may refer to:*"High School Reunion" *Romy and Michele's High School Reunion*High School Reunion *Class reunion...
accompanied by his aunt Lorraine.
Early work
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
for animation legends William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....
at the MGM cartoon studio
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was the in-house division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture studio in Hollywood, California during the Golden Age of American animation, responsible for producing animated short subjects to accompany MGM feature films in Loew's Theaters...
. Seeing his talent as an artist, they offered Nicholson a starting level position as an animation artist. However, citing his desire to become an actor, he declined.
He made his film debut in a low-budget teen drama The Cry Baby Killer
The Cry Baby Killer
The Cry Baby Killer is a 1958 cult film produced by Roger Corman. It was the feature film debut of Jack Nicholson. Until recently, the film was out of print and hard to find. In 2006, it was issued on DVD for the first time by Buena Vista Home Entertainment as part of their Roger Corman Classics...
, in 1958, playing the title role. For the following decade, Nicholson was a frequent collaborator with the film's producer, Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
. Corman directed Nicholson on several occasions, most notably in The Little Shop of Horrors
The Little Shop of Horrors
The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate young florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human flesh and blood. The film's concept is thought to be based on a 1932...
, as masochistic dental patient Wilbur Force, and also in The Raven
The Raven (1963 film)
The Raven is a B movie horror-comedy produced and directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff as a trio of rival sorcerers. Part of a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations produced by Corman through American International Pictures, the film was written by...
, The Terror
The Terror (1963 film)
The Terror is an American horror film produced by Roger Corman, and famous for being filmed on leftover film sets from other AIP productions, including The Haunted Palace...
, and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He worked frequently with director Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman
Monte Hellman is an American film director, producer, and film editor.Hellman is among a group of directing talent mentored by Roger Corman, who produced several of the director's early films...
as well on low-budget westerns, though two in particular, Ride in the Whirlwind
Ride in the Whirlwind
Ride in the Whirlwind is a 1965 western directed by Monte Hellman, starring Jack Nicholson, Millie Perkins, and Harry Dean Stanton. Nicholson also wrote and produced the film.- Plot :...
and The Shooting
The Shooting
The Shooting is a 1966 western film directed by Monte Hellman, with a screenplay by Carole Eastman . It stars Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Jack Nicholson, and was produced by Nicholson and Hellman. The story is about two men who are hired by a mysterious woman to accompany her...
, initially failed to find interest from any US film distributors but gained cult success on the art house circuit in France and were later sold to television.
Rise to fame
The Trip (1967 film)
The Trip is a cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, written by Jack Nicholson, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, including on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, and near Big Sur, California in 1966...
(directed by Corman), which starred Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
and Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
. Nicholson also co-wrote, with Bob Rafelson
Bob Rafelson
Robert "Bob" Rafelson is an Emmy Award winning American film director, writer and producer. He was an early member of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s and is most famous for directing and co-writing the film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson, as well as being one of the creators of...
, the movie Head
Head (film)
Head is a 1968 psychedelic comedy-adventure major motion picture, starring TV group The Monkees , and distributed by Columbia Pictures...
, which starred The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
. In addition, he also arranged the movie's soundtrack. However, after a spot opened up in Fonda and Hopper's Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, it led to his first big acting break. Nicholson played hard-drinking lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The part of Hanson was a lucky break for Nicholson—the role had in fact been written for actor Rip Torn
Rip Torn
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
, who was a close friend of screen writer Terry Southern
Terry Southern
Terry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...
, but Torn withdrew from the project after a bitter argument with the film's director Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, during which the two men almost came to blows.
A Best Actor nomination came the following year for his persona-defining role in Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and...
(1970). Also that year, he appeared in the movie adaptation of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (film)
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a 1970 American musical/romantic fantasy film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production of the same name...
, although most of his performance was left on the cutting room floor
Cutting room floor
The term cutting room floor is used in the film industry as a figure of speech referring to unused footage not included in the finished film. In fact offcuts of film are retained in a special cutting room bin and numbered during the editing process in case they are required later...
. Jack was the first choice to play the role of Father Damien Karras
Damien Karras
Father Damien Karras, SJ is a fictional character from the novel The Exorcist, its sequel Legion, and their film adaptations.Father Karras was one of the priests who exorcises the demon from young Regan MacNeil. He is a Jesuit psychiatrist suffering a crisis of faith...
in The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
, but the role was turned over to Jason Miller
Jason Miller (playwright)
Jason Miller was an American actor and playwright. He received the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play That Championship Season, and was widely recognized for his role as Father Damien Karras in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist...
.
Other Nicholson roles included Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby was an American film director and film editor.-Birth and early years:Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household and had a tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family which included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide and his...
's The Last Detail
The Last Detail
The Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby with a screenplay adapted by Robert Towne from a novel of the same name by Daryl Ponicsan. The film became known for its frequent use of profanity.-Plot:...
(1973), for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, and the classic Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
noir thriller, Chinatown (1974). Nicholson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for both films. Nicholson was friends with the director long before the death of Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
, at the hands of the Manson Family, and supported him in the days following the deaths. After Tate's death, Nicholson began sleeping with a hammer under his pillow, and took breaks from work to attend the Manson trial. It was at Nicholson's home where the rape case for which Polanski was arrested occurred. Nicholson would go on to star in The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
(1975), directed by Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
, and Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's The Passenger (1975).
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for portraying Randle P. McMurphy in the movie adaptation of Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
, directed by Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
in 1975. His Oscar was matched when Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher is an American actress best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also guest starred on the science fiction television series Heroes...
received the Best Actress Award
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her portrayal of Nurse Ratched
Nurse Ratched
Nurse Mildred Ratched is the primary antagonist from Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as the 1975 film. A cold, sociopathic tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a Battleaxe...
. After this, he began to take more unusual roles. He took a small role in The Last Tycoon
The Last Tycoon (film)
The Last Tycoon is a 1976 American dramatic film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel, based upon Harold Pinter's screenplay adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon, sometimes known as The Love of the Last Tycoon. It stars Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack...
, opposite Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
. He took a less sympathetic role in Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
's western The Missouri Breaks
The Missouri Breaks
The Missouri Breaks is a 1976 American western film starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. The film was directed by Arthur Penn, with supporting performances by Randy Quaid, Harry Dean Stanton, Frederic Forrest, John McLiam and Kathleen Lloyd...
, specifically to work with Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
. He followed this by making his second directorial effort with the western comedy Goin' South
Goin' South
Goin' South is an American western-comedy film, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson. The 1978 film also starred Mary Steenburgen in her movie debut and included Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi , Richard Bradford, Veronica Cartwright, Danny DeVito and Ed Begley, Jr.At the beginning, the...
. His first movie as a director was a 1971 quirky release called Drive, He Said
Drive, He Said
Drive, He Said is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner...
.
Although he garnered no Academy Award for Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's adaptation of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
(1980), it remains one of his more significant roles. His second Oscar, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, came for his role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
(1983), directed by James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
. Nicholson continued to work prolifically in the 80s, starring in such films as The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film)
The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1934 novel by the same name by James M. Cain. The film was produced by Lorimar and originally released theatrically in North America by Paramount Pictures. This version, based on a screenplay by David Mamet and directed by Bob...
(1981), Reds (1981), Prizzi's Honor
Prizzi's Honor
Prizzi's Honor is a 1985 American black comedy film directed by John Huston. It stars Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia and Anjelica Huston.The film was adapted by Richard Condon and Janet Roach from Condon's novel of the same name...
(1985), The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick (film)
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches...
(1987), Broadcast News
Broadcast News (film)
Broadcast News is a 1987 romantic comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by James L. Brooks. The film concerns a virtuoso television news producer , who has daily emotional breakdowns, a brilliant yet prickly reporter and his charismatic but far less seasoned rival...
(1987), and Ironweed
Ironweed (film)
Ironweed is a 1987 film directed by Argentine-born Brazilian Héctor Babenco.The picture is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by William Kennedy and concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the Great...
(1987). Three Oscar nominations also followed (Reds, Prizzi's Honor, and Ironweed).
Nicholson introduced several acts at Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
at the JFK Stadium in July 1985. He turned down the role of John Book in Witness
Witness (1985 film)
Witness is a 1985 American thriller film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. The screenplay by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, and Earl W...
. The 1989 Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
movie, wherein Nicholson played the psychotic murderer and villain, The Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
, was an international smash hit, and a lucrative percentage deal earned Nicholson about $60 million. For his role as hot-headed Col. Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men
A Few Good Men is a play by Aaron Sorkin, first produced on Broadway by David Brown in 1989. It tells the story of military lawyers at a court-martial who uncover a high-level conspiracy in the course of defending their clients, United States Marines accused of murder.It opened on Broadway at the...
(1992), a movie about a murder in a U.S. Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
unit, Nicholson received yet another Academy nomination. This film contained the court scene in which Nicholson famously explodes, "You can't handle the truth!", in one of the Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Social Network, and Moneyball.After graduating from Syracuse...
-penned monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s to become part of popular culture.
In 1996, Nicholson collaborated once more with Batman director Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
on Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
, pulling double duty as two contrasting characters, President James Dale and Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
property developer Art Land. At first studio executives at Warner Bros. disliked the idea of killing off Nicholson's character, so Burton created two characters and killed them both off. Not all of Nicholson's performances have been well received. He was nominated for Razzie Awards as worst actor for Man Trouble (1992) and Hoffa
Hoffa
Hoffa is a 1992 biographical film directed by Danny DeVito and written by David Mamet, based on the life of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Jack Nicholson plays Hoffa, and Danny DeVito plays Hoffa's fictional longtime friend Robert "Bobby" Ciaro, an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over...
(1992). However, Nicholson's performance in Hoffa also earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
Nicholson went on to win his next Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for his role as Melvin Udall, a mean-spirited, compulsive obsessive neurotic author in As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
(1997), again directed by Brooks. His Oscar was matched with the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
as a Manhattan waitress drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall, a frequent diner in the restaurant in which she worked. In 2001, Nicholson was the first actor to receive the Stanislavsky Award
Stanislavsky Award
Stanislavski Award is a special prize awarded since 2001 at the Moscow International Film Festival for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavski's school .-Winners:* 2001 - Jack...
at the Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
for "conquering the heights of acting and faithfulness".
2002–present
In About SchmidtAbout Schmidt
About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado...
(2002), Nicholson portrayed a retired Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
actuary
Actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....
who questions his own life following his wife's death. His quietly restrained performance earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. In Anger Management (2003), he plays an aggressive therapist assigned to help overly pacifist Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
. In 2003, Nicholson also starred in Something's Gotta Give
Something's Gotta Give (film)
Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,...
, as an aging playboy who falls for the mother (Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
) of his young girlfriend.
In late 2006, Nicholson marked his return to the "dark side" as Frank Costello, a sadistic Boston Irish Mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
boss presiding over Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
and Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Oscar-winning The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
, a remake of Andrew Lau
Andrew Lau
Andrew Lau Wai-Keung is a Hong Kong cinematographer and filmmaker. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and Wong Kar-wai. In the 1990s, Lau decided to have more creative freedom as a cinematographer by becoming a film...
's Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs is a 2002 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. It tells the story of a police officer who infiltrates the triads, and a police officer secretly working for the same gang. The Chinese title means "the non-stop path", a reference to Avici, the lowest...
.
In November 2006, Nicholson began filming his next project, Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
's The Bucket List
The Bucket List
The Bucket List is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Academy Award-winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman...
, a role for which he shaved his head. The film starred Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
as dying men who fulfill their list of goals. The film was released on December 25, 2007 (limited) and January 11, 2008 (wide). In researching the role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses. His last film role to date saw him reunite with Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson...
and As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was...
director James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
for a small supporting role as Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
's father in How Do You Know.
Family and relationships
Michelle Phillips
Michelle Phillips is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained fame as a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas, and is the last surviving original member of the group.-Early life:...
, Bebe Buell
Bebe Buell
Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell is an American fashion model and singer, and Playboy magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. She is also known for dating rock musicians. She is actress Liv Tyler's mother from a brief relationship with Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler...
, and Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle is an American film and television actress best known for her performances as Laura Palmer's best friend Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks and Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in The Practice...
. Nicholson's longest relationship was for 16 years with actress Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
, daughter of film director John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, from 1973 to 1989. However, the relationship ended when the media reported that Rebecca Broussard
Rebecca Broussard
Rebecca Broussard is an American actress and model.-Private life:She was born in Louisville, Kentucky and has two children with actor Jack Nicholson: Lorraine Nicholson and Raymond Nicholson .-Filmography:...
had become pregnant with Nicholson's child. Nicholson and Broussard had two children together, Lorraine
Lorraine Nicholson
Lorraine Broussard Nicholson is an American actress.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Jack Nicholson and Rebecca Broussard, and has two older half-siblings: Jennifer Nicholson , Honey Hollman , and one younger brother: Ray Nicholson . She attended Brentwood School in Brentwood, CA...
(born 1990) and Raymond Nicholson (born 1992). Nicholson's other children are Jennifer (born 1963 with Sandra Knight) and Honey Hollman (b. 1981 with Winnie Hollman). Actress Susan Anspach
Susan Anspach
-Private life:Anspach was born in New York City and was raised in Queens, New York. She graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City in 1960. Paul Simon was a neighbor. She enrolled in the music department at the Catholic University of America...
contends that her son, Caleb Goddard (born 1970), was fathered by Nicholson, though he is not convinced he is the father.
Celebrity friendships
Nicholson lived next door to Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
for a number of years on Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after Los Angeles pioneer civil engineer William Mulholland...
in Beverly Hills. Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
also lived nearby, earning the road the nickname "Bad Boy Drive". After Brando's death in 2004, Nicholson purchased his neighbor's bungalow for $6.1 million, with the purpose of having it demolished. Nicholson stated that it was done out of respect to Brando's legacy, as it had become too expensive to renovate the "derelict" building which was plagued by mold.
Nicholson shared a friendship with author-journalist Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
, described in his autobiography "Kingdom of Fear" where, according to Thompson, they would exchange "bizarre" presents which resulted in a perceived assassination attempt against the actor. Thompson appeared outside his home on the night of Nicholson's birthday, having set off a high-powered spotlight and gunfire, playing a tape of animal cries through an amplifier to awaken him. He then left a freshly-cut elk's heart on his door as a joke before leaving when it appeared that nobody would exit the house. Following the death of Thompson in 2005, he and fellow actors Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
, and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
attended his private memorial service in Colorado.
Hobbies
Nicholson is a fan of the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
. His attendance at Lakers games is legendary, as he is a season ticket holder since 1970 and has held courtside season tickets for the past 25 years at both The Forum
The Forum (Inglewood, California)
The Forum is an indoor arena, in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. From 2000 to 2010, it was owned by the Faithful Central Bible Church, which occasionally used it for church services, while also leasing the building for sporting events, concerts and other events.Along with Madison...
and the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
, missing very few games. In a few instances, Nicholson has engaged in arguments with game officials and opposing players, and has even walked onto the court. His ardent refusal to miss a Lakers home game means that studios are rumored to have to schedule filming around the Lakers home schedule although he disputed this claim in an interview with BBC radio in 2008.
Nicholson is a collector of twentieth century and contemporary art, including the work of Scottish artist Jack Vettriano.
Honors
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and First Lady Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
announced on May 28, 2008 that Nicholson would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame
California Hall of Fame
Conceived by First Lady Maria Shriver, the California Hall of Fame was established at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts to honor individuals and families who embody California’s innovative spirit and have made their mark on history...
, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts
The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts
The California Museum, formerly The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts – home of the California Hall of Fame – is housed in the State Archives Building in Sacramento, one block from the State Capitol...
. The induction ceremony took place on December 15, 2008 where he was inducted alongside 11 other legendary Californians.
In 2010, Nicholson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
New Jersey Hall of Fame
The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond....
.
In 2011, Nicholson received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts is doctoral degree in fine arts, typically given as an honorary degree . The degree is typically conferred to honor the recipient who has made a contribution to society in the arts...
degree from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
at its two hundred and forty-third commencement. At the ceremony Ruth Simmons, Brown University's president, called him, "the most skilled actor of our lifetime."
Academy Awards history
With twelve nominations (eight for Best Actor and four for Best Supporting Actor), Jack Nicholson is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards history. Only Nicholson and Michael CaineMichael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five different decades: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. With three Oscar wins, he also ties with Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
for the second highest-number of Oscar wins in acting categories (all of Brennan's wins, however, were for Best Supporting Actor).
At the 79th Academy Awards
79th Academy Awards
The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...
, Nicholson had fully shaved his hair for his role in The Bucket List
The Bucket List
The Bucket List is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Academy Award-winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman...
. Those ceremonies represented the seventh time he has presented the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, and 2007). Nicholson is an active and voting member of the Academy. During the last decade he has attended almost every ceremony, whether nominated or not, sitting in the front row.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Jimmy Wallace | ||
| 1960 | Too Soon to Love Too Soon to Love Too Soon to Love is an American exploitation film starring Richard Evans, Jennifer West, Jack Nicholson, and Joan Chandler. The film was directed by Richard Rush and released by Universal Pictures.-Plot synopsis:... |
Buddy | |
| 1960 | Johnny Varron | ||
| 1960 | Wilbur Force | ||
| 1960 | Studs Lonigan Studs Lonigan Studs Lonigan is the title of a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: Young Lonigan, The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, and Judgment Day. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy at 29th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.The... |
Weary Reilly | |
| 1962 | Will Brocious | ||
| 1963 | Andre Duvalier | Also (Uncredited) Director | |
| 1963 | Rexford Bedlo | ||
| 1964 | Flight to Fury Flight to Fury Flight to Fury is a 1964 film starring Jack Nicholson, and Dewey Martin. The film was directed by Monte Hellman and filmed back to back with Back Door to Hell in the Philippines.... |
Jay Wickham | Also Writer |
| 1964 | Ensign Pulver Ensign Pulver Ensign Pulver is a 1964 American film and a sequel to the 1955 film Mister Roberts. The movie features Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, Tommy Sands, Millie Perkins, Kay Medford, Peter Marshall, Jack Nicholson, Richard Gautier, George Lindsey, James Farentino, and James Coco.- Synopsis... |
Dolan | |
| 1964 | Back Door to Hell Back Door to Hell Back Door to Hell is a 1964 film concerning a three-man team of United States soldiers preparing the way for Gen. MacArthur's World War II return to the Philippines by destroying a Japanese communications center. It was produced on a relatively small budget and received lukewarm reviews, and is... |
Burnett | |
| 1965 | Ride in the Whirlwind Ride in the Whirlwind Ride in the Whirlwind is a 1965 western directed by Monte Hellman, starring Jack Nicholson, Millie Perkins, and Harry Dean Stanton. Nicholson also wrote and produced the film.- Plot :... |
Wes | Also Producer |
| 1966 | Billy Spear | Also Producer | |
| 1967 | Gino, Hit Man | Uncredited | |
| 1967 | Hells Angels on Wheels Hells Angels on Wheels Hells Angels on Wheels is a 1967 American biker film directed by Richard Rush, and starring Jack Nicholson, Adam Roarke, and Sabrina Scharf... |
Poet | |
| 1967 | The Trip The Trip (1967 film) The Trip is a cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, written by Jack Nicholson, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, including on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, and near Big Sur, California in 1966... |
Writer | |
| 1968 | Psych-Out Psych-Out Psych-Out is a feature film about hippies, psychedelic music, and recreational drugs, produced and released by American International Pictures. Originally scripted as The Love Children, the title when tested caused people to think it was about bastards, so Samuel Z... |
Stoney | |
| 1968 | Head Head (film) Head is a 1968 psychedelic comedy-adventure major motion picture, starring TV group The Monkees , and distributed by Columbia Pictures... |
Himself | Also Producer/Writer |
| 1969 | Easy Rider Easy Rider Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom... |
George Hanson | |
| 1970 | On A Clear Day You Can See Forever On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (film) On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a 1970 American musical/romantic fantasy film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production of the same name... |
Tad Pringle | |
| 1970 | Bunny | ||
| 1970 | Five Easy Pieces Five Easy Pieces Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and... |
Robert Eroica Dupea | |
| 1971 | Carnal Knowledge Carnal Knowledge (film) Carnal Knowledge is a 1971 American drama film. The film was directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jules Feiffer.-Plot:Sandy and Jonathan are roommates at Amherst College whose lives are explored and seem to offer a contrast to one another... |
Jonathan Fuerst | Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1971 | Mitch | ||
| 1971 | Drive, He Said Drive, He Said Drive, He Said is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner... |
Also Producer/Writer/Director—Nominated for Palme d'Or Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du... |
|
| 1972 | David Staebler | ||
| 1973 | Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky | ||
| 1974 | Chinatown | J.J. 'Jake' Gittes | |
| 1975 | Oscar Sullivan aka Oscar Dix | ||
| 1975 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey.... |
Randle McMurphy Randle McMurphy Randle Patrick McMurphy or R. P. McMurphy is a central character in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He appears in the play and film adaptation of the novel as well... |
|
| 1975 | David Locke | ||
| 1975 | Tommy Tommy (film) Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves... |
The Specialist | |
| 1976 | Tom Logan | ||
| 1976 | Brimmer | ||
| 1978 | Goin' South Goin' South Goin' South is an American western-comedy film, directed by and starring Jack Nicholson. The 1978 film also starred Mary Steenburgen in her movie debut and included Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi , Richard Bradford, Veronica Cartwright, Danny DeVito and Ed Begley, Jr.At the beginning, the... |
Henry Lloyd Moon | Also Director |
| 1980 | Jack Torrance Jack Torrance Jack Torrance is a fictional character, the antagonist in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King. He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 movie adaptation of the novel, and by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries. The American Film Institute rated the character the 25th greatest film... |
||
| 1981 | Frank Chambers | ||
| 1981 | Ragtime Ragtime (film) Ragtime is a 1981 American film based on the historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City, New Rochelle, and Atlantic City in the first decade of the 1900s, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time. The film was... |
Pirate at beach | Uncredited |
| 1981 | Reds | Eugene O'Neill Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish... |
|
| 1982 | Charlie Smith | ||
| 1983 | Terms of Endearment Terms of Endearment Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks from the novel by Larry McMurtry and starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson... |
Garrett Breedlove | |
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
Archival Footage Only | |
| 1985 | Prizzi's Honor Prizzi's Honor Prizzi's Honor is a 1985 American black comedy film directed by John Huston. It stars Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia and Anjelica Huston.The film was adapted by Richard Condon and Janet Roach from Condon's novel of the same name... |
Charley Partanna | |
| 1986 | Heartburn Heartburn (film) Heartburn is a 1986 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron is based on her semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, which was inspired by her tempestuous second marriage to Carl Bernstein and his affair with Margaret Jay. Rachel is a food writer at a New... |
Mark Forman | |
| 1987 | The Witches of Eastwick The Witches of Eastwick (film) The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches... |
Daryl Van Horne | |
| 1987 | Broadcast News Broadcast News (film) Broadcast News is a 1987 romantic comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by James L. Brooks. The film concerns a virtuoso television news producer , who has daily emotional breakdowns, a brilliant yet prickly reporter and his charismatic but far less seasoned rival... |
Bill Rorich | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.... also for Ironweed Ironweed (film) Ironweed is a 1987 film directed by Argentine-born Brazilian Héctor Babenco.The picture is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by William Kennedy and concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the Great... and The Witches of Eastwick The Witches of Eastwick (film) The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches... |
| 1987 | Ironweed Ironweed (film) Ironweed is a 1987 film directed by Argentine-born Brazilian Héctor Babenco.The picture is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by William Kennedy and concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the Great... |
Francis Phelan | |
| 1989 | Batman Batman (1989 film) Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance... |
Jack Napier / The Joker | |
| 1990 | The Two Jakes The Two Jakes The Two Jakes is a 1990 American mystery film, and a sequel to the 1974 film Chinatown.Directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, it also features Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Richard Farnsworth, Frederic Forrest, Pia Gronning, David Keith, Rubén Blades, Tracey Walter and Eli Wallach... |
J.J. 'Jake' Gittes | Also (Uncredited) Producer/Director |
| 1992 | Man Trouble Man Trouble (film) Man Trouble is a 1992 romantic comedy starring Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin. It was directed by Bob Rafelson, and written by Carole Eastman, who together had been responsible for 1970's Five Easy Pieces. This film is held in somewhat lower regard and was a high-profile flop upon release.This... |
Eugene Earl Axline, aka Harry Bliss | |
| 1992 | Col. Nathan R. Jessep | ||
| 1992 | Hoffa Hoffa Hoffa is a 1992 biographical film directed by Danny DeVito and written by David Mamet, based on the life of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Jack Nicholson plays Hoffa, and Danny DeVito plays Hoffa's fictional longtime friend Robert "Bobby" Ciaro, an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over... |
James R. 'Jimmy' Hoffa Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader.... |
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1994 | Wolf Wolf (film) Wolf is a 1994 American horror film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick, and an uncredited Elaine May, with music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno.... |
Will Randall | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 1995 | Freddy Gale | ||
| 1996 | Blood and Wine Blood and Wine Blood and Wine is a neo-noir thriller directed by Bob Rafelson from a screenplay written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. It stars Jack Nicholson, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Dorff, Judy Davis and Michael Caine... |
Alex Gates | |
| 1996 | Garrett Breedlove | ||
| 1996 | Mars Attacks! Mars Attacks! Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies... |
President James Dale / Art Land | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :... |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets As Good as It Gets As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was... |
Melvin Udall | |
| 2001 | Jerry Black | ||
| 2002 | About Schmidt About Schmidt About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado... |
Warren R. Schmidt | |
| 2003 | Anger Management Anger Management Anger Management is a 2003 slapstick comedy film starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, directed by Peter Segal and written by David S. Dorfman... |
Dr. Buddy Rydell | Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Hissy Fit |
| 2003 | Something's Gotta Give Something's Gotta Give (film) Something's Gotta Give is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers for both Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. It stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as a successful 60-something and 50-something, who find love for each other at a different time of life,... |
Harry Sanborn | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 2006 | Francis 'Frank' Costello | ||
| 2007 | Edward Cole | ||
| 2010 | How Do You Know How Do You Know (film) How Do You Know is a 2010 romantic comedy drama film directed, written and produced by James L. Brooks. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson.... |
Charles Madison | |
| 2011 | Americana | Edgar Johnson |
- Additionally, in 1999, Nicholson was presented with the Golden Globe'sGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
Cecil B. DeMille Award lifetime achievement award.