Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson (1937- ), American film actor and director, whose on-screen persona is usually that of an outgoing, unconventional character, often with a sinister side to him. He was born in Neptune, New Jersey. After making his film debut in The Cry Baby Killer (1958) and appearing in several other films, including Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Nicholson gained attention in Easy Rider (1969). He subsequently appeared in Five Easy Pieces (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971), Chinatown (1974), The Shining (1980), Reds (1981), Prizzi’s Honor (1985), Heartburn (1986), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Ironweed (1987), Batman (1989), Hoffa (1992), A Few Good Men (1992), Wolf (1994), Blood and Wine (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), and The Evening Star (1997), among others.

Nicholson won Academy Awards (Oscars) as Best Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and as Best Supporting Actor for Terms of Endearment (1983). He produced Drive, He Said (1971), and directed Goin’ South (1978) and The Two Jakes (1990), in which he also appeared. He has also written screenplays for several films. In 1994 he was presented with the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. In 1998 he won his third Oscar (and the eleventh Oscar nomination of his career) for his role in As Good As It Gets. He played a police detective hunting a child-killer in The Pledge (directed by Sean Penn) in 2001 and won a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actor for his performance in About Schmidt (2002). He also starred with Diane Keaton in the comedy Something’s Gotta Give (2003) and as a Boston mob boss in The Departed (2006).