Jack Nicholson

John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing charismatic rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-decade-long career, he received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.

Nicholson won Academy Awards for Best Actor for playing Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and an author with OCD in As Good as It Gets (1997), as well as for Best Supporting Actor for playing an aging playboy in Terms of Endearment (1983). He received further Oscar nominations for Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), Reds (1981), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), and About Schmidt (2002).

Nicholson made his film debut in Roger Corman's The Cry Baby Killer (1958). His other notable roles were in Psych-Out (1968), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Passenger (1975), The Missouri Breaks (1976), The Shining (1980), Broadcast News (1987), Batman (1989), Hoffa (1992), Mars Attacks! (1996), Anger Management, Something's Gotta Give (both 2003), The Departed (2006), and The Bucket List (2007). He also had a cameo in Corman's cult classic The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which has been heavily promoted on home video releases. As a director, Nicholson has helmed three films: Drive, He Said (1971), Goin' South (1978), and The Two Jakes (1990). Nicholson has also written several films, including The Monkees' vehicle Head (1968). He retired from acting after starring in How Do You Know (2010).

Nicholson is one of four male actors to win three Academy Awards and one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in films made in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s (the other is Michael Caine). His 12 Academy Award nominations make him the most nominated male actor in the Academy's history. He was honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1994, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1999 and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2001.

Early life and education John Joseph Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey, the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson; 1918–1963). Nicholson's mother was of Irish, English, German, and Welsh descent. Nicholson has identified as Irish, comparing himself to the playwright Eugene O'Neill, whom he played in the film Reds (1981): "I'm not saying I'm as dark as he was ... but I am a writer, I am Irish, I have had problems with my family." His mother married Italian-American showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose; 1909–1997) in 1936, before realizing that he was already married to actress Shannon O'Connell. Biographer Patrick McGilligan stated in his book Jack's Life that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), June's manager, may have been Nicholson's biological father, rather than Furcillo. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of the father's identity. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). On finding out, Nicholson said it was "a pretty dramatic event, but it wasn't what I'd call traumatizing ... I was pretty well psychologically formed". "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. He was in detention every day for a whole school year. a move he sometimes characterized as an effort to "dodge the draft"; He trained to be an actor with a group called the Players Ring Theater, after which he found small parts performing on the stage and in TV soap operas. He made his film debut in a low-budget teen drama The Cry Baby Killer (1958), playing the title role. For the next decade, Nicholson frequently collaborated with the film's producer, Roger Corman. Corman directed Nicholson on several occasions, such as in The Little Shop of Horrors as undertaker (a masochistic dental patient) Wilbur Force; in The Raven; The Terror, where he plays a French officer seduced by an evil ghost; and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Nicholson frequently worked with director Monte Hellman on low-budget westerns; two of them—Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting—initially failed to interest U.S. film distributors but gained cult success on the French art-house circuit and were later sold to television. Nicholson also appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, and starred as a rebellious dirt-track race driver in the 1960 film The Wild Ride.

With his acting career foundering, Nicholson seemed resigned to a career behind the camera as a writer/director. His first real taste of writing success was the screenplay for the 1967 counterculture film The Trip (directed by Corman), starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. After first reading the script, Fonda told Nicholson he was impressed by the writing and felt it could become a great film. But Fonda was disappointed with how the film turned out and blamed the editing for turning it into a "predictable" film and said so publicly. "I was livid", he recalls. Nicholson also co-wrote, with Bob Rafelson, the movie Head, which starred The Monkees, and arranged the movie's soundtrack.

Nicholson's first big acting break came when a role opened up in Fonda and Hopper's Easy Rider (1969). He played alcoholic lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The film cost only $400,000 to make, and became a blockbuster, grossing $60 million. The part was a lucky break for Nicholson. The role had been written for Rip Torn, who withdrew from the project after an argument with Hopper. Nicholson later acknowledged the importance of being cast in Easy Rider: "All I could see in the early films, before Easy Rider, was this desperate young actor trying to vault out of the screen and create a movie career." Stanley Kubrick, who was impressed by his performance in Easy Rider, cast Nicholson as Napoleon in a film about his life, and although production on the film commenced, the project fizzled out, partly due to a change in ownership at MGM.

1970–1989: Stardom and acclaim In 1970, Nicholson starred in Five Easy Pieces alongside Karen Black in what became his persona-defining role. Nicholson and Black were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. Nicholson played Bobby Dupea, an oil rig worker, and Black played his waitress girlfriend. Black noted that Nicholson's character in the film was very subdued and very different from Nicholson's real personality. She said that the now-classic restaurant scene was partly improvised by Nicholson, and was out of character for Bobby, who would not have cared enough to argue with a waitress. "I think that Jack really has very little in common with Bobby. I think Bobby has given up looking for love. But Jack hasn't, he's very interested in love, in finding out things. Jack is a very curious, alive human being. Always ready for a new idea." Nicholson himself said as much, telling an interviewer, "I like listening to everybody. This to me is the elixir of life."

Also in 1975, Nicholson starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger (1975), which co-starred Maria Schneider. Nicholson plays a journalist, David Locke, who during an assignment in North Africa decides to quit journalism and disappear by taking on a new hidden identity. Unfortunately, the dead person whose identity he takes on turns out to have been a weapons smuggler on the run. Antonioni's unusual plot included convincing dialogue and fine acting, states film critic Seymour Chatman. It was shot in Algeria, Spain, Germany, and England. The film received good reviews and revived Antonioni's reputation as a great director. yet upon its completion he thought so highly of the film that he bought the world rights and recorded a reminiscence of working with Antonioni. "I'm part of the first generation that idolized Marlon Brando", he said.

Nicholson has observed that while both De Niro and Brando were noted for their skill as method actors, he himself has seldom been described as one, a fact he sees as an accomplishment: "I'm still fooling them", he told Sean Penn. "I consider it an accomplishment because there's probably no one who understands Method acting better academically than I do—or actually uses it more in his work. But it's funny, nobody really sees that. It's perception versus reality, I guess." In preparation for the role, Nicholson drew upon his own experiences as a writer and slept short hours to help remain in an agitated state during the shoot. His co-star Shelley Duvall recalled that she and Nicholson spent many hours discussing their characters, with Nicholson maintaining that his character be cold to her from the start. On the set, Nicholson always appeared in character and if Kubrick felt confident that Nicholson knew his lines well enough, he encouraged him to improvise beyond the script. He said, "Stanley's demanding. He'll do a scene fifty times, and you have to be good to do that."

In 1982, Nicholson starred as an immigration enforcement agent in The Border, directed by Tony Richardson. It co-starred Warren Oates, who played a corrupt border official. Richardson wanted Nicholson to play his role less expressively than he had in his earlier roles. "Less is more", he told him, and wanted him to wear reflecting sunglasses to portray what patrolmen wore. John Huston, who directed Prizzi's Honor, said of Nicholson's acting, "He just illuminates the book. He impressed me in one scene after another; the movie is composed largely of first takes with him." In Tim Burton's 1989 superhero film Batman, Nicholson portrayed the Joker opposite Michael Keaton as the title character. The film was an international smash hit, and a lucrative deal earned him a percentage of the box office gross estimated at $60 million to $90 million. Nicholson said that he was "particularly proud" of his performance as the Joker, calling it "a piece of pop art". One review describes his performance as "spellbinding", adding that he portrayed "the essence of the quintessential military mindset". Critic David Thomson notes that Nicholson's character "blazed and roared". He received two Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor nominations for Man Trouble (1992) and Hoffa (1992), although his performance in Hoffa also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. David Thomson states that the film was terribly neglected, since Nicholson portrayed one of his best screen characters, someone who is "snarly, dumb, smart, noble, rascally—all the parts of 'Jack'". His Oscar was matched by the Academy Award for Best Actress for his co-star Helen Hunt, who played a Manhattan single mother and waitress drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall. The film was a box-office success, grossing $314 million, making it Nicholson's second-best-grossing film, after Batman. Critic Jack Mathews of Newsday said Nicholson was "in rare form", adding, "it's one of those performances that make you aware how much fun the actor is having".

2000–present: Later roles and extended break In 2001, Nicholson was the first actor to receive the Stanislavsky Award at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival for "conquering the heights of acting and faithfulness." That same year Nicholson starred in The Pledge, a mystery drama written by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, where he portrays retired police detective Jerry Black, who vows to find a murderer of a young girl. Nicholson was praised for his performance; Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "deeply felt" compared to some of Nicholson's other films. Nicholson was one of several celebrities who participated in a telethon shortly after the September 11th attacks.

Nicholson acted in Alexander Payne's comedy-drama About Schmidt (2002), playing a retired Nebraska actuary who questions his own life after his wife dies. His quietly restrained performance earned him nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Actor Award and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor. In Anger Management (2003), he played an aggressive therapist assigned to help an overly pacifist man, portrayed by Adam Sandler. Also In 2003, Nicholson also starred in the Nancy Meyers directed romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give playing an aging playboy who falls for the mother (Diane Keaton) of his young girlfriend. For his performance, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Movie – Musical or Comedy.

In 2006, Nicholson returned to darker roles as Frank Costello, a nefarious Boston Irish Mob boss based on Whitey Bulger, in Martin Scorsese's Best Picture–winning film The Departed, a remake of Andrew Lau's Infernal Affairs. The role earned Nicholson worldwide critical praise and BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and Actor Award nominations. In 2007, Nicholson co-starred with Morgan Freeman in Rob Reiner's The Bucket List, in which Nicholson and Freeman portrayed dying men who fulfill their list of goals. In researching the role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses.

Nicholson's next film role saw him reunite with James L. Brooks, director of Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News and As Good as It Gets, for a supporting role for the 2010 film How Do You Know starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, and Owen Wilson. The film was a massive financial and critical failure. In a September 2013 Vanity Fair article, Nicholson said that he did not consider himself retired, but that he was now less driven to "be out there anymore".

How Do You Know remains Nicholson's last film role, and brings his filmography to 80 films. In 2013, Nicholson co-presented the Academy Award for Best Picture with First Lady Michelle Obama, the eighth time he presented the Academy Award for Best Picture (after 1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, and 2007).

On February 15, 2015, Nicholson made a special appearance as a presenter on SNL 40, the 40th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live. After the death of boxer Muhammad Ali on June 3, 2016, Nicholson appeared on HBO's The Fight Game with Jim Lampley for an exclusive interview about his friendship with Ali. He was reported to be starring in an English-language remake of Toni Erdmann in 2017 opposite Kristen Wiig, his first feature film role since How Do You Know, but the project was later abandoned. In October 2019, with the release of The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep, director Mike Flanagan revealed he approached Nicholson for a cameo appearance, but Nicholson declined with best wishes. Flanagan also disclosed that Nicholson had previously been approached to appear in Steven Spielberg's science-fiction film Ready Player One (2018).

On February 16, 2025, Nicholson made a rare appearance on SNL 50, the 50th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live. He introduced Adam Sandler, who performed a tribute song to the show.

Influence Actors who have cited Nicholson as an influence include Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, and Alden Ehrenreich.

Acting credits and accolades

Film

+ YearTitleRoleNotes 1958 1960 Too Soon to Love Buddy Studs Lonigan 1962 1963 Thunder Island — Writer only 1964 Flight to Fury Also writer Back Door to Hell Burnett Ensign Pulver Dolan 1966 Also producer Ride in the Whirlwind Wes Also writer and producer 1967 Gino Uncredited Hells Angels on Wheels Poet — Writer only 1968 Psych-Out Stoney Head Movie Director in Restaurant Uncredited cameo; Also writer and producer 1969 Easy Rider 1970 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Bunny Five Easy Pieces 1971 Carnal Knowledge Mitch Drive, He Said — Director, writer and producer 1972 1973 1974 Chinatown 1975 Tommy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1976 Brimmer 1978 Goin' South Also director 1980 1981 Reds 1982 1983 Terms of Endearment 1985 Prizzi's Honor 1986 Heartburn 1987 Broadcast News Ironweed 1989 Batmangroup=note|Napier becomes the Joker. 1990 Also director and producer 1992 Man Trouble Hoffa 1994 Wolf 1995 1996 Blood and Wine Mars Attacks!group=note|Nicholson plays two separate characters. 1997 As Good as It Gets 2001 2002 About Schmidt 2003 Anger Management Something's Gotta Give 2006 2007 2010 I'm Still Here Himself How Do You Know

Television

+ YearTitleRoleNotes 1956 NBC Matinee Theater Musician's Son Episode: "Are You Listening?" 1967 Episode: "A Son for a Son" 1986 Narrator (voice) Television short 1988 How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin & How the Camel Got His Hump Narrator (voice) Television short 2015 Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special Himself Television special 2025 Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special Himself Television special

During his career Nicholson has appeared in 80 films. Among some of Nicholson's films are:

Easy Rider (1969) Five Easy Pieces (1970) Carnal Knowledge (1971) The Last Detail (1973) Chinatown (1974) The Passenger (1975) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) The Shining (1980) Reds (1981) Terms of Endearment (1983) Prizzi's Honor (1985) Heartburn (1986) Ironweed (1987) Batman (1989) A Few Good Men (1992) As Good as It Gets (1997) About Schmidt (2002) The Departed (2006)

With 12 Academy Award nominations (eight for Best Actor and four for Best Supporting Actor), Nicholson is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards history. Only Nicholson (1960s–2000s), Michael Caine (1960s–2000s), Meryl Streep (1970s–2010s), Paul Newman (1950s–1960s, 1980s–2000s), Katharine Hepburn (1930s–1960s, 1980s), Frances McDormand (1980s–2020s), Denzel Washington (1980s–2020s), and Laurence Olivier (1930s–1970s) have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five decades. With three Oscar wins, he also ties with Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ingrid Bergman, Frances McDormand, Meryl Streep, and Sean Penn for the second-most Oscar wins in acting categories. Only Katharine Hepburn, with four Oscars, won more.

Nicholson is an active and voting member of the Academy. In 1990, Nicholson was honored in France by Jack Lang, the Minister of Culture, with a Commander of Arts and Letters. In May 2008, the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Nicholson would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum in Sacramento. The induction ceremony took place on December 15, 2008, where he was inducted alongside 11 other 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 243rd commencement. At the ceremony, Ruth Simmons, Brown University's president, called him "the most skilled actor of our lifetime".

In 2018, the Australian fishing spider Ornodolomedes nicholsoni was named in his honor for "brilliantly portraying diverse personalities".

Unrealized Napoleon project In a 1995 interview, Nicholson told film critic William Arnold that perhaps the greatest frustration of his career was his inability to make a film about Napoleon, who he considered one of the greatest, and most misunderstood, men of history. Nicholson owned the film rights to the 1982 book, The Murder of Napoleon, and tried many times over the years to get it off the ground, but, for a variety of reasons, was unsuccessful. "I can't tell you how much I would like to make a movie about him," he told Arnold, "and how maddening it is not to be able to."

Personal life

Relationships and children In his private life, Nicholson is notorious for his inability to "settle down"; he has fathered six children by five women but married only once. Nicholson's marriage was to The Terror co-star Sandra Knight from 1962 to 1968, though they separated in 1966. The couple had one daughter, born in 1963.

Five Easy Pieces co-star Susan Anspach contended that her son, Caleb (b. September 26, 1970), whose legal father was Mark Goddard, was actually Nicholson's biological son. In 1984, Nicholson said he was not convinced of this, but in 1996, Caleb said that Nicholson had recognized him as his son in private. By 1998, Nicholson publicly acknowledged him as his son and said that they got along "beautifully now".

In 1971 and 1972, Nicholson was in a relationship with singer Michelle Phillips, the ex-wife of his best friend Dennis Hopper, during which time she suffered a miscarriage. Nicholson's longest relationship was with actress Anjelica Huston, from 1973 until 1990. Their on-again, off-again romance included several periods of overlap with other women, notably former Bond girl Jill St. John and Danish model Winnie Hollman, with whom Nicholson had a daughter, Honey Hollman (born January 26, 1982). In 1999, it was discovered that Honey's biological father is producer Lou Adler. Despite this, Honey later stated she has a "normal father-daughter relationship" with Nicholson.

The relationship with Huston ended amid actress Rebecca Broussard's first pregnancy by Nicholson. He and Broussard had two children, Lorraine (b. April 16, 1990) and Raymond (b. February 20, 1992). The pair split up in 1994. That same year, Nicholson reportedly had a daughter, born in 1994, with waitress Jeannine Gourin.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Nicholson was involved with actress Lara Flynn Boyle. The two initially broke up in 2000, later reuniting before splitting permanently in 2004, after which Nicholson was linked to English supermodel Kate Moss. In 2006, Nicholson dated actress Paz de la Huerta.

Nicholson has said that children "give your life a resonance that it can't have without them ... As a father, I'm there all the time. I give unconditional love".

Legal issues In a criminal complaint filed on February 8, 1994, Robert Blank stated that Nicholson, then 56, approached Blank's Mercedes-Benz while he was stopped at a red light in North Hollywood. After accusing Blank of cutting him off in traffic, Nicholson used a golf club to bash the roof and windshield of Blank's car. A witness confirmed Blank's account of the incident and misdemeanor charges of assault and vandalism were filed against Nicholson. Charges were dropped after Nicholson apologized to Blank, and the two reached an undisclosed settlement, which included a reported $500,000 check from Nicholson.

In 1996, a lawsuit was brought against Nicholson alleging that he promised a woman named Catherine Sheehan $1,000 for sex and then assaulted her when she asked for the money. Sheehan received a settlement of about $40,000, but filed another lawsuit against him, arguing that the settlement was insufficient to cover the injuries inflicted upon her, including brain trauma, which she said were "actually killing her." The case was dismissed.

Celebrity friendships Nicholson lived next door to Marlon Brando for a number of years on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Warren Beatty also lived nearby, earning the road the nickname "Bad Boy Drive". After Brando's death in 2004, Nicholson purchased his bungalow for $6.1 million, with the purpose of having it demolished. Nicholson said he did so out of respect for Brando's legacy, as it had become too expensive to renovate the "derelict" building, which was plagued by mold.

Nicholson's friendship with author-journalist Hunter S. Thompson is described in Thompson's autobiography Kingdom of Fear (2003). After Thompson died in 2005, Nicholson and fellow actors Johnny Depp, John Cusack, and Sean Penn attended his private memorial service in Colorado. Nicholson was also a close friend of Robert Evans, the producer of Chinatown, and after Evans lost Woodland, his home, as the result of a 1980s drug bust, Nicholson and other friends of Evans bought Woodland to give it back to him. Nicholson is also friends with fellow New Jerseyans Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci.

Hobbies Nicholson is a fan of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers. He became a Lakers season ticket holder in 1970, and held courtside seats next to the opponent's benches both at The Forum and Staples Center. He was described as a "fixture" at the games, though his regular attendance had stopped by 2021, as he withdrew from public appearances. Nicholson occasionally argued with game officials and opposing players, and even walked onto the court. He was almost ejected from a Lakers playoff game in May 2003 after yelling at a referee. After the death of former Lakers star Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in January 2020, Nicholson gave a rare phone interview to Los Angeles station KCBS-TV expressing his grief. He attended a 2023 playoff game, which media outlets noted was his first appearance at a Lakers game in nearly two years.

Nicholson is a collector of 20th-century and contemporary paintings, including those of Henri Matisse, Tamara de Lempicka, Andy Warhol and Jack Vettriano. In 1995, artist Edward Ruscha said that Nicholson has "one of the best collections out here".

Political views In 1998, Nicholson met Fidel Castro and referred to him as a "genius". In 2001, he met with Vladimir Putin at Moscow International Film Festival and offered him a job as a producer. Nicholson has called himself a "lifelong Irish Democrat". He supported George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election, Michael Dukakis in 1988, and Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Nicholson supports solar energy, decriminalizing drugs, monopoly laws, and raising teachers' pay. Although personally against abortion, he is pro-choice. He has said, "I'm pro-choice but against abortion because I'm an illegitimate child myself, and it would be hypocritical to take any other position. I'd be dead. I wouldn't exist." He has also said that he has "nothing but total admiration, gratitude, and respect for the strength of the women who made the decision they made in my individual case".

Religious beliefs Nicholson was raised Roman Catholic and has expressed admiration for the religion, calling it "the only official dogma training I've had. I liked it. It's a smart religion." In a 1992 Vanity Fair interview, Nicholson said, "I don't believe in God now. I can still work up an envy for someone who has faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience."

Explanatory notes