Jack Nicholson is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter who made his film debut in The Cry Baby Killer (1958). Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation. He is also one of the most critically acclaimed: his 12 Academy Award nominations make him the most nominated male actor in the Academy's history. He is also a Kennedy Center Honoree and a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

In the first decade of his acting career, Nicholson had several minor roles in film and television, only having significant parts in independent films. Nicholson's breakout role was in the countercultural Easy Rider (1969). Nicholson next appeared in Five Easy Pieces (1970). He then starred in the comedy-drama Carnal Knowledge (1971). His performance in The Last Detail (1973) garnered him the Cannes Best Actor Award. For his performance in the Roman Polanski-directed Chinatown (1974), he was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He then portrayed Randle McMurphy in the Miloš Forman-directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which won Best Picture and garnered him the Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. In 1976, he starred in the film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon (1941). Also that year, Nicholson costarred with Marlon Brando in the western The Missouri Breaks. In 1978, Nicholson directed and starred in another western, Goin' South.

In 1980, Nicholson played Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. For his portrayal of playwright Eugene O'Neill in Reds (1981), Nicholson was awarded the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his acting in Terms of Endearment (1983). He later returned in the 1996 sequel The Evening Star. He collaborated with director John Huston in Prizzi's Honor (1985), for which Nicholson earned another Best Actor nomination from the Academy. His role as Francis Phelan in Ironweed (1987) garnered him yet another Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He then portrayed the Joker in the Tim Burton-directed Batman (1989). Nicholson subsequently directed and acted in The Two Jakes (1990), a sequel to Chinatown. In 1992, he portrayed Jimmy Hoffa in the Danny DeVito-directed Hoffa. That year Nicholson also appeared in the Rob Reiner-directed A Few Good Men. He collaborated with Burton again on Mars Attacks! (1996). His next role in As Good as It Gets (1997) garnered him the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2006, he starred alongside Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Departed. He starred opposite Morgan Freeman in the 2007 comedy The Bucket List. His final film appearance was in How Do You Know (2010), after which he reportedly retired due to memory loss.

Film

Table containing films with Jack Nicholson

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1958	The Cry Baby Killer	Jimmy Wallace
1960	Too Soon to Love	Buddy
1960	The Wild Ride	Johnny Varron
1960	The Little Shop of Horrors	Wilbur Force
1960	Studs Lonigan	Weary Reilly
1962	The Broken Land	Will Brocious
1963	The Raven	Rexford Bedlo
1963	The Terror	Andre Duvalier
1963	Thunder Island	—	Writer only
1964	Flight to Fury	Jay Wickham	Also writer
1964	Back Door to Hell	Burnett
1964	Ensign Pulver	Dolan
1966	The Shooting	Billy Spear	Also producer
1966	Ride in the Whirlwind	Wes	Also writer and producer
1967	The St. Valentine's Day Massacre	Gino	Uncredited
1967	Hells Angels on Wheels	Poet
1967	The Trip	—	Writer only
1968	Psych-Out	Stoney
1968	Head	Movie Director in Restaurant	Uncredited cameo Also writer and producer
1969	Easy Rider	George Hanson
1970	On a Clear Day You Can See Forever	Tad Pringle
1970	The Rebel Rousers	Bunny
1970	Five Easy Pieces	Robert Eroica Dupea
1971	Carnal Knowledge	Jonathan Fuerst
1971	A Safe Place	Mitch
1971	Drive, He Said	—	Director, writer and producer
1972	The King of Marvin Gardens	David Staebler
1973	The Last Detail	Signalman 1st Class Billy L. "Badass" Buddusky
1974	Chinatown	J. J. "Jake" Gittes
1975	Tommy	The Specialist
1975	The Passenger	David Locke
1975	The Fortune	Oscar Sullivan
1975	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Randle Patrick "Mac" McMurphy
1976	The Missouri Breaks	Tom Logan
1976	The Last Tycoon	Brimmer
1978	Goin' South	Henry Lloyd Moon	Also director
1980	The Shining	Jack Torrance
1981	The Postman Always Rings Twice	Frank Chambers
1981	Reds	Eugene O'Neill
1982	The Border	Charlie Smith
1983	Terms of Endearment	Garrett Breedlove
1985	Prizzi's Honor	Charley Partanna
1986	Heartburn	Mark Forman
1987	The Witches of Eastwick	Daryl Van Horne
1987	Broadcast News	Bill Rorish
1987	Ironweed	Francis Phelan
1989	Batman	Jack Napier / The Joker
1990	The Two Jakes	J. J. "Jake" Gittes	Also director and producer
1992	Man Trouble	Harry Bliss
1992	A Few Good Men	Colonel Nathan R. Jessup
1992	Hoffa	Jimmy Hoffa
1994	Wolf	Will Randall
1995	The Crossing Guard	Freddy Gale
1996	Blood and Wine	Alex Gates
1996	Mars Attacks!	President James Dale / Art Land
1996	The Evening Star	Garrett Breedlove
1997	As Good as It Gets	Melvin Udall
2001	The Pledge	Jerry Black
2002	About Schmidt	Warren R. Schmidt
2003	Anger Management	Dr. Buddy Rydell
2003	Something's Gotta Give	Harry Sanborn
2006	The Departed	Francis "Frank" Costello
2007	The Bucket List	Edward Cole
2010	How Do You Know	Charles Madison

Television

Table containing television appearances by Jack Nicholson

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1956	NBC Matinee Theater	Musician's Son	Episode: "Are You Listening?"
1960	Mr. Lucky	Martin	Episode: "Operation Fortuna?"
1960	The Barbara Stanwyck Show	Bud	Episode: "The Mink Coat"
1961	Tales of Wells Fargo	Tom Washburn	Episode: "That Washburn Girl"
1961	Sea Hunt	John Stark	Episode: "Round Up"
1961	Bronco	Bob Doolin	Episode: "The Equalizer"
1962	Hawaiian Eye	Tony Morgan	Episode: "Total Eclipse"
1966	Dr. Kildare	Jaime Angel	4 episodes
1966–67	The Andy Griffith Show	Marvin Jenkins / Mr. Garland	2 episodes
1967	The Guns of Will Sonnett	Tom Murdock	Episode: "A Son for a Son"
1986	The Elephant's Child	Narrator (voice)	Television short
1988	How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin & How the Camel Got His Hump	Narrator (voice)	Television short

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Jack Nicholson