Jack Nicholson has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards, and he's won three times: for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, from the book by Ken Kesey), for Terms of Endearment (1984), and for As Good As It Gets (1997, with Helen Hunt). His crooked leer and wild-man attitude are famous, but Nicholson is also known as a powerful dramatic actor. He first made a splash as hippie lawyer in Easy Rider (1969, with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper). He has played many high-profile roles in the years since; the most famous may be the dapper, cynical detective Jake Gittes in the drama Chinatown (1974, opposite Faye Dunaway). He also starred as the insane asylum rebel McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as the corrupt marine colonel who shouts "You can't handle the truth!" in A Few Good Men (1992, with Demi Moore and Tom Cruise), as labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in Hoffa (1992), and as the jovial villain The Joker in the 1989 film Batman (with Michael Keaton as Batman). As the decades passed, Nicholson somehow shifted from rowdy iconoclast into beloved movie industry icon, a grinning and unapologetic hedonist whom the cameras always seemed to find at the Oscars or other Hollywood events. He has remained a bankable star into the 21st century, appearing in films like About Schmidt (2002), Something's Gotta Give (2003, with Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves), and the Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese crime drama The Departed (2006).
Nicholson is a prominent fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, and is often seen in his courtside seats... One of Nicholson's best-known movie lines -- "Herrrre's Johnny!" -- is from the 1980 film The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick from the novel by Stephen King. The line is a reference to the nightly introduction of host Johnny Carson on TV's The Tonight Show.
(born April 22, 1937, Neptune, N.J., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He acted in low-budget movies before earning acclaim for his performance as an alcoholic lawyer in Easy Rider (1969). He followed that success with such diverse roles as a loner alienated from his family and friends in Five Easy Pieces (1970), a chauvinist in Carnal Knowledge (1971), a detective in Chinatown (1974), and a patient in a mental hospital in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Academy Award). Nicholson's later movies include the horror film The Shining (1980), Terms of Endearment (1983, Academy Award), the biographical Hoffa (1992), As Good As It Gets (1997, Academy Award), About Schmidt (2002), and The Departed (2006). Noted for his devilish grin and his slow speaking style, he has attained iconic status as one of the most popular and admired stars of his time.
Career Highlights: Terms of Endearment, Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces
First Major Screen Credit: The Cry Baby Killer (1958)
Biography
With his cheshire-cat grin, devil-may-care attitude and potent charisma, Jack Nicholson emerged as the most popular and celebrated actor of his generation. A classic anti-hero, he typified the new breed of Hollywood star -- rebellious, contentious and defiantly non-conformist. A supremely versatile talent, he uniquely defined the zeitgeist of the 1970s, a decade which his screen presence dominated virtually from start to finish, and remained an enduring counterculture icon for the duration of his long and renowned career. Born April 22, 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, and raised by his mother and grandmother, Nicholson travelled to California at the age of 17, with the intent of returning east to attend college. It never happened -- he became so enamored of the west coast that he stayed, landing a job as an office boy in MGM's animation department.
Nicholson soon began studying acting with the area group the Players Ring Theater, eventually appearing on television as well as on stage. While performing theatrically, Nicholson was spotted by "B"-movie mogul Roger Corman, who cast him in the lead role in the 1958 quickie The Cry Baby Killer. He continued playing troubled teens in Corman's 1960 efforts Too Soon to Love and The Wild Ride before appearing in the Irving Lerner adaptation of the novel Studs Lonigan. The picture failed miserably, and soon Nicholson was back in drive-in fare, next appearing in Little Shop of Horrors. He did not reappear on-screen prior to the 1962 Fox "B"-western The Broken Land. It was then back to the Corman camp for 1963's The Raven. For the follow-up, The Terror, he worked with a then-unknown Francis Ford Coppola and Monte Hellman. A year later, he enjoyed his second flirtation with mainstream Hollywood in the war comedy Ensign Pulver.
Under Hellman, Nicholson next appeared in both Back Door to Hell and Flight to Fury, which though filmed back-to-back were released two years apart. Together, they also co-produced a pair of 1967 Corman westerns, Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting. A brief appearance in the exploitation tale Hell's Angels on Wheels followed before Nicholson wrote the acid-culture drama The Trip, which co-starred Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. He also penned 1968's Head, a psychedelic saga starring the television pop group the Monkees which was directed by Bob Rafelson, and he wrote and co-starred in Psych-Out. After rejecting a role in Bonnie and Clyde, Nicholson was approached by Hopper and Fonda to star in their 1969 counterculture epic Easy Rider. As an ill-fated, alcoholic civil-rights lawyer, Nicholson immediately shot to stardom, earning a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar nomination as the film quickly achieved landmark status.
Nicholson then appeared briefly in the 1970 Barbra Streisand musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, followed by another classic -- Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces, in which he starred as a drifter alienated from his family and the world around him; his notorious diner scene remains among the definitive moments in American cinematic history. The film was much acclaimed, earning a "Best Picture" Oscar nomination; Nicholson also received a "Best Actor" bid, and was now firmly established among the Hollywood elite. He next wrote, produced, directed and starred in 1971's Drive, He Said, which met with little notice. However, the follow-up, Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge, was another hit. After accepting a supporting role in Henry Jaglom's 1972 effort A Safe Place, Nicholson reunited with Rafelson for The King of Marvin Gardens, followed in 1973 by the Hal Ashby hit The Last Detail, which won him "Best Actor" honors at the Cannes Film Festival as well as another Academy Award nomination.
Nicholson earned yet one more Oscar nomination as detective Jake Gittes in Roman Polanski's brilliant 1974 neo-noir Chinatown, universally hailed among the decade's greatest motion pictures. The next year was even more triumphant: first Nicholson starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger, and then delivered a memorable supporting turn in the Ken Russell musical Tommy. The Fortune, co-starring Warren Beatty and Stockard Channing, followed, before the year ended with Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; the winner of five Oscars, including "Best Picture" and, finally, "Best Actor." The film earned over $60 million and firmly established Nicholson as the screen's most popular star -- so popular, in fact, that he was able to turn down roles in projects including The Sting, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now without suffering any ill effects.
Nicholson did agree to co-star in 1977's The Missouri Breaks for the opportunity to work with his hero, Marlon Brando; despite their combined drawing power, however, the film was not a hit. Nor was his next directorial effort, 1978's Goin' South. A maniacal turn in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror tale The Shining proved much more successful, and a year later he starred in Rafelson's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice. An Oscar-nominated supporting role in Beatty's epic Reds followed. Even when a film fell far short of expectations -- as was certainly the case with 1982's The Border, for example -- Nicholson somehow remained impervious to damage. Audiences loved him regardless, as did critics and even his peers -- in 1983 he won a "Best Supporting Oscar" for his work in James L. Brooks' much-acclaimed comedy-drama Terms of Endearment, and two years later netted another "Best Actor" nomination for John Huston's superb black comedy Prizzi's Honor, a performance which also won him an unprecedented fifth award from the New York reviewers.
The following year, Heartburn was less well-received, but in 1987 Nicholson starred as the Devil in the hit The Witches of Eastwick -- a role few denied he was born to play. The by-now-requisite Academy Award nomination followed for his performance in Hector Babenco's Depression-era tale Ironweed, his ninth to date -- a total matched only by Spencer Tracy. Nicholson did not resurface until 1989, starring as the Joker in a wildly over-the-top performance in Tim Burton's blockbuster Batman. The 1990s began with the long-awaited and often-delayed Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, which Nicholson also directed. Three more films followed in 1992 -- Rafelson's poorly-received Man Trouble, the biopic Hoffa, and A Few Good Men, for which he earned another "Best Supporting Actor" nod. For Mike Nichols, he next starred in 1994's Wolf, followed a year later by Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard. In 1996, Nicholson appeared in Blood and Wine, Burton's Mars Attacks! and The Evening Star, reprising his Terms of Endearment role.
In 1997, Nicholson enjoyed a sort of career renaissance with James L. Brooks' As Good As it Gets, an enormously successful film that netted a third Oscar (for "Best Actor) for Nicholson, as well as a Best Actress Oscar for his co-star Helen Hunt. Nicholson and Hunt also picked up Golden Globes for their performances, two of many awards lavished upon the film. Subsequently taking a four-year exile from film, Nicholson stepped back in front of the camera under the direction of actor-turned-director Sean Penn for the police drama The Pledge. A quiet character study concerning a veteran detective who promises to solve the murder of a young girl, the film earned moderately positive reviews though it found only a small following at the box office. Though many agreed that Nicholson's overall performance in The Pledge was subtly effective, it was the following year that the legendary actor would find himself back in the critic's good graces. As the eponymous character of About Schmidt, Nicholson recieved yet another Oscar nomination for his effectively restrained performance as a disillusioned father troubled by his daughter's impending nuptuals.
The next year he appeared in a pair of box office hits. Anger Management found him playing an unorthodox therapist opposite Adam Sandler, while he played an aging lothario opposite Diane Keaton in ancy Myers' Something's Gotta Give. After taking a three year break from any on-screen work, Nicholson returned in 2006 as a fearsome criminal in Martin Scorsese's undercover police drama The Departed, the first collaboration between these two towering figures in American film.
Nicholson's personal life has been one befitting a man who has made his mark playing so many devilishly charming characters. He has fathered a number of children from his relationships with various women, including a daughter, Lorraine (born in 1990), and a son, Raymond (born1992) with Rebecca Broussard. It was Broussard's pregnancy with their first child that ended Nicholson's 17-year relationship with a woman who is known for her similarly enduring charisma, the actress Angelica Huston. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor, film director and producer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters.
Nicholson was born in Saint Vincent's Hospital in New York City, the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson).[1][2] June had married Italian American showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose) six months earlier in Elkton, Maryland, on October 16, 1936.[3] Elkton was a town known for its "quickie" marriages. Furcillo, however, was already married, and, although he 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 Donald 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),[4] June's manager, may be the father and other[1] sources have suggested that June Nicholson was unsure of who the father was. Nicholson's mother was of Irish, English, and Dutch descent[5] though he and his family self-identified as Irish.[6][7]
Nicholson was brought up believing that his grandparents, John Joseph Nicholson (a department store window dresser in Manasquan, New Jersey) and Ethel May 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 being informed by a Time Magazine journalist who was doing a feature on him.[8] By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). Nicholson has stated he does not know who his father is, saying "Only Ethel and June knew and they never told anybody",[8] and has chosen not to have a DNA test or to pursue the matter.
Nicholson grew up in Neptune City, New Jersey.[4] He was raised in his mother's Roman Catholic religion.[5] 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.[9] In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50 year high school reunion accompanied by his aunt Lorraine.[4]
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.[10]
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 a sado-masochistic dental patient (Wilbur Force), and also in The Raven, The Terror and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He also worked frequently with director Monte Hellman, most notably on two low-budget westerns (Ride in the Whirlwind, The Shooting) which failed initially to find interest from any US film distributors, though they became a 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 1967's 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.[11]
A Best Actor nomination came the following year for his persona-defining role in Five Easy Pieces (1970), which includes his famous "chicken salad" dialogue about getting what you want. 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.
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.[12] After Tate's death, Nicholson began sleeping with a hammer under his pillow,[12] and took breaks from work to attend the Manson trial.[13] It was at Nicholson's home where the statutory rape case for which Polanski was arrested occurred.[14]
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.
Nicholson turned down the role of John Book in Witness.[15] 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. Nicholson was rumored to reprise his role as The Joker in the fifth installment in the franchise Batman Triumphant in 1999, but Warner Bros. Pictures canceled the project in response to the critical failure of Batman & Robin.[citation needed]
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 soliloquies 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 property developer Art Land.
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 a Golden Globe nomination.
In About Schmidt (2002), Nicholson portrayed a retired Omaha, Nebraska actuary who questions his own life following his wife's death. His quiet, restrained performance stood in sharp contrast to many of his previous roles, and earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. In the comedy Anger Management, he plays an aggressive therapist assigned to help overly pacifist Adam Sandler. In 2003, Nicholson 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 BostonIrish 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.
He 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, from 1973 to 1989, the daughter of film director John Huston. However, the relationship ended when the media reported that Rebecca Broussard had become pregnant with his child. Nicholson and Broussard had two children together, Lorraine Nicholson (born 1990) and Raymond Nicholson (born 1992). Jack's other children are Jennifer Nicholson (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 Jack, but he has never made any public statements about the allegation.[16]
Nicholson lived next door to Marlon Brando 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.[17]
Nicholson is a fan of the New York Yankees 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.[18] His ardent refusal to miss a Lakers home game means that studios must schedule filming around the Lakers home schedule.[18][19]
Nicholson is a collector of twentieth century and contemporary art, including the work of Scottish artist Jack Vettriano.[20]
Though he has not been very public about his political views, Nicholson has considered himself a lifelong Democrat.[21] On February 4, 2008, he announced his endorsement of Senator Hillary Clinton in her race for the President of the United States.[22] In an interview on Rick Dees' radio program, Nicholson said, "Mrs. Clinton has been involved in issues, everything from health care, which we know and prison reform and helping the military, speaking for women and speaking for Americans. And besides, it's about time we have a Prez with a nice tush."
With 12 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 Caine have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five different decades: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s[citation needed]. 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 were for Best Supporting Actor).
Nicholson is an active and voting member of the Academy. He had attended almost every ceremony, nominated or not, during the last decade. At the 2005 ceremony, it was visible that he was disappointed as he read the envelope for Best Picture for Crash. It was later revealed that he had voted for Brokeback Mountain to win. He can be seen mouthing "what happened?" When he presented the nominee Good Night, and Good Luck, he jokingly began to walk away as if he had given a farewell.
