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 {Nancy 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