Jack Nicholson
Acting
- Born:
- 1937-04-22
- Place of birth:
- Neptune City, New Jersey, USA
Biography
Jack Nicholson (John Joseph Nicholson, born April 22, 1937, Neptune City, New Jersey) is an American retired actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, believing his grandmother was his mother and his mother, showgirl June Frances Nicholson, was his older sister — a secret revealed to him in 1974 by a TIME magazine reporter. He attended Manasquan High School, was voted "Class Clown," and moved to California after graduation, where he took a job in MGM's animation department before breaking into acting. He is a three-time Academy Award winner — Best Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and As Good as It Gets (1997), and Best Supporting Actor for Terms of Endearment (1983) — and one of only two actors, alongside Michael Caine, to receive an Oscar nomination in every decade from the 1960s through the 2000s. He was married to Sandra Knight from 1962 to 1968; they have a daughter, Jennifer. He has six children in total. His last film role was How Do You Know (2010), and in October 2026 Michael Douglas confirmed he has "disappeared" from public life and is not working anymore. His notable film credits include Easy Rider (1969) (Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper), Five Easy Pieces (1970) (Karen Black, Randy Quaid), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (Michael Douglas, Louise Fletcher), Chinatown (1974) (Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman), The Shining (1980) (Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers), Reds (1981) (Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson), Prizzi's Honor (1985) (Kathleen Turner, Don Ameche), Battery (1980) (Blythe Danner, Chris Sarandon), The Departed (2006) (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon), Something's Gotta Give (2003) (Katherine Hepburn, Keanu Reeves), As Good as It Gets (1997) (Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear), The Last King of Scotland (2006) (Forest Whitaker, Geraldine Chaplin), Charlie Wilson's War (2007) (Julia Roberts, Thomas Haden Church), and How Do You Know (2010) (Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd). He also directed Gloria Gordon (1980) and The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012, uncredited involvement), and wrote and directed Drive, He Said (1988).
Known For
Filmography
Breakdown: 1975
Films to Die For
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
John Candy: I Like Me
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location
Jack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Untold: Deal with the Devil
Morceaux de Cannes
Kubrick by Kubrick
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic
Basketball: A Love Story
Jack Nicholson - The Devilish Smile of Hollywood
The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - Sticky Fingers Live at the Fonda Theatre 2015
Mansfield 66/67
I Am Divine
The Doctor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
Close Up
Corman's World
How Do You Know
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
Drive, He Said: A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
Soul Searching in 'Five Easy Pieces'
Stardust
I'm Still Here
Mulholland Drive - Ein Hollywood-Mythos
Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight
Rob Reiner Interviews the Stars: Jack Nicholson
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
The Bucket List
Making of Chinatown
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
Witness to 'Reds'
The Departed
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Something's Gotta Give
Celebrities Uncensored
Anger Management
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
About Schmidt
Paul McCartney: Back in the U.S.
Nudes in the News
America: A Tribute to Heroes
Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film
The Pledge
Velocity
Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
Playmate Pajama Party
Junket Whore
As Good as It Gets
Completely Cuckoo
The Evening Star
Mars Attacks!
Blood and Wine
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
The Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped
The Rolling Stones: Stripped
The Crossing Guard
Wolf
Hoffa
A Few Good Men
Man Trouble
The Two Jakes
Batman
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Ironweed
Broadcast News
Creepy Classics
Rabbit Ears - How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin/How the Camel Got His Hump
The Witches of Eastwick
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
Barbra Streisand: One Voice
The Elephant's Child
Heartburn
Live Aid
Prizzi's Honor
Goldene Kamera
Terms of Endearment
Not Necessarily the News
The Border
Reds
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Making 'The Shining'
The Shining
The Kennedy Center Honors
Goin' South
Ciné regards
The Last Tycoon
The Missouri Breaks
TVTV Looks at the Oscars
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Saturday Night Live
The Fortune
Tommy
The Passenger
Chinatown
The Last Detail
The King of Marvin Gardens
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Film '72
A Safe Place
Carnal Knowledge
Drive, He Said
Walt Whitman: Poet for a New Age
Five Easy Pieces
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Rebel Rousers
Easy Rider
Head
Targets
Psych-Out
The Movie Orgy
The Guns of Will Sonnett
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Hells Angels on Wheels
Ride in the Whirlwind
The Shooting
Back Door to Hell
Flight to Fury
Ensign Pulver
The Terror
The Raven
The Broken Land
The Hour of St. Francis
Little Amy
Little Amy
The Andy Griffith Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Studs Lonigan
The Wild Ride
The Little Shop of Horrors
Too Soon to Love
Mr. Lucky
Hawaiian Eye
Bronco
Cry Baby Killer
Sea Hunt
Matinee Theater
The Oscars
Golden Globe Awards
Monty and the Movies