Born April 22, 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, Jack Nicholson was raised by his maternal grandparents believing them to be his parents and his showgirl mother his older sister. He grew up on the Jersey shore, attending high school in Manasquan. He learned the truth from a reporter in the mid-seventies after both his mother and grandmother had died.

Moving to Hollywood after high school, he made his first TV appearance on Matinee Theatre in 1956 and his film debut in the title role in 1958’s The Cry Baby Killer for Roger Corman. He worked for Corman for the next decade both on screen and behind the scenes as a writer and producer. His best remembered roles from this period were those in The Little Shop of Horrors, Suds Lonigan, The Raven and Psych-Out. In 1968 he co-wrote the Monkees film, Head with director Bob Rafelson. His portrayal of the alcoholic attorney in the 1969 smash hit, Easy Rider for Dennis Hopper made audiences sit up and take notice, earning him his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Audiences wanted more and they soon got it as Nicholson took the lead in friend Rafelson’s 1970 film, Five Easy Pieces for which he received his second Oscar nomination, his first in a lead role. On screen in 1971 in Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge and behind the camera as director for Drive, He Said, the actor-writer-producer-director was now being hailed as a Hollywood renaissance man.

Continuing on screen in both lead and supporting roles, Nicholson was one of the major stars of the 1970s in such films as Rafelson’s The King of Marvin Gardens, Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail (his third Oscar nomination), Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (his fourth), Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (his fifth and first win) and Elia Kazan’s The Last Tycoon.

Nicholson’s output in the 1980s was just as impressive with such films as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Rafelson’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, Warren Beatty’s Reds (his sixth Oscar nod playing Eugene O’Neill), James L. Brooks’ Terms of Endearment, his seventh and second win), John Huston’s Prizzi’s Honor (his eighth), Brooks’ Broadcast News, Hector Babenco’s Ironweed (a ninth Oscar nomination) and Tim Burton’s Batman (as the Joker).

The 1990s found him in The Two Jakes (the Chinatown sequel which he also directed), Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men (his tenth Oscar nod), Sean Penn’s The Crossing Guard and Brooks’ As Good As It Gets (his eleventh nomination and third win).

Nicholson’s workload in the 2000s has slowed considerably, but he was still able to earn a twelfth Oscar nomination for Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt and Oscar talk for Nancy Meyer’s Something’s Gotta Give and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, both of which failed to materialize.

The actor’s last film of note was 2010’s Hoe Do You Know.

Jack Nicholson remains a living legend at 89.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

FIVE EASY PIECES (1970), directed by Bob Rafelson

Nicholson plays a charming heel in the film that earned him the second of his twelve Oscar nominations, the first of eight for a leading role.  He plays a worker in the oil fields who unbeknownst to his live-in girlfriend, waitress Karen Black, was once a concert pianist with a bright future. Traveling with Black to visit his dying father and re-connect with his siblings, he alienates everyone around him and proves his true colors in the film’s still shocking ending.  The performances of Nicholson, Black and Lois Smith as Nicholson’s sister are exemplary, but everyone in the cast including Susan Anspach and Ralph Waites turns in memorable work.

CHINATOWN (1974), directed by Roman Polanski

A modern film noir, albeit one set in 1930s Los Angeles, this murder mystery was a critical and box office bonanza that won Best Picture and Actor Golden Globes that were expected to be mirrored by Oscar, but such was not the case. The film lost to The Godfather Part II and Nicholson and Godfather’s Al Pacino both lost to Art Carney in Harry & Tonto.  Nicholson as a private detective and Faye Dunaway as the murdered man’s widow were both at career peaks when they played their doomed romance. John Huston had what was probably his best on-screen role as Dunaway’s ruthless father.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975), directed by Milos Forman

Nicholson finally won his first Oscar on his fifth nomination for his portrayal of the petty criminal who fakes insanity in order to get out of prison work only to find life in the mental hospital much more terrifying than life in prison.  This man vs. the system classic was the first film since It Happened One Night 41 years earlier to win Oscars for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay. Louise Fletcher as Nicholson’s nemesis, Nurse Ratched, arguably a supporting role, benefitted from one of the weakest years for leading actresses to be nominated and win in the lead category.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997), directed by James L. Brooks

Director Brooks, who helmed Nicholson’s second Oscar winning performance as the retired astronaut in Terms of Endearment, created magic once again in providing the actor with the film that would win him a third Oscar. As with his first win for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the film also won an Oscar for his leading lady, Helen Hunt as the waitress who keeps Nicholson’s quirky character on his toes.  Also as with Cuckoo’s Nest, the actor nominated in support failed to win. In Cuckoo’s Nest, the actor was Brad Dourif as Nicholson’s fellow patient. In As Good As It Gets, it’s Greg Kinnear as his gay neighbor.

THE DEPARTED (2006), directed by Martin Scorsese

Scorsese’s remake of the 2002 Hong Kong movie, Infernal Affairs earned Nicholson his seventeenth Golden Globe nomination. That recognition failed to generate an Oscar nomination which also eluded stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Damon, the only acting nomination going to Mark Wahlberg in support. The film did, however, win Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.  Nicholson was in his element as the violent South Boston crime boss whose mob is infiltrated by undercover cop DiCaprio.  This was the last great film that Nicholson participated in.

JACK NICHOLSON AND OSCAR

Easy Rider (1969) – nominated – Best Supporting Actor

Five Easy Pieces (1970) – nominated – Best Actor

The Last Detail (1973) – nominated – Best Actor

Chinatown (1974) – nominated – Best Actor

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – Oscar – Best Actor

Reds (1981) – nominated – Best Supporting Actor

Terms of Endearment (1983) – Oscar – Best Supporting Actor

Prizzi’s Honor (1985) – nominated – Best Actor

Ironweed (1987) – nominated – Best Actor

A Few Good Men (1992) – nominated – Best Supporting Actor

As Good As It Gets (1997) – Oscar – Best Actor

About Schmidt (2002) – nominated – Best Actor