Jack Nicholson

After graduating from high school, Nicholson moved to California and worked in the animation department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He later performed with the Players Ring Theater in Los Angeles and took small television roles. During his youth, he was raised believing that his grandmother was his mother and that his mother was his older sister, a family truth he learned from a Time magazine journalist after he had become famous.

Nicholson made his film debut in The Cry Baby Killer (1958), directed by Roger Corman. He spent much of the following decade appearing in low-budget films, including Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors, as well as television programs such as The Andy Griffith Show. He also wrote or co-wrote screenplays including The Trip (1967) and Head (1968), and made his directorial debut with Drive, He Said (1971).

Nicholson's breakthrough came with Easy Rider (1969), in which he played the alcoholic lawyer George Hanson alongside Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. His scene-stealing performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. His leading role in Five Easy Pieces (1970), directed by Bob Rafelson, established him as a major star and brought another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actor.

He followed those films with a series of demanding performances. In Carnal Knowledge (1971), he played an emotionally empty and predatory man while using dark humor to emphasize the character's ugliness. He received further nominations for The Last Detail (1973) and Chinatown (1974), in which he played private investigator J.J. Gittes under Roman Polanski's direction.

Nicholson won his first Academy Award for playing the rebellious psychiatric patient R.P. McMurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). The role became a defining expression of his recurring screen persona, combining resistance to authority with humor and volatility.

In Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), Nicholson played Jack Torrance, a writer who becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. His ax-wielding rampage and the cry “Heeeere’s Johnny!” became enduring images of American horror cinema. He also directed and starred in the revisionist western Goin’ South (1978), and appeared with Marlon Brando in The Missouri Breaks (1976).

Nicholson won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Terms of Endearment (1983), in which he starred with Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. He earned additional nominations for Reds (1981), Prizzi’s Honor (1985) and Ironweed (1987). His comic performances as the Devil in The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) became two of his most popular roles.

His third Oscar came for As Good as It Gets (1997), in which he played the misanthropic writer Melvin Udall. The performance followed notable 1990s roles in A Few Good Men, Hoffa and Mars Attacks!. His performance as Colonel Nathan R. Jessep in A Few Good Men earned his 10th Oscar nomination.

Nicholson continued to work in both drama and comedy during the 2000s. He played a world-weary former police officer in Sean Penn's The Pledge (2001) and a retired widower attempting to repair his relationship with his daughter in Alexander Payne's About Schmidt (2002). His understated performance in About Schmidt earned his 12th Academy Award nomination.

He appeared as an over-the-top psychiatrist in Anger Management (2003), an aging playboy in Something’s Gotta Give (2003), and a terminally ill man who escapes a hospital with Morgan Freeman's character in The Bucket List (2007). In The Departed (2006), he played Irish mobster Frank Costello under director Martin Scorsese. His most recent listed film role was Charles in How Do You Know (2010), after which he stepped away from the spotlight.

Nicholson married actor Sandra Knight in 1962 after meeting her while they worked on The Terror. Their marriage ended in 1968, and they had one daughter, Jennifer Nicholson. It was Nicholson's only marriage.

Nicholson had six children: Jennifer Nicholson, Caleb Goddard, Honey Hollman, Lorraine Nicholson, Ray Nicholson and Tessa Gourin. He also has a grandson, Duke Nicholson, who is an actor.

His longest relationship was with Anjelica Huston, whom he dated on and off for 17 years. Their relationship ended in 1990.