Jack Nicholson
Known for: Acting
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is a retired American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for Academy Awards 12 times, winning Best Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and for As Good as It Gets, and Best Supporting Actor for Terms of Endearment. He is tied with Walter Brennan for most acting wins by a male actor (three), and second to Katharine Hepburn for most acting wins overall (four). He is also one of only two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting (either lead or supporting) in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s (the other one being Michael Caine). He has won seven Golden Globe Awards, and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2001. In 1994, he became one of the youngest actors to be awarded the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. Notable films in which he has starred include, Easy Rider, Chinatown, The Shining, Reds, Batman, A Few Good Men, About Schmidt, Something's Gotta Give, and The Departed.
Filmography
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self
1975
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self (uncredited)
1975
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee / Presenter
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
The Andy Griffith Show
Mr. Garland
1960
Series
The Andy Griffith Show
Marvin Jenkins
1960
Series
Matinee Theater
Musician's Son
1955
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Goldene Kamera
Self
1984
Film
The Departed
Costello
2006
Series
Hawaiian Eye
Tony Morgan
1959
Film
The Shining
Jack Torrance
1980
Series
Ciné regards
Self
1978
Series
Sea Hunt
John Stark
1958
Film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Randle Patrick McMurphy
1975
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Bronco
Bob Doolin
1958
Series
Basketball: A Love Story
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Batman
Joker / Jack Napier
1989
Series
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Series
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Bud
1960
Film
A Few Good Men
Col. Nathan R. Jessep
1992
Series
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Tom Murdock
1967
Nudes in the News
Warren Schmidt (archive footage)
2002
Film
Mars Attacks!
President Dale / Art Land
1996
Series
Mr. Lucky
Martin
1959
Film
As Good as It Gets
Melvin Udall
1997
Film
Anger Management
Dr. Buddy Rydell
2003
Series
Not Necessarily the News
Self (archive footage)
1983
Film
The Bucket List
Edward Periman Cole
2007
Film
Chinatown
J.J. 'Jake' Gittes
1974
Film
Something's Gotta Give
Harry Sanborn
2003
Film
Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film
Self
2001
Film
John Candy: I Like Me
Self - Actor (archive footage)
2025
Film
Easy Rider
George Hanson
1969
Film
The Witches of Eastwick
Daryl Van Horne
1987
Film
How Do You Know
Charles
2010
Film
The Pledge
Jerry Black
2001
Film
I'm Still Here
Jack Nicholson
2010
Film
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Frank Chambers
1981
Film
Terms of Endearment
Garrett Breedlove
1983
Film
Wolf
Will Randall
1994
Series
Tim Burton: Life in the Line
Self (footage)
2025
Film
Broadcast News
Bill Rorich
1987
Film
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
Self
2025
Film
Carnal Knowledge
Jonathan
1971
Series
My Spy Family
2007
Film
Five Easy Pieces
Robert Eroica Dupea
1970
Film
About Schmidt
Warren Schmidt
2002
Film
Heartburn
Mark
1986
Film
The Two Jakes
J.J. "Jake" Gittes
1990
Film
The Passenger
David Locke
1975
Film
The Raven
Rexford Bedlo
1963
Film
Hoffa
James R. 'Jimmy' Hoffa
1992
Film
Prizzi's Honor
Charley Partanna
1985
Film
Reds
Eugene O'Neill
1981
Film
The Little Shop of Horrors
Wilbur Force
1960
Film
The Last Detail
Billy L. 'Badass' Buddusky
1973
Film
The Crossing Guard
Freddy Gale
1995
Film
Tommy
The Specialist
1975
Film
Blood and Wine
Alex
1996
Film
Breakdown: 1975
Self (The Passenger-archive footage)
2025
Film
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
Self
2020
Film
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Gino, Hit Man (uncredited)
1967
Film
The Missouri Breaks
Tom Logan
1976
Film
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Tad Pringle
1970
Film
America | A Tribute to Heroes
Self
2001
Film
Man Trouble
Harry Bliss
1992
Film
Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast
Self - Presenter
2005
Film
Ironweed
Francis Phelan
1987
Film
The Terror
Lt. Andre Duvalier
1963
Film
The Last Tycoon
Brimmer
1976
Film
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Barbra Streisand: One Voice
Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
1986
Film
Goin' South
Henry Moon
1978
Film
Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
Self
2007
Film
The Border
Charlie Smith
1982
Film
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Self / Jake Gittes (archive footage)
2008
Film
Untold: Deal with the Devil
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Kubrick by Kubrick
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
The Evening Star
Garrett Breedlove
1996
Film
The Movie Orgy
Self (archive footage)
1968
Film
Corman's World
Self - Actor
2011
Film
Targets
Lt. Andre Duvalier (archive footage) (uncredited)
1968
Film
Live Aid
Self
1985
Film
Ride in the Whirlwind
Wes
1966
Film
Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
1999
Film
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
Self (archive photo)
2025
Film
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Self
2003
Film
Junket Whore
Self
1998
Film
Head
Self (uncredited)
1968
Film
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
Self (archive footage)
1996
Film
The Fortune
Oscar 'Dix' Sullivan
1975
Film
Hells Angels on Wheels
Poet
1967
Film
Monty and the Movies
Self (archive footage)
Film
The Shooting
Billy Spear
1966
Film
Close Up
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Completely Cuckoo
1997
Film
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
Psych-Out
Stoney
1968
Film
Cry Baby Killer
Jimmy Wallace
1958
Film
I Am Divine
Self (archive)
2014
Film
The King of Marvin Gardens
David Staebler
1972
Film
Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight
Self
2008
Film
Paul McCartney: Back in the U.S.
Self
2002
Film
Too Soon to Love
Buddy
1960
Film
Notes on an American Film Director at Work
Self
2008
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Rebel Rousers
Bunny
1970
Film
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
Self
2007
Film
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
Self
2007
Film
Drive, He Said
Annoyed Bearded Guy
1971
Film
Ensign Pulver
Yeoman Dolan
1964
Film
Little Amy
Jefferson City Coach
1962
Film
TVTV Looks at the Oscars
Self
1976
Film
Walt Whitman: Poet for a New Age
Narrator
1971
Film
Back Door to Hell
Burnett
1964
Film
Jack Nicholson - The Devilish Smile of Hollywood
Self
2017
Film
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Self
1972
Film
The Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped
Self
1995
Film
Mansfield 66/67
Self - Actor(archive footage)
2017
Film
The Rolling Stones: Stripped
Self
1995
Film
Morceaux de Cannes
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - Sticky Fingers Live at the Fonda Theatre 2015
Self - Audience Member
2017
Film
A Safe Place
Mitch
1971
Film
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
Self
2010
Film
Films to Die For
(archive footage) (uncredited)
2025
Film
Stardust
Self (uncredited)
2010
Film
Making 'The Shining'
Self
1980
Film
The Wild Ride
Johnny Varron
1960
Film
Rob Reiner Interviews the Stars: Jack Nicholson
Self
2008
Film
The Broken Land
Will
1962
Film
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Jack Nicholson
1988
Film
Playmate Pajama Party
self
1999
Film
Creepy Classics
Rexford Bedlo - (archive footage)
1987
Film
Flight to Fury
Jay Wickham
1964
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
Self
2010
Film
Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Drive, He Said: A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom
Self
2010
Film
Witness to 'Reds'
Self
2006
Series
Little Amy
Jefferson City Coach
1962
Mulholland Drive - Ein Hollywood-Mythos
Self
2010
Film
Jack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Studs Lonigan
Weary Reilly
1960
Film
Velocity
Johnny Varron (young) (archive footage)
1999
Film
The Hour of St. Francis
Jim Evans
1962
Film
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
Narrator (voice)
1987
Film
Making of Chinatown
2007
Series
Celebrities Uncensored
Self
2003
Film
Soul Searching in 'Five Easy Pieces'
Self
2010
Rabbit Ears - How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin/How the Camel Got His Hump
Narrator (voice)
1987
The Elephant's Child
Narrator (voice)
1986