Acting · Manhattan, New York, USA · Born April 22, 1937
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.
MovieBreakdown: 1975
2025
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFilms to Die For
2025
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieJohn Candy: I Like Me
2025
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
MovieSNL50: The Homecoming Concert
2025
as Self
MovieShine On: The Forgotten Shining Location
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieJack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieClint Eastwood: The Last Legend
2022
as Self (archive footage)
MovieUntold: Deal with the Devil
2021
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMorceaux de Cannes
2021
MovieKubrick by Kubrick
2020
as Self (archive footage)
MovieJoker: Put on a Happy Face
2020
as Self
Movie40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic
2020
as Self (archive footage)
TVBasketball: A Love Story
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieJack Nicholson - The Devilish Smile of Hollywood
2017
as Self
MovieThe Rolling Stones: From the Vault - Sticky Fingers Live at the Fonda Theatre 2015
2017
as Self - Audience Member
MovieMansfield 66/67
2017
as Self - Actor(archive footage)
MovieI Am Divine
2014
as Self (archive)
MovieRoman Polanski: A Film Memoir
2012
as Self (archive footage)
MovieClose Up
2012
as Self (archive footage)
MovieCorman's World
2011
as Self - Actor
MovieHow Do You Know
2010
as Charles
MovieBBStory: An American Film Renaissance
2010
as Self
MovieDrive, He Said: A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom
2010
as Self
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
2010
as Self
MovieSoul Searching in 'Five Easy Pieces'
2010
as Self
MovieStardust
2010
as Self (uncredited)
MovieI'm Still Here
2010
as Jack Nicholson
Mulholland Drive - Ein Hollywood-Mythos
2010
as Self
MovieShadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight
2008
as Self
MovieRob Reiner Interviews the Stars: Jack Nicholson
2008
as Self
MovieRoman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
2008
as Self / Jake Gittes (archive footage)
MovieNotes on an American Film Director at Work
2008
as Self
MovieThe Bucket List
2007
as Edward Periman Cole
MovieView from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
2007
as Self
MovieThe Visions of Stanley Kubrick
2007
as Self
MovieLost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
2007
as Self
TVMy Spy Family
2007
MovieWitness to 'Reds'
2006
as Self
MovieThe Departed
2006
as Costello
MovieShelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast
2005
as Self - Presenter
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
2004
as Self(archive footage)
MovieSomething's Gotta Give
2003
as Harry Sanborn
TVCelebrities Uncensored
2003
as Self
MovieAnger Management
2003
as Dr. Buddy Rydell
MovieEasy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
2003
as Self
MovieAbout Schmidt
2002
as Warren Schmidt
MoviePaul McCartney: Back in the U.S.
2002
as Self
Nudes in the News
2002
as Warren Schmidt (archive footage)
MovieAmerica | A Tribute to Heroes
2001
as Self
MovieStanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
2001
as Self
MovieThe Pledge
2001
as Jerry Black
MovieVelocity
1999
as Johnny Varron (young) (archive footage)
MoviePlayboy: Playmate Pajama Party
1999
MovieJunket Whore
1998
as Self
MovieAs Good as It Gets
1997
as Melvin Udall
MovieThe Evening Star
1996
as Garrett Breedlove
MovieMars Attacks!
1996
as President Dale / Art Land
MovieBlood and Wine
1996
as Alex
MovieShirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
1996
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped
1995
as Self
MovieThe Rolling Stones: Stripped
1995
as Self
MovieThe Crossing Guard
1995
as Freddy Gale
MovieWolf
1994
as Will Randall
MovieHoffa
1992
as James R. 'Jimmy' Hoffa
MovieA Few Good Men
1992
as Col. Nathan R. Jessep
MovieMan Trouble
1992
as Harry Bliss
MovieThe Two Jakes
1990
as J.J. "Jake" Gittes
MovieBatman
1989
as Joker / Jack Napier
MovieOn the tracks of a filmmaker
1988
as Jack Nicholson
MovieIronweed
1987
as Francis Phelan
MovieBroadcast News
1987
as Bill Rorich
MovieCreepy Classics
1987
as Rexford Bedlo - (archive footage)
Rabbit Ears - How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin/How the Camel Got His Hump
1987
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Witches of Eastwick
1987
as Daryl Van Horne
MovieRudyard Kipling's Just So Stories
1987
as Narrator (voice)
MovieBarbra Streisand: One Voice
1986
as Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
The Elephant's Child
1986
as Narrator (voice)
MovieHeartburn
1986
as Mark
MovieLive Aid
1985
as Self
MoviePrizzi's Honor
1985
as Charley Partanna
Goldene Kamera
1984
as Self
MovieTerms of Endearment
1983
as Garrett Breedlove
TVNot Necessarily the News
1983
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Border
1982
as Charlie Smith
MovieReds
1981
as Eugene O'Neill
MovieThe Postman Always Rings Twice
1981
as Frank Chambers
MovieMaking 'The Shining'
1980
as Self
MovieThe Shining
1980
as Jack Torrance
TVThe Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
MovieGoin' South
1978
as Henry Moon
TVCiné regards
1978
as Self
MovieThe Last Tycoon
1976
as Brimmer
MovieThe Missouri Breaks
1976
as Tom Logan
MovieTVTV Looks at the Oscars
1976
as Self
MovieOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975
as Randle Patrick McMurphy
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
MovieThe Fortune
1975
as Oscar 'Dix' Sullivan
MovieTommy
1975
as The Specialist
MovieThe Passenger
1975
as David Locke
MovieChinatown
1974
as J.J. 'Jake' Gittes
MovieThe Last Detail
1973
as Billy L. 'Badass' Buddusky
MovieThe King of Marvin Gardens
1972
as David Staebler
MovieYoko Ono: This Is Not Here
1972
as Self
Film '72
1971
as Self
MovieA Safe Place
1971
as Mitch
MovieCarnal Knowledge
1971
as Jonathan
MovieDrive, He Said
1971
as Annoyed Bearded Guy
MovieWalt Whitman: Poet for a New Age
1971
as Narrator
MovieFive Easy Pieces
1970
as Robert Eroica Dupea
MovieOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever
1970
as Tad Pringle
MovieRebel Rousers
1970
as Bunny
MovieEasy Rider
1969
as George Hanson
MovieHead
1968
as Self (uncredited)
MovieTargets
1968
as Lt. Andre Duvalier (archive footage) (uncredited)
MoviePsych-Out
1968
as Stoney
MovieThe Movie Orgy
1968
as Self (archive footage)
TVThe Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
as Tom Murdock
MovieThe St. Valentine's Day Massacre
1967
as Gino, Hit Man (uncredited)
MovieHells Angels on Wheels
1967
as Poet
MovieRide in the Whirlwind
1966
as Wes
MovieThe Shooting
1966
as Billy Spear
MovieBack Door to Hell
1964
as Burnett
MovieFlight to Fury
1964
as Jay Wickham
MovieEnsign Pulver
1964
as Yeoman Dolan
MovieThe Terror
1963
as Lt. Andre Duvalier
MovieThe Raven
1963
as Rexford Bedlo
MovieThe Broken Land
1962
as Will
MovieThe Hour of St. Francis
1962
as Jim Evans
MovieLittle Amy
1962
as Jefferson City Coach
TVLittle Amy
1962
as Jefferson City Coach
TVDr. Kildare
1961
as Jaime Angel
TVThe Andy Griffith Show
1960
as Mr. Garland
TVThe Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960
as Bud
MovieStuds Lonigan
1960
as Weary Reilly
MovieThe Wild Ride
1960
as Johnny Varron
MovieThe Little Shop of Horrors
1960
as Wilbur Force
MovieToo Soon to Love
1960
as Buddy
TVMr. Lucky
1959
as Martin
TVHawaiian Eye
1959
as Tony Morgan
TVBronco
1958
as Bob Doolin
MovieCry Baby Killer
1958
as Jimmy Wallace
TVSea Hunt
1958
as John Stark
TVMatinee Theater
1955
as Musician's Son
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
