On This Day

Birthday of Jack Nicholson

April 22nd 1937

14:38 22 April 2024

American actor and director Jack Nicholson was born on this day in 1937. Nicholson began his career on stage and appearing in US television shows. He made his film debut playing the title role in 'The Cry Baby Killer' (1958) which began a decade long association with the films producer, Roger Corman who would go on to direct him in a number of films including 'The Little Shop of Horrors' (1960), 'The Raven' (1963), 'The Terror' (1963) and 'The Saint Valentines Day Massacre' (1967).

He also starred in several low-budget westerns directed by Monte Hellman such as 'Ride in the Whirlwind' (1966) and 'The Shooting' (1966).

With his acting career failing to take off, Nicholson resigned himself to working behind the camera as a writer/director and found moderate success with his script for the counterculture film 'The Trip' (1967) starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper and 'Head' (1968) starring The Monkees, which he co-wrote with Bob Raelfson. His big acting break came when he played the alcoholic lawyer George Hanson in 'Easy Rider' (1969) starring alongside Peter Fonda and the films director Dennis Hopper. The movie was a huge hit and earned Nicholson his first Oscar nomination. He was now established as a Hollywood star and around this time was cast by Stanley Kubrick to play Napoleon in a project that was eventually shelved.

His career skyrocketed through the 1970s with starring roles in movies including 'Five Easy Pieces' (1970), 'The Last Detail' (1973), 'Chinatown' (1974), 'The Passenger' (1974), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975) for which he won his first Best Actor Oscar and 'The Missouri Breaks' (1976). The 1980s began and ended with two career-defining roles: as Jack Torrance in Kubrick's 'The Shining' (1980) and The Joker in Tim Burton's 'Batman' (1989). Other notable films of the 80s include 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1981), 'Reds' (1981), 'The Border' (1982), 'Terms of Endearment' (1983), 'Prizzi's Honor' (1995), 'Heartburn' (1986), 'The Witches of Eastwick' (1987) and 'Ironweed' (1987).

Further success followed into the 90s with 'A Few Good Men' (1992), 'Hoffa' (1992), 'Wolf' (1994), 'The Crossing Guard' (1995), 'Mars Attacks!' (1996) and a second Best Actor Oscar for 'As Good As It Gets' (1997). Later film credits include 'The Pledge' (2001), 'About Schmidt' (2002), 'Anger Management' (2003), 'Something's Gotta Give' (2003), 'The Departed' (2006), 'The Bucket List' (2007) and 'How Do You Know' (2010).

Jack Nicholson has been retired from acting for more than ten years now but in a career that spanned more than 50 years and includes a record twelve Academy Award nominations as well as some unforgettable performances, he is one of Hollywood's greatest ever actors. Happy Birthday Jack.