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

• 2025Films to Die For — (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2010How Do You Know — Charles
• 2010I'm Still Here — Jack Nicholson
• 2007Into the Wild — Thanks
• 2007Making of Chinatown
• My Spy Family
• 2007The Bucket List — Edward Periman Cole
• 2006The Departed — Costello
• 2004Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild — Self (archive footage), Producer
• 2003Anger Management — Dr. Buddy Rydell
• 2003Something's Gotta Give — Harry Sanborn
• 2002About Schmidt — Warren Schmidt
• Nudes in the News — Warren Schmidt (archive footage)
• 2001The Pledge — Jerry Black
• 1999Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
• 1999Velocity — Johnny Varron (young) (archive footage)
• 1997As Good as It Gets — Melvin Udall
• 1997Completely Cuckoo
• 1996Blood and Wine — Alex
• 1996Mars Attacks! — President Dale / Art Land
• 1996The Evening Star — Garrett Breedlove
• 1995The Crossing Guard — Freddy Gale
• 1994Wolf — Will Randall
• 1992A Few Good Men — Col. Nathan R. Jessep
• 1992Hoffa — James R. 'Jimmy' Hoffa
• 1992Man Trouble — Harry Bliss
• 1990The Two Jakes — J.J. "Jake" Gittes, Director, Producer
• 1989Batman — Joker / Jack Napier
• 1988On the tracks of a filmmaker — Jack Nicholson
• 1987Broadcast News — Bill Rorich
• 1987Creepy Classics — Rexford Bedlo - (archive footage)
• 1987Ironweed — Francis Phelan
• 1987Rabbit Ears - How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin/How the Camel Got His Hump — Narrator (voice)
• 1987Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories — Narrator (voice)
• 1987The Witches of Eastwick — Daryl Van Horne
• 1986Heartburn — Mark
• 1986The Elephant's Child — Narrator (voice)
• 1985Prizzi's Honor — Charley Partanna
• 1983Terms of Endearment — Garrett Breedlove
• 1982The Border — Charlie Smith
• 1981Reds — Eugene O'Neill
• 1981The Postman Always Rings Twice — Frank Chambers
• 1980The Shining — Jack Torrance
• 1978Goin' South — Henry Moon, Director
• 1976The Last Tycoon — Brimmer
• 1976The Missouri Breaks — Tom Logan
• 1975One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Randle Patrick McMurphy
• 1975The Fortune — Oscar 'Dix' Sullivan
• 1975The Passenger — David Locke
• 1975Tommy — The Specialist
• 1974Chinatown — J.J. 'Jake' Gittes
• 1973The Last Detail — Billy L. 'Badass' Buddusky
• 1972The King of Marvin Gardens — David Staebler
• 1971A Safe Place — Mitch
• 1971Carnal Knowledge — Jonathan
• 1971Drive, He Said — Annoyed Bearded Guy, Director, Screenplay, Producer
• 1971Walt Whitman: Poet for a New Age — Narrator
• 1970Five Easy Pieces — Robert Eroica Dupea
• 1970On a Clear Day You Can See Forever — Tad Pringle
• 1970Rebel Rousers — Bunny
• 1969Easy Rider — George Hanson
• 1968Head — Self (uncredited), Writer, Producer, Songs
• 1968Psych-Out — Stoney
• 1968Targets — Lt. Andre Duvalier (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1967Hells Angels on Wheels — Poet
• The Guns of Will Sonnett — Tom Murdock
• 1967The St. Valentine's Day Massacre — Gino, Hit Man (uncredited)
• 1967The Trip — Writer
• 1966Ride in the Whirlwind — Wes, Writer, Producer
• 1966The Shooting — Billy Spear, Producer
• 1964Back Door to Hell — Burnett
• 1964Cordillera — Screenplay
• 1964Ensign Pulver — Yeoman Dolan
• 1964Flight to Fury — Jay Wickham, Writer
• 1963The Raven — Rexford Bedlo
• 1963The Terror — Lt. Andre Duvalier
• 1963Thunder Island — Screenplay
• 1962Little Amy — Jefferson City Coach
• Little Amy — Jefferson City Coach
• 1962The Broken Land — Will
• 1962The Hour of St. Francis — Jim Evans
• 1960Studs Lonigan — Weary Reilly
• The Andy Griffith Show — Mr. Garland, Marvin Jenkins
• The Barbara Stanwyck Show — Bud
• 1960The Little Shop of Horrors — Wilbur Force
• 1960The Wild Ride — Johnny Varron
• 1960Too Soon to Love — Buddy
• Hawaiian Eye — Tony Morgan
• Mr. Lucky — Martin
• Bronco — Bob Doolin
• 1958Cry Baby Killer — Jimmy Wallace
• Sea Hunt — John Stark
• Matinee Theater — Musician's Son

Appearances as themselves (61)

• 2025Breakdown: 1975 — Self (The Passenger-archive footage)
• 2025John Candy: I Like Me — Self - Actor (archive footage)
• 2025SNL50: The Homecoming Concert — Self
• 2025Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror — Self (archive photo)
• Tim Burton: Life in the Line — Self (footage)
• 2024Jack of Three Trades: In Focus on Nicholson the Director — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Shine On: The Forgotten Shining Location — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Morceaux de Cannes — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Untold: Deal with the Devil — Self (archive footage)
• 202040 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic — Self (archive footage)
• 2020Joker: Put on a Happy Face — Self
• 2020Kubrick by Kubrick — Self (archive footage)
• Basketball: A Love Story — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Jack Nicholson - The Devilish Smile of Hollywood — Self
• 2017Mansfield 66/67 — Self - Actor(archive footage)
• 2017The Rolling Stones: From the Vault - Sticky Fingers Live at the Fonda Theatre 2015 — Self - Audience Member
• 2014I Am Divine — Self (archive)
• 2012Close Up — Self (archive footage)
• 2012Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir — Self (archive footage)
• 2011Corman's World — Self - Actor
• 2010America Lost and Found: The BBS Story — Self
• 2010BBStory: An American Film Renaissance — Self
• 2010Drive, He Said: A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom — Self
• 2010Mulholland Drive - Ein Hollywood-Mythos — Self
• 2010Soul Searching in 'Five Easy Pieces' — Self
• 2010Stardust — Self (uncredited)
• 2008Notes on an American Film Director at Work — Self
• 2008Rob Reiner Interviews the Stars: Jack Nicholson — Self
• 2008Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired — Self / Jake Gittes (archive footage)
• 2008Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight — Self
• 2007Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick — Self
• 2007The Visions of Stanley Kubrick — Self
• 2007View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining' — Self
• 2006Witness to 'Reds' — Self
• 2005Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast — Self - Presenter
• Celebrities Uncensored — Self
• 2003Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood — Self
• 2002Paul McCartney: Back in the U.S. — Self
• 2001America | A Tribute to Heroes — Self
• 2001Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film — Self
• 1999Playmate Pajama Party — self
• 1998Junket Whore — Self
• 1996Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels — Self (archive footage)
• 1995The Rolling Stones: Stripped — Self
• 1995The Rolling Stones: Totally Stripped — Self
• 1986Barbra Streisand: One Voice — Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
• 1985Live Aid — Self
• Goldene Kamera — Self
• Not Necessarily the News — Self (archive footage)
• 1980Making 'The Shining' — Self
• Ciné regards — Self
• The Kennedy Center Honors — Self
• 1976TVTV Looks at the Oscars — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self, Self (uncredited)
• 1972Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• 1968The Movie Orgy — Self (archive footage)
• The Oscars — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient, Self - Nominee / Presenter
• Monty and the Movies — Self (archive footage)