Jack Nicholson Biography
Summary
"John Joseph Nicholson" (born April 22 1937), known as "Jack Nicholson", is a three time Academy Award-winning American actor internationally renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters.
He has been nominated for an Academy Award 12 times and has won three times (twice for Best Actor and once as Best Supporting Actor). 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 since the 1960s; the other is 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. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films "Chinatown", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining", "As Good as It Gets", Tim Burton's "Batman", and Martin Scorsese's "The Departed".
Biography
Early life
Jack Nicholson was born at the then Fitkin Hospital in Neptune, New Jersey, the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name "June Nilson"). June had married Italian American showman Donald Furcillo (stage name "Donald Rose") six months earlier in Elkton, Maryland, on October 16, 1936. Elkton was a town known for its 'quickie' marriages. Furcillo however, was already married, and, although he offered to take care of the child, June's mother Ethel insisted that she bring up the baby, partly so that June could pursue her dancing career. Although Donald Furcillo claimed to be Nicholson's father and to have committed bigamy by marrying June, biographer Patrick McGilligan, who wrote "Jack's Life" (published in December 1995) asserted that Eddie King, June's manager, may be the father and other sources have suggested that June Nicholson was unsure of who the father was. Nicholson has chosen not to have a DNA test or to pursue the matter.
Nicholson was brought up believing his grandparents John J. Nicholson (a department store window dresser in Asbury Park, New Jersey) and Ethel May Rhoads (a hairdresser, beautician and amateur artist in Neptune, New Jersey) were his parents. Nicholson only discovered that his parents were actually his grandparents and his sister was in fact his mother in 1974 after being informed by a "Time Magazine" journalist who was doing a feature on him. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). Nicholson has stated he does not know who his father is, saying 'Only Ethel and June knew and they never told anybody'.
Nicholson was raised in his mother's Catholic religion. Nick, as he was known to his high school friends, attended high school at nearby Manasquan High School where he was voted 'class clown' by the Class of 1954. A theatre and a drama award at the school are named in his honor. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50 year high school reunion, much to the surprise and delight of his fellow classmates.
Early acting career
When Nicholson first came to Hollywood, he worked as a go-fer for animation legends Hanna-Barbera. Seeing his talent as an artist, they offered Nicholson a starting level position as an animation artist. However, citing his desire to become an actor, he declined.
Nicholson started his career as an actor, writer, and producer, working for and with Roger Corman, among others. This included his screen debut in "The Cry Baby Killer" (1958), where he played a juvenile delinquent who panics after shooting two other teenagers, "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), in which he had a small role as a masochistic dental patient, and roles in two other Roger Corman films "The Raven" (1963) and "The Terror" (his first directing role for one day)(1963), co-starring then-wife Sandra Knight.
As the 60s progressed, and with acting jobs still not easy to find, Nicholson began writing more often. The result of this included "Thunder Island" (1963), "Flight to Fury" (1964), "Ride in the Whirlwind" (1965), and The Monkees' vehicle "Head" (1968, co-written with director Bob Rafelson). These films enjoyed little if any success, but the young Nicholson was finally working more steadily. In the TV sitcom world, he also made appearances in two episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" as Marvin Jenkins in 1966-1967.
Rise to fame
With his acting career heading nowhere, Nicholson seemed resigned to a career behind the camera as a writer/director. His first real taste of writing success was the LSD-fueled screenplay for 1967's "The Trip", which starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. However, after a spot opened up in Fonda and Hopper's "Easy Rider", it led to his first big acting break. Nicholson played hard-drinking lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The part of Hanson was a lucky break for Nicholson -- the role had in fact been written for actor Rip Torn, who was a close friend of screen writer Terry Southern, but Torn withdrew from the project after a bitter argument with the film's co-director Dennis Hopper, during which the two men almost came to blows.
A Best Actor nomination came the following year for his persona-defining role in "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), which includes his famous "chicken salad" dialogue about getting what you want. Also that year, he appeared in the movie adaptation of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever".
Other early, notable Nicholson roles included Hal Ashby's "The Last Detail" (1973), for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, and the classic Roman Polanski noir thriller, "Chinatown" (1974) (he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for both films). He also starred in The Who's "Tommy" (1975), directed by Ken Russell, and Michelangelo Antonioni's "The Passenger" (1975).
An American icon
Nicholson earned his first Best Actor Oscar for portraying Randle P. McMurphy in the movie adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", directed by Milo? Forman in 1975. His Oscar was matched by Louise Fletcher receiving Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Nurse Ratched. Nicholson was also offered the part of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" but turned it down.
After this, he began to take more unusual roles. He took a small role in "The Last Tycoon", opposite Robert De Niro. He took a less sympathetic role in Arthur Penn's western "The Missouri Breaks", specifically to work with Marlon Brando. He followed this by making his second directorial effort with the western comedy "Goin' South". His first movie as a director was a 1971 quirky release called 'Drive, He Said.'
Although he did not garner any Oscar attention for Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining" (1980), it remains one of Nicholson's most significant roles. His next Oscar, the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, came for his role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove in "Terms of Endearment" (1983), directed by James L. Brooks.
Nicholson continued to work prolifically in the 80s, starring in such films as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1981), "Reds" (1981), "Prizzi's Honor" (1985), "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987), and "Ironweed" (1987). Three Oscar nominations also followed ("Reds, Prizzi's Honor, and Ironweed").
Nicholson turned down the role of John Book in "Witness".
The 1989 "Batman" movie, where Nicholson played The Joker, was an international smash hit, and a lucrative percentage deal earned Nicholson about $60 million. Nicholson was to reprise his role as The Joker in the fifth installment in the franchise "Batman Triumphant" in 1999, but Warner Bros. Pictures canceled the project.
For his role as hot-headed Colonel Nathan R. Jessep in "A Few Good Men" (1992), a movie about a murder in a US Marine Corps unit, he received yet another Academy nomination. This film contains Nicholson's 'You can't handle the truth!' scene, which has since become widely known and imitated.
Not all of Nicholson's performances have been well-received. He was nominated for Razzie Awards as worst actor for "Man Trouble" (1992) and "Hoffa" (1992). However, Nicholson's performance in "Hoffa" also earned a Golden Globe nomination.
Nicholson would go on to win his next Best Actor Oscar for his role as Melvin Udall, a neurotic author with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), in the romance "As Good as It Gets" (1997), again directed by James L. Brooks. Nicholson's Oscar was matched with the Best Actress Oscar for Helen Hunt as a Manhattan waitress drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall, a frequent diner in the restaurant in which she worked.
Recent years
In "About Schmidt" (2002), Nicholson portrayed a retired Omaha, Nebraska actuary who questions his own life and the death of his wife shortly afterward. His quiet, restrained performance stood in sharp contrast to many of his previous roles, and earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor.
In the comedy "Anger Management", he plays an aggressive therapist assigned to help overly pacifist Adam Sandler.
In 2003 Nicholson starred in "Something's Gotta Give" as an aging playboy who falls for the mother (Diane Keaton) of his young girlfriend.
In late 2006, Nicholson marked his return to the 'dark side' as Frank Costello, a sadistic Boston Irish Mob boss presiding over Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning "The Departed", a remake of Andrew Lau's "Infernal Affairs".
In November 2006, Nicholson began filming his next project, Rob Reiner's "The Bucket List", a role for which he shaved his head. The film will star him and Morgan Freeman as dying men who must fulfill their list of goals. The film is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2007 (limited) and January 11, 2008 (wide). In researching the role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses.
Personal life
In his adult personal life, Nicholson has been notorious for his inability to 'settle down', with a place on Maxim's 'Top 10 Living Legends of Sex'. He has allegedly slept with 2,000 women. He has five children by four different women; he was married once.
Jennifer Nicholson (born 1963) with former wife Sandra Knight (married June 17, 1962–August 8, 1968)
Caleb Goddard (born 1970) with Susan Anspach, his "Five Easy Pieces" co-star
Honey Hollman (born 1981) with Danish model Winnie Hollman
Lorraine Nicholson (born 1990) and Raymond Nicholson (born 1992) with Rebecca Broussard.
He has been romantically linked to numerous actresses and models for decades including Michelle Phillips, Bebe Buell, and Lara Flynn Boyle. Nicholson's longest relationship was for 17 years to actress Anjelica Huston, from 1973 to 1989, the daughter of film director John Huston. However, the relationship ended when the news reported that Rebecca Broussard had become pregnant with his child.
He is also a close friend of film director Roman Polanski, whom he has supported through many personal crises including the death of his wife, Sharon Tate, at the hands of the Manson Family. He also supported Polanski through his conviction for statutory rape, a crime which took place on the Nicholson estate on Mulholland Drive.
Nicholson lived next door to Marlon Brando for a number of years on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills. Warren Beatty also lived nearby, earning the road the nickname 'Bad Boy Drive'. After Brando's death in 2004, Nicholson purchased his neighbor's bungalow for $6.1 million, with the purpose of having it demolished. Nicholson stated that it was done out of respect to Brando's legacy, as the house had become derelict.
During a road rage incident in 1994, he allegedly smashed another driver's car window with a golf club.
He is a fan of big-market teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers. His attendance at Lakers games is almost legendary, as he has been spotted sitting courtside for the past 25 years at both The Forum and the Staples Center. In a few instances, Nicholson has engaged in arguments with game officials and opposing players, and has even walked onto the court. Nicholson argued with officials so much during a 2001 Lakers playoff game that he was assessed a technical foul. His ardent refusal to miss a Lakers home game means that studios must schedule filming around the Lakers home schedule. He is also a huge fan of professional wrestling in particular the NWA, his all time favorite is Ric Flair.
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Nicholson has been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five different decades: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The only other actors who can say the same are Michael Caine and Paul Newman. With 12 nominations thus far (8 for Best Actor and 4 for Best Supporting Actor), Jack Nicholson is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards history. With three Oscar wins, he also ties with Walter Brennan for the 2nd highest number of Oscar wins in acting categories (all of Brennan's wins were for Best Supporting Actor):
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "Easy Rider" (1969)
Nominated: Best Actor, "Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
Nominated: Best Actor, "The Last Detail" (1973)
Nominated: Best Actor , "Chinatown" (1974)
Won: Best Actor, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)"
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "Reds" (1981)
Won: Best Supporting Actor, "Terms of Endearment" (1983)
Nominated: Best Actor, "Prizzi's Honor" (1985)
Nominated: Best Actor, " Ironweed" (1987)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "A Few Good Men" (1992)
Won: Best Actor, "As Good as It Gets" (1997)
Nominated: Best Actor, "About Schmidt" (2002)
At the 79th Academy Awards, Nicholson had fully shaved his hair for his role in The Bucket List. Those ceremonies represented the seventh time he has presented the Academy Award for Best Picture (1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, and 2007).
Every time he has won an Oscar, the lead actress of that same film has also won an Oscar. Further, he is the only actor to have twice won Best Actor awards for films in which the lead actress won the Best Actress award ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "As Good as It Gets").
BAFTA Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "Easy Rider" (1970)
Won: Best Actor, "The Last Detail" (1975)
Won: Best Actor, "Chinatown" (1975)
Won: Best Actor, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1977)
Won: Best Supporting Actor, "Reds" (1983)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "Batman" (1990)
Nominated: Best Actor, "About Schmidt" (2003)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, "The Departed" (2007)
Golden Globe Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, "Easy Rider" (1969)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "Carnal Knowledge" (1971)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "The Last Detail" (1973)
Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "Chinatown" (1974)
Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, "Reds" (1981)
Won: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, "Terms of Endearment" (1983)
Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, "Prizzi's Honor" (1985)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "Ironweed" (1987)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, "Batman" (1989)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, "A Few Good Men" (1992)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "Hoffa" (1992)
Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, "As Good as It Gets" (1997)
Won: Cecil B. DeMille Award (1999)
Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, "About Schmidt" (2002)
Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, "Something's Gotta Give" (2003)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, "The Departed" (2006)
Filmography
"The Cry Baby Killer" (1958)
"The Wild Ride" (1960)
"The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960)
"The Raven" (1963)
"Back Door to Hell" (1964)
"The Shooting" (1966)
"Ride in the Whirlwind" (1966)
"Hells Angels on Wheels" (1967)
"Psych-Out" (1968)
"Easy Rider" (1969)
"Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
"Carnal Knowledge" (1971)
"The King of Marvin Gardens" (1972)
"The Last Detail" (1973)
"Chinatown" (1974)
"The Fortune" (1975)
"One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)
"The Passenger" (1975)
"The Missouri Breaks" (1975)
"Tommy" (1975)
"The Last Tycoon" (1976)
"Goin' South" (1978)
"The Shining" (1980)
"The Postman Always Ring Twice" (1981)
"Reds" (1981)
"The Border" (1982)
"Terms of Endearment" (1983)
"Prizzi's Honor" (1985)
"Heartburn" (1986)
"The Witches of Eastwick" (1987)
"Ironweed" (1987)
"Batman" (1989)
"Man Trouble" (1992)
"A Few Good Men" (1992)
"Hoffa" (1992)
"Wolf" (1994)
"The Crossing Guard" (1995)
"Blood and Wine" (1996)
"Mars Attacks!" (1996)
"As Good as it Gets" (1997)
"The Pledge" (2001)
"About Schmidt" (2002)
"Anger Management" (2003)
"Something's Gotta Give" (2003)
"The Departed" (2006)
"The Bucket List" (2007)
External links
(Rolling Stone Interview with Jack Nicholson)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jack Nicholson.
