Jack Nicholson

Although a glimpse at the darker side of Nicholson's acting range reappeared in The Departed (2006), the actor's most recent roles highlight the physical and emotional complications one faces late in life.

Premiere magazine ranked him #16 on a list of The Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).

Attended his 50th high school reunion at Manasquan High School in Manasquan, New Jersey. Needless to say, his classmates were surprised and delighted that he attended. [2004]

He turned down the role of Willie T. Soke in the black comedy Bad Santa (2003) in order to star in About Schmidt (2002). The role went to Billy Bob Thornton.

Shades of this persona are apparent in About Schmidt (2002), Something's Gotta Give (2003), and The Bucket List (2007).

In addition to his Academy Awards and Oscar nominations, Nicholson has seven Golden Globe Awards, and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2001.

Flew to Cuba and met with Fidel Castro in June 1998. While there, he also met with leaders of the Cuban film industry, enjoyed local restaurants, jazz clubs and visited a famous cigar factory. He left greatly impressed with the country and its Communist dictator, who he described as "a genius", though the luxuries he was treated to on the island are off-limits to most Cuban citizens.

The most notable of these is the unapologetically misanthropic Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets (1997), for which he won his third Oscar.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 4, 1996.

He turned down the role of Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995), which went to Sir Anthony Hopkins.

He also became one of the youngest actors to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement award in 1994. Nicholson has five children: Eldest daughter Jennifer Nicholson (b.

In the 1990s, he starred in such varied films as A Few Good Men (1992), for which he received another Oscar nomination, and a dual role in Mars Attacks! (1996).

1990) and Ray Nicholson (b.

He portrayed another renowned villain, The Joker, in Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

He was considered for the role of Allie Fox in The Mosquito Coast (1986), which went to Harrison Ford instead.

The character Shipwreck in G.I. Joe (1985) was partly based on him (and partly based on Popeye the Sailor Man).

A string of well-received films followed, including Terms of Endearment (1983), which earned Nicholson his second Oscar; Prizzi's Honor (1985), and The Witches of Eastwick (1987).

1981) with Danish supermodel, Winnie Hollman; and Lorraine Nicholson (b.

The 1980s kicked off with another career-defining role for Nicholson as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Shining (1980).

He turned down the title role of Bob Guccione's infamous epic Caligula (1979), which eventually went to Malcolm McDowell.

Turned down the lead role of Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), even though he knew the movie would be a success as he felt that the special effects would overwhelm any actor in the movie.

He discovered the truth in 1975 from a Time magazine journalist who was researching a profile on him. His real father is believed to have been either Donald Furcillo, an Italian American showman, or Eddie King (Edgar Kirschfeld), born in Latvia and also in show business. Jack's mother's ancestry was Irish, and smaller amounts of English, German, Scottish, and Welsh.

Nicholson's other notable work during this period includes leading roles in Roman Polanski's noir masterpiece Chinatown (1974) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which he won his first Best Actor Oscar.

Turned down the role of Johnny Hooker in The Sting (1973) to play Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky in The Last Detail (1973), which was written by his close friend Robert Towne, as he did not want to appear in a purely commercial picture just then. Robert Redford eventually played the role. Both Nicholson and Redford were nominated for Best Actor of 1973 at the Academy Awards, losing to Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger (1973).

He was asked to play the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). He turned it down, suggesting that an actual Italian should play the part. He was also considered for Tom Hagen.

Nicholson's first turn in the director's chair was for Drive, He Said (1971).

Nicholson's film career took off in the 1970s with a definitive performance in Five Easy Pieces (1970).

1970) with Susan Anspach; Honey Hollman (b.

His big break came with Easy Rider (1969) and his portrayal of liquor-soaked attorney George Hanson, which earned Nicholson his first Oscar nomination.

Before that, he wrote the screenplay for The Trip (1967), and co-wrote Head (1968), a vehicle for The Monkees.

1963), from his marriage to Sandra Knight, which ended in 1968; Caleb James Goddard (b.

Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being Michael Caine - who have received an Oscar nomination in every decade from the 1960s through the early 2000s.

His rise in Hollywood was far from meteoric, and for years, he sustained his career with guest spots in television series and a number of Roger Corman films, including Little Shop of Horrors (1960).

Nicholson made his film debut in a B-movie titled The Cry Baby Killer (1958).

Graduated from Manasquan High School in Manasquan, New Jersey, where he was voted "Class Clown" by the Class of 1954.

Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune, New Jersey. He was raised believing that his grandmother was his mother, and that his mother, June Frances Nicholson, a showgirl, was his older sister.