Jack Nicholson net worth is $400 Million. Also know about Jack Nicholson bio, salary, height, age weight, relationship and more …

Jack Nicholson Wiki Biography

John Joseph “Jack” Nicholson was born on 22 April 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey USA, of somewhat uncertain parentage, and is an actor, film producer and director, as well as a screenwriter. Throughout his lengthy acting career, Jack  has portrayed some of the most famous and beloved characters, including Mac Murphy in the critically acclaimed adaptation of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Miloš Forman, the villain under the name of The Joker in Tim Burton’s superhero film “Batman”, as well as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the novel written by Stephen King “The Shining”.

So just how rich is Jack Nicholson, as of late 2017? According to sources, Jack Nicholson’s net worth is estimated to be $400 million, earned during a career in the entertainment industry spanning more than six decades. With part of his wealth, he has been able to acquire some valuable assets, such as his art collection that includes works of Picasso and Warhol the worth of which is $100 million, a Newberry house in Aspen apparently worth $15 million, as well as a Malibu property, valued at $4.25 million.

Jack’s mother was June Frances Nicholson, a showgirl of German, Irish and English ancestry, but she was uncertain who his father was  – possibly Italian-American Donald Furcillo who she unknowingly married bigamously, or Ediie King her Latvian-born stage manager. Until the early ’70s, Jack believed that his grandmother was his mother, and that his mother and an aunt were his sisters. Jack attended Manasquan High School, but was a troubled child, and spent a lot of after-school time in detention. When he matriculated he moved out to Hollywood where he initially worked as a gofer – that is an employee who specialises in the delivery of special items to celebrities – working for such as Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.

In 1957, in a move to avoid being drafted, Jack enlisted in the Air National Guard, and served until 1962, during which his duties didn’t prove too onerous or distracting from his primary job, and contributed somewhat to his net worth.

Nicholson’s debut in the film industry had come came in 1958, when he portrayed the character of Jimmy Walker in what became a cult film produced by Roger Corman, called “The Cry Baby Killer”. In the early stages of his career, Nicholson subsequently worked on many of Corman’s projects, including “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and “The Raven”.

However, Nicholson was largely disappointed with his acting prospects and therefore ventured into writing and directing. His first success as a screenwriter was  directed by Corman, called “The Trip”, and Jack wrote several other screenplays before he returned in front of the cameras. His major breakthrough came with Forman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor, and was followed by appearances in “The Shining” and “Batman”. Some of the other films not already mentioned that Jack Nicholson is known for are “Easy Rider”, “Five Easy Pieces”, “The Passenger” with Steven Berkoff, “The Witches of Eastwick” with Cher, “Easy Rider”, plus “The Departed” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon,  “How Do You Know” with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson, “Terms of Endearment“, “A Few Good Men” and “As Good as It Gets“.

His more recent appearances have included Rob Reiner’s film “The Bucket List” in which he co-starred with Morgan Freeman. Overall, Jack has appeared in more than 70 films on the big screen, and is well into double figures in TV appearances, mostly as a guest star in such as “Tales of Wells Fargo”, “Dr. Kildare” and “The Andy Griffith Show”.

An inductee into the New Jersey Hall of Fame as well as the California Hall of Fame, Jack Nicholson has won six Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, as well as three Academy Awards in addition to being the most nominated male actor in Oscar history – with Michael Caine the only actor nominated in each of six decades – aside from being a voting member. He’s also  impressed the critics, with 32 Film Critic Awards, and in 2011 was the recipient of a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Brown University.

Jack has led an interesting personal life, although married just once, to Sandra Knight from 1962-68, with whom he has a daughter. However, from 1973 to 1990, Nicholson had an on-off relationship with actress Anjelica Huston, meantime fathering a daughter with Danish model Winnie Hollman in 1981. Between 1989 and ’94 he was with  actress Rebecca Broussard, and they had a daughter and a son. In 1999 and 2004, Nicholson dated actress Lara Flynn Boyle, before splitting permanently. Since then he has apparently been single, and splitting his time between his several residences.

IMDB Wikipedia $400 Million 1937 5 ft 9 in (1.77 m) About Schmidt (2002) Academy Award Actor Actors America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (2010) American Cinema Editors April 22 As Good as It Gets (1997) Batman Batman (1989) Caleb James Goddard California Hall of Fame Cher Chinatown (1974) Cinema of the United States Collectors Critics’ Choice Movie Award Donald Furcillo Dutch people Eastwick Easy Rider (1969) English people Film Film director Film producer Honey Hollman How Do You Know Irish people Ironweed (1987) Italian American Jack Jack Nicholson Jack Nicholson Net Worth Jack Torrance Jennifer Nicholson John Joseph “Jack” Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson Joseph Barbera June Frances Nicholson Ken Kesey Leonardo DiCaprio Lorraine Nicholson Matt Damon Miloš Forman MTV Movie Award Mulholland Man Neptune City New Jersey New Jersey Hall of Fame Nicholson Nick One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Owen Wilson Paul Rudd People’s Choice Awards Ray Nicholson Reds (1981) Reese Witherspoon Rob ReinerMorgan Freeman Roger Corman Sandra Knight Sandra Knight (m. 1962–1968) Satellite Award Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special (2015) Screen Actors Guild Award Screenwriter Something’s Gotta Give (2003) Stanley Kubrick Stephen King Steven Berkoff Teen Choice Awards The 85th Annual Academy Awards (2013) The Andy Griffith Show (1966-1967) The Departed (2006) The Fight Game with Jim Lampley (2016) The Great Seducer The Last Detail (1973) The Raven The Shining The Witches of Eastwick The Witches of Eastwick (1987) Tim Burton United States United States of America William Hanna Wolf (1994)

Jack Nicholson Quick Info

Jack Nicholson Trademarks

1. Triangular eyebrows
2. Method acting.
3. His somewhat maniacal laugh
4. Frequently works as a character with mental instability
5. Frequently works with Danny DeVito
6. Often plays charming, anti-authoritarian characters
7. Slow drawl and shark’s grin
8. Dark sunglasses

Jack Nicholson Quotes

• [on working with Martin Scorsese in The Departed (2006)] We wanted to create a really bad man, basically a villain who was pretty flamboyant and somebody who you wanted them to get pretty bad. I thought it would bring out the best in Marty.
• [on Heath Ledger’s death] I warned him of the stress, the pressure, and the expectations that comes with that Joker character.
• [on Michelle Pfeiffer] She’s a good egg, I’m crazy about her… You couldn’t really say Michelle is glacial, but there’s obviously something oscillating beneath the surface there. Her first look at people is “Yeah, well, what do you want?” It’s a form of protection because she’s very sensitive. You never could steamroll Michelle. She’s always very tough in that sense.
• [on working with Michelangelo Antonioni on Professione: reporter (1975)] Antonioni was like a father figure to me. I worked with him because I wanted to be a film director and I thought I could learn from a master. He’s one of the few people I know that I ever really listened to.
• [advice to Harry Dean Stanton on screen-acting] Just let the wardrobe be the character. You play yourself. That’s the way you approach it.
• I’m so rich that I’m going to sell myself like an ordinary person. I’m not into money at all.
• I’m not worried about wrinkles, in myself or in women. I find them interesting. I can’t see so well, so sometimes I look in the mirror and I see how I was as a young man.
• (2011) I would never complain about my life, even though I really would like to have a mate. It’s not like I’m starved for company – I have a few very good lady friends – but there’s only a certain amount of times a woman wants to see you and never go out for dinner. I got tired of arguing with women about going to have dinners, so I hired somebody to cook. The food is better at my house.
• (2011) I’ve had everything a man could ask for, but I don’t know if anyone could say I’m successful with affairs of the heart. I don’t know why. I would love that one last real romance. But I’m not very realistic about it happening. What I can’t deny is my yearning. I’ve been in love in my life, but it always starts with obsession that lasts exactly 18 months and then it changes. If I’d known and been prepared for that, I may have been able to orchestrate the whole relationship thing better…But when I’m with someone I’ve often defied every one of my conventions. I’ve been so struck I’ve said, “Come on, let’s go, let’s get married.” But no woman has ever recognized what I say as being legitimate. They think of my reputation, Jack the Jumper. I’m damned by what people think. Now I think I have a gap I won’t ever cross.
• (2011) On set I’m an actor like every other actor. Most times, for every part I play, I can think of other actors who would be better. I worry from the moment I take a job.
• (2011) I am from a different era of movie acting. My career doesn’t depend on explosions and pyrotechnics.
• (2011, on his own own mortality) One of the toughest parts of aging is losing your friends. At first it starts quietly, then pretty soon it’s every month, and you can’t help but think, “When is that bell going to go off for me?” And on top of that you feel this constant loss. At this time of life, you feel just a sword’s point from death. It’s frightening – who wants to face God and the clear white light? I know I definitely don’t. Yet.
• [on Debra Winger] She’s real smart, very dedicated, extremely resourceful about her work. You put up with her contentiousness because there is always something at the bottom. You get something you wouldn’t get unless you took the trip with her. The girl’s got boom.
• The less people know about me, the easier my job is.
• I don’t know if this is a true statistic, but I heard somewhere that there are three times as many single women over forty as single men. That’s what we got from the women’s movement. The chickens have come home to roost.
• I’d prefer if people had no impressions of me. As a kid, I had to tell my own family, “Please, just don’t talk about me!” Because they always got it wrong. Always. I just didn’t want them to tell anyone anything about me. God knew, they had a great opinion and they loved me and meant well, but it was like, Please, you don’t have this right. You know what I mean?
• I always hesitate to say things like this in interviews because they tend to come back to haunt you, but if I were an Arab-American, I would insist on being profiled. This is not the time for civil rights. There are larger issues for Americans.
• I’m the age where we didn’t have television as kids. So when I saw my nieces and nephews watching Howdy Doody (1954), Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1969), and so forth, I thought the world had gone mad.
• I love discourse. I’m dying to have my mind changed. I’m probably the only liberal who read Treason, by Ann Coulter. I want to know, you understand? I like listening to everybody. This to me is the elixir of life.
• [on his signature glasses] They’re prescription. That’s why I wear them. A long time ago, the Middle American in me may have thought it was a bit affected maybe. But the light is very strong in southern California. And once you’ve experienced negative territory in public life, you begin to accept the notion of shields. I am a person who is trained to look other people in the eye. But I can’t look into the eyes of everyone who wants to look into mine; I can’t emotionally cope with that kind of volume. Sunglasses are part of my armor.
• I hate giving advice, because people won’t take it.
• [on Professione: reporter (1975)] Antonioni says he just tries to make something beautiful because truth is beautiful and beauty is truth. That’s what I’m really into. I like making beautiful things. Maybe that sounds ridiculous but when I choose a film to do, it’s because it interests me in that way rather than any other. I look at every character I play on the screen as being completely separate. You can say most of them are outsiders, but it’s hard today to think of any character in a film who isn’t an outsider. All I ask is that they relate to the truth in some way.
• [on On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)] All I am in the movie is bad.
• After September 11, I held my tongue. All of the public positions had been taken — for, against, good, evil. I had nothing more to add. So I thought, Bring in the clowns, you know what I mean? That’s why I’ve done a coupla years’ worth of comedies.
• For a long time, I was afraid to be alone. I had to learn how to be alone. And there are still times when I think, Uh-oh! I gotta talk to somebody here or I’m gonna go crazy! But I like to be alone. Now I do. I really do. There’s a big luxury in solitude.
• I was talking to Sean Penn on the phone today. I told him it was interesting that they managed to leave me off this long list of Method actors they’d published in some article. I told him, “I’m still fooling them!” I consider it an accomplishment. Because there’s probably no one who understands Method acting better academically than I do, or actually uses it more in his work. But it’s funny — nobody really sees that. It’s perception versus reality, I suppose.
• [on Stanley Kubrick] Everyone pretty much acknowledges him as The Man, and I still think that underrates him.
• There’s no one before or since like Marlon Brando. The gift was enormous and flawless, like [Pablo Picasso]. Brando was a genius who was the beginning and end of his own revolution. You didn’t rush him. He had a tremendous gift just in his stillness. I was in high school when I saw The Wild One (1953). He changed my life forever… a monumental artist. There was no way to follow in his footsteps. He was just too large and just too far out of sight. He truly shook the world, and his influence will be there long into the future.
• I come from the Lynchs of Sligo (Ireland). You know, I went there, but I looked in the phone book and there are nine million Lynchs in Sligo.
• [When asked would he see The Dark Knight (2008)] I’m not inclined to watch it because of what I said. But if it’s a good movie, I’ll catch up with it somewhere. I don’t think they ever really captured Tim Burton’s spirit [since he stopped being involved]. They kind of drove the franchise into the ground. Tim Burton’s a genius. He had the right take on it. That’s why I did the movie. I did the movie based on a single conversation with him. We both come from the cartoon world originally. We had similar ideas. Tim said the Joker should have a humorous dark side to him. Burton is one of the great movie makers. I think the world of him. He’s the most unassuming man. And he doesn’t feel pressure. That’s what I love about him. Once he’s in there, he’s smiling making the movie. That’s it!
• It’s not so nice when you are 71 and looking for some action. I feel uncomfortable doing it in the limelight – so from now on I’ll do it when it’s right. Happily, when it comes to girls hitting on me, I’m not undernourished.
• Star quality is if you’re on stage and a cat walks on and they still watch you.
• Explaining his controversial remarks on the death of Heath Ledger: What I actually said was, ‘I warned them.’ I had a bad experience with those sleeping pills that Ledger apparently took. I took one of these pills and had just gone to sleep when I had a phone call to go to an emergency at a friend’s house. I jumped up, went outside and some time later woke up on the driveway. It sounds amusing but I live in the mountains and it could’ve been worse. I didn’t know Heath Ledger, but I know those pills.
• I’ve grown out of talking like I know something when I don’t.
• [on Jessica Lange] She is like a delicate fawn, but crossed with a Buick.
• I think it is very unattractive for me to be seen fawning over little, tiny girls. I didn’t feel that for a long time but now I do. If I could slip them out the back entrance wrapped in a blanket, that’s a different story. (February 2004)
• We were moving to a freer society before AIDS. Most people who investigated this knew that if you were not shooting up or getting f***ed in the heinie, you were as likely to get AIDS as you were to have a safe fall on your head while walking down Wilshire Boulevard. But you could not proselytize this view. The facts were almost useless. You couldn’t give a woman the facts and have her respond, ‘Oh, all right.’
• The thing I like about The Joker is that his sense of humor is completely tasteless.
• I would be so happy if I didn’t smoke, for a lot of reasons. I can’t believe that I can’t break the habit. I don’t want to be lying around, dying in Cedar’s Sinai Hospital and thinking that I was as stupid enough, a man who is as petrified of dying as I am, to have done it to myself. I’m a real fraidy-cat about mortality.
• With my sunglasses on, I’m Jack Nicholson. Without them, I’m fat and seventy.
• (1996) I just wish every film I liked wasn’t either foreign or made in America but with such terrible difficulty. This is the worst period ever for trying to do interesting work.
• As an actor, I have no desire for anybody to understand my past work. Period.
• (1992) I don’t believe in God now. I can still work up an envy for someone who has a faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience.
• Beer, it’s the best damn drink in the world.
• [on Stanley Kubrick] Just because you’re a perfectionist doesn’t mean you’re perfect.
• I’m very contra my constituency in terms of abortion because I’m positively against it. I don’t have the right to any other view. My only emotion is gratitude, literally, for my life.
• I don’t want people to know what I’m actually like. It’s not good for an actor.
• So I mean it when I say that if you can’t appreciate Brando, I wouldn’t know how to talk to you. If there’s anything obvious in life, this is it. Other actors don’t go around discussing who is the best actor in the world, because it’s obvious – Marlon Brando is.
• [on being nominated for an Oscar for the third time for The Last Detail (1973)] The first time I was up for an Oscar, I thought I would win it. But I didn’t have as sharp a view as I do now. The second time… I expected to lose, and deservedly lose, to George C. Scott. But even getting a nomination blows my mind. I’d love to win but now that I’ve had several good performances that people at large have liked, it becomes harder to excite them. And familiarity breeds contempt.
• [on turning down the role played by Robert Redford in The Sting (1973)] I liked the period, the whole project and I knew it would be commercial. But at the time, I needed to put my energies into a movie that really needed them. I needed to take a risk.
• Every director implored me, “Jack, can’t you talk a little bit faster?” It was like a hot button for me and I would become hateful. So when Roman started to say it, I began and he said, “Jack, this movie is 100-and-something pages long. To have a movie that is screen able, you’ll have to talk a little faster”. [Roman Polanski directed him in Chinatown (1974)].
• There’s a period just before you start a movie when you start thinking, I don’t know what in the world I’m going to do. It’s free-floating anxiety. In my case, though, this is over by lunch the first day of shooting.
• “You’re new here, aren’t you?” Nicholson, who rarely is seen in public without his sunglasses, replied when asked by a photographer to take off his glasses for a photo.
• A question you always ask in acting is, Where were you going if this scene didn’t interrupt the movements of the character?
• My motto is: more good times.
• I was particularly proud of my performance as the Joker. I considered it a piece of pop art.
• I’m not a raver anymore, all good things must come to an end.
• I only take viagra when I am with more than one woman.
• When I come up against a director who has a concept that I don’t agree with, or maybe I just haven’t thought of it or whatever, I’d be more prone to go with them than my own because I want to be out of control as an actor, I want them to have the control, otherwise it’s going to become predictably my work, and that’s not fun.
• [on the birth of his son after having had two daughters] I finally got it right.
• A star on a movie set is like a time bomb. That bomb has got to be defused so people can approach it without fear.
• If you get an impulse in a scene, no matter how wrong it seems, follow the impulse. It might be something and if it ain’t – take two!
• You only lie to two people in your life: your girlfriend and the police.
• [regarding Terms of Endearment (1983)] When I read the part, I knew I’d win the Oscar for it.
• [on the $5 million he earned for A Few Good Men (1992)] It was one of the few times when it was money well spent.
• The average celebrity meets, in one year, ten times the amount of people that the average person meets in his entire life.

Jack Nicholson Important Facts

• $20,000,000
• $10,000,000
• $10,000,000
• $15,000,000
• $13,000,000
• $10,000,000
• $5,000,000
• $5,000,000
• $6,000,000
• $5,000,000
• $6,000,000
• $4,000,000
• $1,000,000 + profit percentage (totalling $9,000,000)
• $1,250,000
• $1,250,000 + 10% of all gross receipts above $12.5m
• $1,000,000 + 15% gross
• $75,000
• $500,000
• $12,500
• Has worked with 10 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Vincente Minnelli, Mike Nichols, Roman Polanski, Milos Forman, Elia Kazan, Warren Beatty, Tony Richardson, James L. Brooks, John Huston and Martin Scorsese.
• Is an accomplished and well payed “ghost writer” for the movie industry.
• Was considered for the role of villain Howard Payne in Speed (1994), which went to his good friend Dennis Hopper instead.
• Was offered the role of Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), which he turned down. The role was instead given to Louis Gossett Jr. who went on to receive an Oscar for his performance.
• He was considered for the role of Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), which went to Bob Hoskins.
• He was considered for the role of Thomas Hagen in The Godfather (1972) before Robert Duvall was cast.
• Is a Democrat.
• Has twice been interviewed in Playboy magazine. His second interview is printed in the 50th anniversary issue.
• In 1977, he attended the murder trial of Claudine Longet in Aspen, Colorado. The courthouse he sat in (the Pitkin County Courthouse) is the very same courtroom where infamous serial killer Ted Bundy was brought into to stand trial for murder several months later.
• Prior to playing The Joker, he was considered for Lex Luthor in Superman (1978). That role ultimately went to Gene Hackman.
• Had a meeting with Disney about voicing Hades in Hercules (1997). He turned them down due to the offer of salary they were offering him.
• Was interested in playing The Father in A Christmas Story (1983) but the budget could not meet his high salary demands.
• Two of his three Oscar-winning performances were directed by James L. Brooks. This makes him one of four actors to win two Oscars under the same person’s direction. The other three are: Walter Brennan for Come and Get It (1936) and The Westerner (1940) (both directed by William Wyler), Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994) (both directed by Woody Allen) and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012) (both directed by Quentin Tarantino).
• In the movie The Last Detail (1973), Nicholson’s character says “Marines are really assholes, you know that? It takes a certain kind of a sadistic temperament to be a Marine.” Later in his career in the movie A Few Good Men (1992), he played Marine Colonel Nathan Jessup.
• As of 2014, has appeared in ten films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Five Easy Pieces (1970), Chinatown (1974), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Reds (1981), Terms of Endearment (1983), Prizzi’s Honor (1985), Broadcast News (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), As Good as It Gets (1997) and The Departed (2006). Of those, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Terms of Endearment (1983) and The Departed (2006) are winners in the category.
• Is the only actor to ever play the Devil, the Joker, and a werewolf.
• Has two grandsons; Sean (born 1996) and Duke Norfleet (born 1999), via daughter Jennifer Nicholson.
• Became a father for the fifth time at age 54 when his [now ex] girlfriend Rebecca Broussard gave birth to their son Ray Nicholson on February 20, 1992.
• Became a father for the fourth time at 52 when his [now ex] girlfriend Rebecca Broussard gave birth to their daughter Lorraine Nicholson on April 16, 1990. Nicholson was in a relationship with Anjelica Huston when Lorraine was conceived.
• Became a father for the third time at age 44 when his [now ex] lover Winnie Hollman gave birth to their daughter Honey Hollman in 1981. Nicholson was in a relationship with Anjelica Huston when he conceived Hollman.
• Became a father for the second time at age 33 when his [now ex] girlfriend Susan Anspach gave birth to their son Caleb James Goddard in 1970. Nicholson has never had contact with Goddard.
• Became a father for the first time at age 26 when his [now ex] wife Sandra Knight gave birth to their daughter Jennifer Nicholson on September 13, 1963.
• After his first screen test, Louis B. Mayer said to him: “I don’t know what we can use you for but if we ever do need you, we’ll need you real bad.”.
• As of 2013, he’s one of the six actors to receive three acting Oscars, the others being: Walter Brennan, Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn (who has four), Meryl Streep and Daniel Day-Lewis.
• Is one of only four actors to receive two Oscars for films that also won Best Picture (the others are Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman).
• His art collection includes Matisse, Warhol, Tamara de Lempicka and Picasso; the collection is estimated to be worth over $100 million. [2011]
• Has appeared on the cover of GQ magazine three times: March 1981, January 1990 and January 1996.
• (May 30, 2010) Waved the green flag that officially started the Indianapolis 500 automobile race.
• Lives in Beverly Hills, Malibu, Los Angeles, California, Aspen, Colorado and Kailua, Hawaii.
• Does not have a cellphone.
• He was inducted into the 2010 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his services and contributions to Arts and Entetainment.
• Is the only actor to receive two Best Lead Actor Oscars for films that also won Best Lead Actress: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) with Louise Fletcher and As Good as It Gets (1997) with Helen Hunt.
• (August 29, 2009) Attended the Catholic funeral mass of Senator Ted Kennedy at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston.
• As of 2009, he has an estimated fortune of nearly $240 million.
• At about 5’9″, he is the shortest actor to have played “the Joker” in a (non fan-made) live-action Batman production. Cesar Romero stood 6’3″ and the most recent “Joker”, Heath Ledger, was 6’1″.
• Actor with the most awards from the New York Film Critics: Easy Rider (1969), Chinatown (1974) and The Last Detail (1973), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Terms of Endearment (1983), Prizzi’s Honor (1985) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987)/Ironweed (1987)/Broadcast News (1987).
• While accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1999 Golden Globes, he noted that his first day of work as a film actor was May 5, 1955, which he took as a good omen as “5” was the jersey number of his boyhood idol, Joe DiMaggio. He attended DiMaggio’s memorial service four months later.
• He was nominated for the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his services to Arts and Entertainment.
• With the release of Suicide Squad (2016), Nicholson and Jared Leto will be the only two actors still living to have played “The Joker” in a (non fan-made) live action Batman production (Cesar Romero died in 1994; Heath Ledger died in 2008).
• His famous trademark sunglasses have prescription lenses, since he is very short-sighted.
• The last two Oscar-winning films in which Nicholson appeared have both featured songs by Van Morrison (“Day Like This” in As Good as It Gets (1997) and a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” in The Departed (2006)).
• His Mulholland Drive home once shared a driveway with his The Missouri Breaks (1976) co-star Marlon Brando’s home.
• Publicly endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton as his choice for Democratic candidate in the 2008 presidential election, joking that she is “the best man for the job”.
• Is a lifelong devotee of Bob Dylan and Louis Armstrong.
• Has owned a Mercedes-Benz 600 for 30 years which he considers the best touring car of all time. [2008]
• Good friends with WWE Hall of Famer George ‘The Animal’ Steele.
• In June 1954, he graduated from Manasquan High School in New Jersey and headed for California, where he went on to work in the MGM cartoon department and mail room.
• Rolling Stone magazine nicknamed him “The Great Seducer”.
• Once described The Joker as a psychotic version of Bugs Bunny.
• Good friends with Serbian NBA superstar Vlade Divac.
• William Friedkin tried to get Nicholson star in Sorcerer (1977), but Nicholson didn’t want travel anywhere in that time.
• Shaved his head for The Bucket List (2007).
• Was originally signed to play Daddy Warbucks in John Huston’s musical comedy Annie (1982), but dropped out after the original producer departed the project. The role ultimately went to Albert Finney.
• Once said in an interview that if he can get Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp to be a part of it, he will start his own wrestling promotion.
• Wants to one day induct Ric Flair into the WWE Hall of Fame.
• Was the first choice to play Tank Sullivan in Space Cowboys (2000), which went to James Garner.
• Has appeared in Batman (1989) opposite Pat Hingle. Hingle appeared in The Shining (1997), a remake of The Shining (1980), in which Nicholson appeared.
• He is tied with Walter Brennan and Daniel Day-Lewis for the most Oscar wins by any male actor.
• He was considered for Mickey Rourke’s role in Angel Heart (1987).
• He was considered for James Caan’s role in Misery (1990).
• He was considered for John Malkovich’s role in In the Line of Fire (1993).
• Turned down Gene Hackman’s role in Hoosiers (1986).
• Along with Clint Eastwood, Nicholson turned down George Clooney’s role in Three Kings (1999).
• He was considered for Dustin Hoffman’s role in Sam Peckinpah’s controversial film Straw Dogs (1971).
• He was considered for Sir Anthony Hopkins’s role in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
• He was considered for Harrison Ford’s role in The Mosquito Coast (1986).
• Most of Nicholson’s performance in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) ended up on the cutting room floor, including a musical number sung by him.
• He was considered for Jason Miller’s role in The Exorcist (1973).
• He was considered for Jon Voight’s role in Coming Home (1978).
• Between 1970 (when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Easy Rider (1969)) and 2003 (when he copped a Best Actor no for About Schmidt (2002), the longest he has ever gone between Oscar nominations was six years, between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Reds (1981).
• As he is a huge fan of professional wrestling, his all time favorites are Harley Race, Ric Flair and John Cena.
• His mother June Frances Nicholson passed away from cancer on July 31, 1963.
• He had to stop promoting The Departed (2006) due to neck injury.
• With his win for As Good as It Gets (1997) in 1998, he became the first actor in 20 years to win both a Best Actor Golden Globe – Comedy and an Oscar for the same role.
• Was offered the role of Sy in One Hour Photo (2002) which he turned down. The role was given to Robin Williams instead.
• (September 11, 2006) Checked himself into Cedars Sinai Hospital with a salivary gland infection.
• Demolished his neighbor Marlon Brando’s bungalow, which he bought for £3.4 million following the actor’s death in 2004.
• He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 4, 1996.
• Was considered for the role of Allie Fox in The Mosquito Coast (1986), which went to Harrison Ford instead.
• Premiere magazine ranked him #16 on a list of The Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).
• His performance as The Joker in Batman (1989) is ranked #45 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Heroes & Villains.
• His performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980) is ranked #25 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Heroes & Villains.
• Turned down the role of Willie in Bad Santa (2003), which went to Billy Bob Thornton.
• He turned down the role of Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995), which went to Sir Anthony Hopkins.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) is ranked #17 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.
• Turned down the title role of the infamous Bob Guccione film Caligula (1979), which eventually went to Malcolm McDowell.
• His performance as Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) is ranked #14 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
• His performance as Jake “J.J.” Gittes in Chinatown (1974) is ranked #37 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
• His performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980) is ranked #82 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
• Along with Marlon Brando, Nicholson eagerly sought the role of Dr. Martin Dysart in Sidney Lumet’s film adaptation of Sir Peter Shaffer’s play Equus (1977). The role went instead to Richard Burton, who received his seventh and final Oscar nomination for his performance.
• Was in attendance at Chris Penn’s funeral
• The song “Santa Baby” in the film, Party Monster (1998) was recorded as a gift for the actor by the actress and recording artist, Cynthia Basinet, as were many other songs, including “Haunted Heart” and “Someone to Watch Over Me”. She was later nominated for a shared Nobel in 2005.
• His performance as Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) is ranked #47 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
• His performance as Billy “Bad Ass” Buddusky in The Last Detail (1973) is ranked #12 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
• After presenting the Best Picture Oscar at The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006) to Crash (2004), he told the press he was surprised as he thought Brokeback Mountain (2005) would win. Nicholson then told the press that he himself had voted for Brokeback Mountain (2005).
• A 12 time acting nominee (eight times as Best Actor, four times as Best Supporting Actor), he ties Katharine Hepburn’s 12 nominations (all in the Best Actress category) and only Meryl Streep with 14 (10 in the Best Actress category) has more acting nominations. (Bette Davis was nominated 10 times for an Academy Award, all of them Best Actress nods.).
• With his seventh Best Actor nomination for As Good as It Gets (1997) , he surpassed Laurence Olivier as the most nominated actor ever with 11 total nominations (Nicholson had four Best Supporting Actor nominations in 1970, 1982, 1984 and 1991; Olivier had nine Best Actor (tied for the most in that category with Spencer Tracy) and one Best Supporting Actor nominations. Nicholson extended the lead with his eight Best Actor nod for About Schmidt (2002), which tied him with Paul Newman for second place in Best Actor nominations. (Newman also has one Supporting Actor nomination).
• Claims his personal favorite performances are his works in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Batman (1989), Hoffa (1992) and As Good as It Gets (1997).
• The character Shipwreck from the animated G.I. Joe series of the 1980s was partly based on him (and partly based on Popeye the Sailor Man).
• Is one of only the few actors to receive a Best Supporting Actor Oscar after winning a Best Actor Oscar.
• 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]
• Has been nominated for an acting Oscar in five different decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s).
• Has appeared in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Tommy (1975). Both of those films were nominated for Best Actress Oscars. “Cuckoo” star Louise Fletcher won.
• 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.
• 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).
• His mother, June Frances (Nicholson), had English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and Pennsylvania Dutch (German) ancestry. Jack never knew his biological father, and was raised by his maternal grandparents. He was led to believe that June was his older sister and his grandparents were his parents. It was not until 1974, when a Time magazine reporter researched his life, that he learned the truth. An Italian immigrant named Donald Furcillo, who was married briefly to June, may have been Jack’s biological father. It is also possible that Jack’s biological father was Edgar A. Kirschfeld, a Latvian-born entertainer (known as “Eddie King”). Nicholson has chosen not to investigate further.
• Batman creator Bob Kane personally recommended him for the role of the Joker in Batman (1989).
• Presented the Best Picture Oscar eight times (1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, 2007 and 2013), more than any other actor or actress. Though he was a relative newcomer and lacked the status typically associated with Best Picture presenters, the then-two-time nominee took on the assignment in 1972 when many better-known celebrities balked at the job, worried that they would be tainted if Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) won the top gong and they were seen by the public as linked to the controversial picture. Nicholson, who early on declared publicly that he loved the Oscar (when the sentiment was not chic), happily obliged. In addition to presenting the Best Actress trophy in 1999, he also presented the Thalberg Award to Warren Beatty in 2000 and an honorary award to Michelangelo Antonioni in 1995.
• Boyhood friends with Danny DeVito. Nicholson’s relatives and DeVito’s relatives managed a hair salon together.
• Graduated from Manasquan High School in Manasquan, New Jersey, where he was voted “Class Clown” by the Class of 1954.
• Has a second home in Aspen, Colorado.
• Each one of the films for which he has won an Oscar has also won Best Actress in a Leading Role (Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975); Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment (1983); Helen Hunt, As Good as It Gets (1997)).
• 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.
• Long refused to do any televised interviews except for press conferences. But in recent years, he has occasionally agreed to speak briefly when approached by reporters. He has not appeared on a talk show since 1971.
• The Best Lady at his wedding to Sandra Knight was Millie Perkins. The Best Man was Harry Dean Stanton. After their divorce, Nicholson lived, for a time, at Harry Dean Stanton’s place.
• Along with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, he was asked to play the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972).
• Is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and is often seated next to his good friend Lou Adler. He rarely misses a Lakers home game. Contrary to popular belief, Nicholson never had production companies schedule the filming of a movie he was in to accommodate his attendance at sporting events. Nicholson is also a life-long fan of the New York Yankees.
• Lives on famed “Bad Boy Drive” a.k.a. Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills, California. It’s nicknamed so because its residents have included former Hollywood bad boys Warren Beatty, and the late Marlon Brando.
• Loves jokes at his expense so much that he showed up at every Academy Awards hosted by Billy Crystal, who in turn would incorporate Nicholson somehow in the telecast.
• In 1994, in an apparent bout of rage, he smashed a man’s car window in with a golf club. He expressed remorse for the incident in an interview with US magazine.
• Dedicated his Oscar for As Good as It Gets (1997) to J.T. Walsh, his co-star in A Few Good Men (1992) who had died shortly before the Academy Awards in 1998.
• He was the 2001 John F. Kennedy Center Honors recipient.
• Used to be a messenger boy for MGM’s cartoon department.
• Recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. [1994]
• Ranked #6 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. [October 1997]

Jack Nicholson Filmography

Jack Nicholson Awards