Nicholson, Jack (1937– )

US film actor and director. He is known for his darkly comic portrayals of social outcasts. Films in which he has appeared include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Academy Award, 1975), The Shining (1979), Terms of Endearment (Academy Award, 1983), Batman (1989), As Good As It Gets (Academy Award, 1998), and About Schmidt (2002). In 1994 Nicholson received the American Film Institute's life achievement award.

In the late 1960s, Nicholson captured the mood of nonconformist, uncertain young US citizens in such films as Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). He subsequently became a mainstream Hollywood star, in films ranging from Chinatown (1974) to A Few Good Men (1992). He has directed several films, including The Two Jakes (1990), a sequel to Chinatown. In the 1999 Golden Globe awards he received the Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.