Jack Nicholson’s 15 Best Performances Ranked, From ‘Batman’ to ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’
22.04.2022 - 21:09
/ variety.com
Variety is ranking his 15 best performances.Born in New Jersey, the die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fan has been an integral figure in the landscape of cinema for seven decades. His first credited film role was in the tiny B-movie “The Cry Baby Killer” (1958).
After more than a dozen roles through the 1960s, his big break came in Dennis Hopper’s timeless classic “Easy Rider” (1969), leading him into the 1970s, in which he dominated with memorable turns in “Five Easy Pieces” (1970), “Carnal Knowledge” (1971), “The Last Detail” (1973) and “Chinatown” (1974). He even stepped into the director’s chair during that period with his debut “Drive, He Said” (1971).
What a run.His first Oscar win came for Milos Forman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), which is one of three movies to win the “Oscar Big Five” (picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay). The others are “It Happened One Night” (1934) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991).
But the accolades didn’t stop there and were seemingly never-ending. He’s received 12 Oscar nominations in his career, the most nominated male performer in Oscar history.
More specifically, with eight nominations for lead actor he’s tied for second alongside Paul Newman and Peter O’Toole, and behind Laurence Olivier and Spencer Tracy. He’s also the most nominated supporting actor with four nods alongside Walter Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Al Pacino and Claude Rains. He’s won three statuettes overall for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “Terms of Endearment” (1983) and “As Good as It Gets” (1997), one of seven people who have won three or more — alongside Meryl Streep, Ingrid Bergman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Frances McDormand, Walter Brennan and Katharine
.