He won three Academy Awards and received 12 total Oscar nominations, the most for any male actor in Academy history, for iconic performances in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Terms of Endearment, and As Good as It Gets.

Jack Nicholson, born April 22, 1937, is a retired American actor widely regarded as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century. The Taurus-born legend won three Academy Awards across 12 nominations and brought unforgettable intensity to iconic roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, and Chinatown. Standing 5'9", Nicholson retired from acting in 2010 after a five-decade career playing charismatic rebels and complex characters.

Nicholson grew up in Neptune City, New Jersey, believing his grandmother was his mother and his biological mother June was his sister until Time magazine researchers revealed the truth in 1974 when he was 37. He moved to California at 13, worked as an office assistant for animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and trained at the Players Ring Theater before landing his film debut in The Cry Baby Killer (1958). He spent the 1960s collaborating with Roger Corman on low-budget films, honing his craft in obscurity until his breakthrough role in Easy Rider (1969) at age 32.

Nicholson never legally married, though he was in a relationship with actress Sandra Knight from 1962 to 1968, with whom he has one daughter. He fathered five children with four different women and maintained a legendary bachelor lifestyle, most famously dating Anjelica Huston for 17 years. A devoted Los Angeles Lakers fan, he became a courtside fixture at Staples Center games and spent his retirement years living reclusively in the Los Angeles area, stepping away from acting after How Do You Know in 2010.