Jack Nicholson Timeline

On the 22nd of April, revered actor and filmmaker Jack Nicholson turns 81. Having performed for more than 60 years as a lead or secondary character in a large variety of films, he has garnered a panoply of nominations and awards that make him the most nominated male thespian in the Academy’s history. To wish him a happy birthday, we created the Jack Nicholson Timeline, which illustrates a few major life events and the most celebrated movies in which he was cast.

After training to be an actor with the Players Ring Theater, a 26-year-old Nicholson debuted in a low-budget noir crime flick (The Cry Baby Killer). This was followed by a series of small parts that gave the young starter a sense of no progress in his career.

It was the performance in the road movie Easy Rider that turned the odds in Nicholson’s favor and marked his breakthrough within the industry. With his interpretation of the alcoholic lawyer George Hanson, not only did he receive his first Oscar nomination for a supporting role, but he also became an overnight representative of the anti-hero image and developed a strong cult following.

Taking advantage of his big break, the talented actor gained momentum and landed leading roles one after another, each bringing him a new nomination and a richer range of acting skills.

He won his first Oscar for Best Actor in 1975 with his role as Randle McMurphy in Academy-award sweeping movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the second one for Best Supporting Actor as a retired astronaut in “Terms of Endearment” in 1983, and the third one for the leading role in “As Good as It Gets” in 1997.

Even though his representation of Jack Torrance in The Shining didn’t bring him any awards, it nevertheless remains one of his most memorable roles. Stanley Kubrick, the director of the classic horror film, considered Nicholson to be the first choice for the lead character and often encouraged him to improvise on the set. This is how the actor came with the now famous line “Here’s Johnny!” which went beyond the script, along with other scenes.

The Jack Nicholson chronology was created with Office Timeline, a simple yet efficient PowerPoint plugin that enables you to easily build smart timelines, project schedules, Gantt charts and other similar graphics. The image is free to copy, reproduce and share, and you can quickly update or restyle it using the Plus version of the tool.

Download the Jack Nicholson Timeline here.