John Joseph Jack Nicholson born April 22 1937 is an American actor film director producer and writer He is renowned for his often darkthemed portrayals of neurotic characters Nicholson has been nominated for Academy Awards 12 times He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and for As Good as It Gets He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment He is tied with Walter Brennan for most acting wins by a male actor three and second to Katharine Hepburn for most acting wins overall four He is also one of only two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting either lead or supporting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s the other one being Michael Caine He has won seven Golden Globe Awards and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2001 In 1994 he became one of the youngest actors to be awarded the American Film Institutes Life Achievement Award Notable films in which he has starred include in chronological order Easy Rider Five Easy Pieces Chinatown One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest The Shining The Postman Always Rings Twice Reds Terms of Endearment Batman A Few Good Men As Good as It Gets About Schmidt Somethings Gotta Give and The Departed Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Nicholson licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia