Jack Nicholson maybe seventy three but he remains one of the coolest actors to currently work in Hollywood with the likes of Batman, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest and The Departed under his belt.
Nicholson made his film debut in 1958 when he appeared in The Cry Baby Killer, before going on to work frequently with the film's producer Roger Corman.
Over the next few years he worked on movies such as The Raven and The Terror but he found his career going nowhere. After trying his hand at writing, penning The Trip, his big break came in the 1969 road movie Easy Rider, which was directed by Dennis Hopper.
Nicholson took on the role of George Hanson in the film and his acting career soared as the movie went on to be a box office hit and he picked up his first Oscar nomination in the form of Best Supporting Actor.
Off the back of Easy Rider came a major lead role for the actor as he starred in Five Easy Pieces as Robert Eroica Dupea, he followed his Oscar nod the year before with another this time for Best Actor.
Over the next couple of years a whole host of success came Nicholson's way as he starred in The Last Detail and Chinatown, both of which brought him more Oscar nods.
Chinatown, one of his most famous roles, saw the actor team up with Faye Dunaway as he took on the role of J.J. 'Jake' Gittes, a private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.
But it was One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in 1975 that remains Nicholson's most famous movie and most infamous character as he took on the part of Randle Patrick McMurphy.
The movie follows a new and rebellious patient is brought to a small mental institution where his antics endear the other patients to him and incur the wrath of the stern and repressive nurse who runs their ward.
One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest was a hit both critically and commercially, it is still considered a classic, and the film went on to sweep the Oscars taking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Nicholson made his directorial debut in 1963 with The Terror and he continued his forays behind the camera in 1971 with Drive, He Said and Goin' South in 1978.
In 1980 it was the horror genre that got the Nicholson treatment as he starred in The Shining, which still remains one of cinema's greatest horror movies.
1981 saw him pick yet another Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance in Reds, which centred on the life and career of John Reed, the revolutionary communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution.
A second Oscar came his way two years later, this time for his supporting role in Terms of Endearment as he took on the role of Garrett Breedlove.
Throughout the eighties he starred in The Witches of Eastwick and Ironweed but his most famous role of the decade in 1989 when took on the role of The Joker in Tim Burton's big screen adaptation of Batman.
Throughout the nineties that actor continued to work with the likes of A Few Good Men and As Good As It Gets, the latter bringing him another Best actor gong as Helen Hunt also picked up Best Actress.
Nicholson's last Oscar nomination came in 2002 when he starred in About Schmidt. In most recent years The Departed as been his most famous role as he teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.
The gangster movie was directed by Martin Scorsese, who went on to take Best Director for the film, The Departed also won the Best Picture Oscar.
And Nicholson will be back on the big screen later this year as he teams up with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson for comedy How Do You know, the movie is his first since The Bucket List in 2007.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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