John Joseph Nicholson is an American actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing charismatic rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-decade-long career, he received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.
Nicholson won Academy Awards for Best Actor for playing Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and an author with OCD in As Good as It Gets (1997), as well as for Best Supporting Actor for playing an aging playboy in Terms of Endearment (1983). He received further Oscar nominations for Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), Reds (1981), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), and About Schmidt (2002). Nicholson made his film debut in Roger Corman's The Cry Baby Killer (1958).