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132-633: Produced by Roger Corman and written by Polly Platt and Bogdanovich, the film was loosely based on the case of Charles Whitman , a mass shooter who committed the Tower shooting at the University of Texas in 1966. The film was shot in late 1967 in the Los Angeles area. Released by Paramount Pictures shortly after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy , it

264-409: A 'certificate of approval' for the film's trailer on the basis that it was "contrary to public order and decency." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , Targets has an approval rating of 89% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A startling directorial debut by Peter Bogdanovich mixes an homage to Boris Karloff horror films with

396-596: A Million Eyes (1955), then made another Western, Apache Woman (1955), starring Lloyd Bridges , written by Lou Rusoff . Rusoff and Corman reunited on Day the World Ended (1955), a postapocalyptic science-fiction film, which was popular. Corman was to make The Devil on Horseback by Charles B. Griffith about the Brownsville Raid , but it was too expensive. The Woolner Brothers , Louisiana drive-in owners, financed Corman's Swamp Women (1956),

528-461: A September 2013 Vanity Fair article, Nicholson said that he did not consider himself retired, but that he was now less driven to "be out there anymore". As of 2023, How Do You Know remains Nicholson's last film role, and brings his filmography to 80 films. In 2013, Nicholson co-presented the Academy Award for Best Picture with First Lady Michelle Obama , the eighth time he presented

660-479: A blockbuster film of the same name .) Corman sold the movie to a new independent company, the American Releasing Company (ARC), run by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff . Although Corman had a number of offers for the film from Republic and Columbia, he elected to go with ARC, because they undertook to advance money to enable him to make two more movies. Corman's second film for ARC

792-407: A blockbuster, grossing $ 40 million. Biographer John Parker writes that Nicholson's interpretation of his role placed him in the company of earlier antihero actors, such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart , while promoting him into an "overnight number-one hero of the counter-culture movement". The part was a lucky break for Nicholson. The role had been written for Rip Torn , who withdrew from

924-412: A brand image like a product. You become Campbell's soup, with thirty-one different varieties of roles you can play." He told his new agent, Sandy Bresler, to find him unusual roles so he could stretch his acting skill: "I like to play people that haven't existed yet, a 'cusp character ' ", he said, "I have that creative yearning. Much in the way Chagall flies figures into the air: once it becomes part of

1056-412: A career behind the camera as a writer/director. His first real taste of writing success was the screenplay for the 1967 counterculture film The Trip (directed by Corman), starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper . After first reading the script, Fonda told Nicholson he was impressed by the writing and felt it could become a great film. But Fonda was disappointed with how the film turned out and blamed

1188-505: A comedy-drama directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Art Garfunkel , Ann-Margret , and Candice Bergen . He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor . Nichols felt few actors could handle the role, saying, "There is James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, and Henry Fonda. After that, who is there but Jack Nicholson?" During the filming, Nicholson struck up what became a lifelong friendship with Garfunkel. When he visited Los Angeles, Garfunkel stayed at Nicholson's home in

1320-482: A company producing or releasing low-budget black-and-white films as double features for drive-ins and action houses. In February 1959, Filmgroup announced they would release 10 films. Their first movies were High School Big Shot (1959) and T-Bird Gang (1959), produced by Stanley Bickman. Roger seemed a driven man. Roger wanted to accomplish a lot, he had to have a lot of drive to do it, and he pushed through. He not only pushed through, he punched through! With

1452-408: A contract with Columbia." In August 1965, Corman announced he had signed a contract with United Artists to make two films over three years. He also signed with Columbia to make a Western, The Long Ride Home , based on a script by Robert Towne. Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of

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1584-471: A corrupt border official. Richardson wanted Nicholson to play his role less expressively than he had in his earlier roles. "Less is more", he told him, and wanted him to wear reflecting sunglasses to portray what patrolmen wore. Richardson recalled that Nicholson worked hard on the set: He's what the Thirties and Forties stars were like. He can come on the set and deliver, without any fuss, without taking

1716-446: A final in-person promotional appearance at a Reseda drive-in theater before leaving Hollywood for good. Bobby Thompson is a young, quiet, clean-cut insurance agent who lives in the suburban San Fernando Valley area with his wife and his parents. Thompson is also deeply disturbed and an obsessive gun collector, but his family takes little notice. One morning, after his father leaves for work, Thompson murders his wife, his mother, and

1848-591: A girls-on-the-lam saga. He returned to ARC for two Westerns, The Oklahoma Woman (1956) and Gunslinger (1956) (with Ireland); Gunslinger was co-written by Griffith, who became a crucial collaborator with Corman over the next five years. He bought a script from Curtis Harrington , The Girl from Beneath the Sea . Harrington made it for Corman years later as Night Tide (1961). Beverly Garland , one of Corman's early regular stock players, recalled working with him: Roger made us work hard and long, I remember that! He

1980-437: A great director. He said he wanted the film to have more of a "spy feeling [and] be more political". Nicholson began shooting the film from an unfinished script, notes Judith Crist , yet upon its completion he thought so highly of the film that he bought the world rights and recorded a reminiscence of working with Antonioni. Critic and screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt provides an overview of Nicholson's role, " The Passenger

2112-458: A grocery delivery boy at his home. That afternoon, Thompson continues the killing spree, shooting people in passing cars from atop an oil storage tank that sits alongside a heavily-travelled freeway. When an employee investigates the gunshots, Thompson shoots him as well. Leaving some of his guns and ammo at the crime scene, Thompson flees to the same drive-in theater where Orlok is set to appear that evening. After sunset, Thompson perches himself on

2244-568: A guy's house, with lots of wood and shelves crowded with photos and mementos. One of Nicholson's successes came in 1975, with his role as Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . The movie was an adaptation of Ken Kesey 's novel of the same name , and was directed by Miloš Forman and co-produced by Michael Douglas . Nicholson plays an anti-authoritarian patient at a mental hospital where he becomes an inspiring leader for

2376-407: A historical horror piece about Richard III , Tower of London (1962), starring Vincent Price . It was meant to be the first in a three-picture deal with Small, but Corman did not enjoy working with the producer. For Filmgroup, he also bought the rights to a Soviet science-fiction film, Nebo Zovyot (1959) and had some additional footage shot for it by his then-assistant, Francis Ford Coppola;

2508-604: A journalist, David Locke, who during an assignment in North Africa decides to quit journalism and disappear by taking on a new hidden identity. Unfortunately, the dead person whose identity he takes on turns out to have been a weapons smuggler on the run. Antonioni's unusual plot included convincing dialogue and fine acting, states film critic Seymour Chatman . It was shot in Algeria, Spain, Germany, and England. The film received good reviews and revived Antonioni's reputation as

2640-515: A long time walking around getting into it. "What do you want? Okay." And he just does it straight off. And then if you want him to do it another way on the next take, he can adapt to that too. Nicholson won his second Oscar, an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor , for his role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment (1983), directed by James L. Brooks . It starred Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger . McGilligan claims it

2772-451: A lot of energy, and a lot of disregard at times... What we did for Roger Corman – I mean, things that you could never do in a real studio, but you did for this guy! Everything seemed unreal with him. – Susan Cabot For AIP, Corman and Griffith made a black comedy, A Bucket of Blood (1959). Corman announced he would follow it with a similar comedy, The Bloodshot Private Eye . It does not seem to have been made. Instead, Griffith reused

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2904-685: A low-budget teen drama The Cry Baby Killer (1958), playing the title role. For the next decade, Nicholson frequently collaborated with the film's producer, Roger Corman . Corman directed Nicholson on several occasions, such as in The Little Shop of Horrors as undertaker (and masochistic dental patient) Wilbur Force; in The Raven ; The Terror , where he plays a French officer seduced by an evil ghost; and The St. Valentine's Day Massacre . Nicholson frequently worked with director Monte Hellman on low-budget westerns; two of them— Ride in

3036-404: A major transition from the exploitation films of the previous decade. "As Jake Gittes, he stepped into Bogart's shoes", says Ebert. "As a man attractive to audiences because he suggests both comfort and danger ... From Gittes forward, Nicholson created the persona of a man who had seen it all and was still capable of being wickedly amused." Nicholson had been friends with Polanski long before

3168-523: A move he sometimes characterized as an effort to "dodge the draft"; the Korean War era's Military Selective Service Act was still in force, and draftees were required to perform up to two years of active duty. After completing the Air Force 's basic training at Lackland Air Force Base , Nicholson performed weekend drills and two-week annual training as a firefighter assigned to the unit based at

3300-534: A nefarious Boston Irish Mob boss based on Whitey Bulger , who was still on the run at the time. The role earned Nicholson worldwide critical praise, along with various awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture nomination. In 2007, Nicholson co-starred with Morgan Freeman in Rob Reiner 's The Bucket List , in which Nicholson and Freeman portrayed dying men who fulfill their list of goals. In researching

3432-559: A piece of pop art ", he said. For his role as hot-headed Col. Nathan R. Jessup in A Few Good Men (1992), a movie about a murder in a U.S. Marine Corps unit, Nicholson received yet another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. One review describes his performance as "spellbinding", adding that he portrayed "the essence of the quintessential military mindset". Critic David Thomson notes that Nicholson's character "blazed and roared". The film's director, Rob Reiner , recalls how Nicholson's level of acting experience affected

3564-497: A private detective. The film co-starred Faye Dunaway and John Huston , and included a cameo role with Polanski. Ebert called Nicholson's portrayal sharp-edged, menacing, and aggressive, a character who knew "how to go over the top", as he did in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . That edge kept Chinatown from becoming a typical genre crime film. Ebert also notes the importance of the role for Nicholson's career, seeing it as

3696-414: A retired Omaha , Nebraska , actuary who questions his own life after his wife dies. His quietly restrained performance earned him nominations for an Academy Award , BAFTA Award , Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. In Anger Management (2003), he played an aggressive therapist assigned to help an overly pacifist man ( Adam Sandler ). In 2003, Nicholson also starred in

3828-610: A room Nicholson jokingly called "the Arthur Garfunkel Suite". Other Nicholson roles included Hal Ashby 's The Last Detail (1973), with Randy Quaid , for which Nicholson won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for his third Oscar and a Golden Globe. Television journalist David Gilmour writes that one of his favorite Nicholson scenes from all his films was the often censored one in this film, when Nicholson slaps his gun on

3960-534: A science-fiction film, Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). It was produced by Corman's own company, Palo Alto, and released by Robert L. Lippert . The film did well enough to encourage Corman to produce another film, the racing-car thriller The Fast and the Furious (1955), directed by its star, John Ireland , and co-starring Dorothy Malone . (Decades later, the title would be licensed from Corman for

4092-537: A script by Gordon; and The Cry Baby Killer (1958), which gave Jack Nicholson his first starring role. He had his biggest budget yet for I Mobster (1958), a gangster story, co-produced by Edward L. Alperson and Corman's brother Gene for 20th Century Fox. In September 1958, he was reported as scouting locations in Australia to do a remake of H. Rider Haggard 's She . War of the Satellites (1958)

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4224-583: A script called The Red Baron . He bought the rights to another Soviet science-fiction film, Planeta Bur (1962), and had some additional footage added to it by Curtis Harrington . The result was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965). Harrington used footage from Planeta Bur in another film financed by Corman, Queen of Blood (1966). He also bought the rights to a Yugoslavian film, Operation Titan (1963), and financed additional shooting by Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman . The result

4356-667: A small role in The Last Tycoon opposite Robert De Niro . He took a less sympathetic role in Arthur Penn 's western The Missouri Breaks (1976), specifically to work with Marlon Brando . Nicholson was especially inspired by Brando's acting ability, recalling that in his youth, as an assistant manager at a theater, he watched On the Waterfront about 40 times. He once stated, "Marlon Brando influenced me strongly. Today, it's hard for people who weren't there to realize

4488-705: A start to many young film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola , Ron Howard , Martin Scorsese , Jonathan Demme , Peter Bogdanovich , Joe Dante , John Sayles , and James Cameron , and was highly influential in the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda , Jack Nicholson , Dennis Hopper , Bruce Dern , Diane Ladd , and William Shatner . Corman occasionally acted in films by directors who started with him, including The Godfather Part II (1974), The Silence of

4620-473: A studio Method actor ", he said. "So I was prone to give some kind of clinical presentation of the disorder." His Oscar was matched by the Academy Award for Best Actress for Helen Hunt , who played a Manhattan single mother drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall, a frequent diner in the restaurant where she works as a waitress. The film was a box-office success, grossing $ 314 million, making it Nicholson's second-best-grossing film, after Batman . The win

4752-446: A terrible mistake." Soon after he found work at 20th Century Fox as a messenger in the mail room, earning $ 32.50 per week. Corman worked his way up to a story reader. The one property that he liked the most and provided ideas for was filmed as The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck . When Corman received no credit at all, he left Fox and decided he would work in film by himself. Under the G.I. Bill , Corman studied English literature at

4884-468: A third, which was shot at the same time: Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961). Corman was going to make Part Time Mother from a script by Griffith but it appears to have never been made. AIP wanted Corman to make two horror films for them, in black and white, at under $ 100,000 each on a 10-day shooting schedule. Corman, however, was tired of making films on this sort of budget and was worried

5016-466: A thriller buried inside of it... It was one of the most powerful films of 1968 and one of the greatest directorial debuts of all time. And I believe the best film ever produced by Roger Corman." Paramount Home Entertainment released Targets on DVD on August 12, 2003. In 2023, Targets was remastered in 4K and released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection . Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024)

5148-403: A timely sniper story to create a thriller with modern baggage and old school shock and awe." Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film an "original and brilliant melodrama", and concluded that " Targets scores an unnerving bullseye." Dave Kehr of The Chicago Reader called the film "an interesting response to the demands of low-budget genre filmmaking." Variety wrote of

5280-406: A tree and I read a book.' That sounds like Jack." Adler stated that Nicholson was "doing whatever he really wants to do," adding, "He wants to be quiet. He wants to eat what he wants. He wants to live the life he wants." Nicholson has described Marlon Brando as a major influence on his career. He stated, "Actors don't normally discuss who the best actor in the world is, because it's obvious—Brando

5412-476: A while for the film to be released and it lost money. Corman was unhappy with his profit participation on the first two Poe films, so he made a third adaptation for different producers, The Premature Burial (1962), written by Charles Beaumont and starring Ray Milland . The film was co-financed by Pathe labs; AIP put pressure on Pathe by threatening to withdraw lab work from them and ended up buying out their interest. For producer Edward Small , Corman made

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5544-431: A writer and slept short hours to help remain in an agitated state during the shoot. His co-star Shelley Duvall recalled that she and Nicholson spent many hours discussing their characters, with Nicholson maintaining that his character be cold to her from the start. On the set, Nicholson always appeared in character and if Kubrick felt confident that Nicholson knew his lines well enough, he encouraged him to improvise beyond

5676-415: Is a very curious, alive human being. Always ready for a new idea." Nicholson himself said as much, telling an interviewer, "I like listening to everybody. This to me is the elixir of life." There is James Cagney , Spencer Tracy , Humphrey Bogart , and Henry Fonda . After that, who is there but Jack Nicholson? — Mike Nichols , director Black later admitted that she had a crush on Nicholson from

5808-492: Is always interesting, clearly conceived, and has the X-factor, magic. Jack is particularly suited for roles that require intelligence. He is an intelligent and literate man, and these are almost impossible to act. In The Shining you believe he's a writer, failed or otherwise. —Stanley Kubrick Although he garnered no Academy Award for Stanley Kubrick 's adaptation of Stephen King 's The Shining (1980), his role in

5940-459: Is an actor who can reflect almost anything in his face. One reason his performance is so good as Hoffa is that he reveals almost nothing." Nicholson won his next Academy Award for Best Actor in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets (1997), his third film directed by James L. Brooks . He played Melvin Udall, a "wickedly funny", mean-spirited novelist with obsessive-compulsive disorder . "I'm

6072-464: Is an unidealized portrait of a drained man whose one remaining stimulus is to push his luck. Again and again, in the movie, we watch him court danger. It interests him to walk the edge of risk. He does it with passivity as if he were taking part in an expressionless game of double-dare with life. Jack Nicholson's performance is a wonder of insight. How to animate a personality that is barely there. Nicholson continued to take more unusual roles. He took

6204-773: Is everywhere; his energy propels the ward of loonies and makes of them an ensemble, a chorus of people caught in a bummer with nowhere else to go, but still fighting for some frail sense of themselves. ... There are scenes in Cuckoo's Nest that are as intimate—and in their language, twice as rough—as the best moments in The Godfather ... [and] far above the general run of Hollywood performances. — Marie Brenner, Texas Monthly Also in 1975, Nicholson starred in Michelangelo Antonioni 's The Passenger (1975), which co-starred Maria Schneider . Nicholson plays

6336-522: Is one of only three male actors to win three Academy Awards and one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in films made in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s (alongside Michael Caine ). His 12 Academy Award nominations make him the most nominated male actor in the Academy's history . John Joseph Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey ,

6468-402: Is the best.” He also named John Ford , Akira Kurosawa , and Orson Welles as his favorite directors. Actors who have cited Nicholson as an influence include Leonardo DiCaprio , Alden Ehrenreich , and Morgan Freeman . In his personal life, Nicholson is notorious for his inability to "settle down"; he has fathered six children by five women but married only once. Nicholson's marriage

6600-582: The Chicago Sun-Times , critic Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, and wrote that " Targets isn't a very good film, but it is an interesting one." He called Karloff's performance "fascinating" but noted that the film may have been "more direct and effective" without his scenes. A review of the film published by Time stated that " Targets eventually falls victim to artistic overkill." Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote, " Targets showed considerable skill, but

6732-751: The British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art . He was the co-founder of New World Pictures , the founder of New Concorde and was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . In 2009, he was awarded an Academy Honorary Award "for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers". Corman was also famous for handling the U.S. distribution of many films by noted foreign directors, including Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored and gave

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6864-602: The Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 56th Golden Globe Awards , he recalled that his first day as a working actor (on Tales of Wells Fargo ) was May 5, 1955, which he considered lucky, as 5 was the jersey number of his boyhood idol, Joe DiMaggio . He trained to be an actor with a group called the Players Ring Theater, after which he found small parts performing on the stage and in TV soap operas. He made his film debut in

6996-665: The Nancy Meyers directed romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give playing an aging playboy who falls for the mother ( Diane Keaton ) of his young girlfriend. For his performance he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy . In late 2006, Nicholson marked his return to the dark side in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning film The Departed , a remake of Andrew Lau 's Infernal Affairs , playing Frank Costello ,

7128-574: The University of Oxford and lived in Paris for a time. Corman then returned to Los Angeles and tried to re-establish himself in the film industry. He took various jobs, including television stagehand at KLAC-TV and a messenger at Fox. He worked as an assistant to literary agent Dick Hyland. Corman wrote a script in his spare time and sold it to William F. Broidy at Allied Artists for US$ 2,000 (equivalent to $ 22,691 in 2023). "Dick thought it

7260-732: The V-12 Navy College Training Program with six months of study to complete. After serving in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Stanford to finish his degree, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering in 1947. While at Stanford University, Corman was initiated in the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon . In 1948, he worked briefly at U.S. Electrical Motors on Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles, but his career in engineering lasted only four days; he began work on Monday and quit on Thursday, telling his boss "I've made

7392-697: The Van Nuys Airport . During the Berlin Crisis of 1961 , Nicholson was called up for several months of extended active duty, and he was discharged at the end of his enlistment in 1962. Nicholson first came to California in 1950, when he was 13, to visit his sister. He took a job as an office worker for animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at the MGM cartoon studio . They offered him an entry-level job as an animator, but he declined, citing his desire to become an actor. While accepting

7524-808: The Woolner Brothers and Sorority Girl (1957), starring Susan Cabot for AIP. For AIP, he made The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957), shot in August 1957. He was meant to follow this with Teenage Jungle by Tony Miller. The success of Not of this Earth and Crab Monsters led to Allied offering Corman a four-picture deal for 1958. Corman received his first serious critical praise for Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), an AIP biopic of

7656-462: The murder of Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate , by the Manson Family , and supported him in the days following her death. After Tate's death, Nicholson began sleeping with a hammer under his pillow and took breaks from work to attend Manson's trial. In 1977, three years after Chinatown , Polanski was arrested at Nicholson's home for the sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer, who

7788-485: The Academy Award for Best Picture (1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, 2007, and 2013). On February 15, 2015, Nicholson made a special appearance as a presenter on SNL 40 , the 40th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live . After the death of boxer Muhammad Ali on June 3, 2016, Nicholson appeared on HBO 's The Fight Game with Jim Lampley for an exclusive interview about his friendship with Ali. He

7920-709: The Crab Monsters (1957) for Allied, which wound up being one of his most successful early films. For his own production company, Corman made a rock-and-roll "quickle", Carnival Rock (1957), released by Howco. Rock All Night (1957) was a heist film written by Griffith expanded from a TV play, "The Little Guy", with musical acts inserted. He was meant to make Rock'n'Roll Girl for AIP in December 1957. In April 1957, Corman announced he would try to make two films back-to-back from then on to save costs. Corman made two "teen girl noirs", Teenage Doll (1957) for

8052-928: The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and in As Good as It Gets (1997), and for Best Supporting Actor in Terms of Endearment (1983). He was Oscar-nominated for Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1974), Chinatown (1974), Reds (1981), Prizzi's Honor (1986), Ironweed (1987), A Few Good Men , (1992) and About Schmidt (2002). Nicholson is also known for his notable roles in Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Shining (1980), Heartburn (1986), Broadcast News (1987), Batman (1989), Hoffa (1992), Mars Attacks! (1996), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Departed (2006), and The Bucket List (2007). Nicholson has directed three films, Drive, He Said (1971), Goin' South (1978), and The Two Jakes (1990). He

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8184-529: The Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). A documentary about Corman's life and career titled Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel , directed by Alex Stapleton, premiered at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals in 2011. The film's TV rights were picked up by A&E IndieFilms after a well-received screening at Sundance. Corman

8316-522: The November 2, 2023, episode of Marc Maron 's podcast, WTF with Marc Maron , record producer Lou Adler , a longtime friend of Nicholson's, related an anecdote pertaining to the unofficial retirement of the actor, who had not done a film in the 13 years since How Do You Know , saying, "A friend of mine wanted to put him in a movie. And he had a conversation with him. But Jack says, 'I don't want to do it.' He goes, 'You know what I did today? I sat under

8448-682: The Poe cycle—it featured Price and was made for AIP, written by Beaumont—but was actually based on a story by H. P. Lovecraft . Corman directed a war film in Yugoslavia with his brother, The Secret Invasion (1964), with Stewart Granger and Mickey Rooney , from a script by Campbell. Following this, he announced he would make The Life of Robert E. Lee as part of a four-picture deal with Filmgroup worth $ 3.75 million. Other movies were Fun and Profit by Joel Rapp, The Wild Surfers by John Lamb, and Planet of Storms by Jack Hill . None of these films

8580-679: The Red Death and announced two films, Captain Nemo and the Floating City and House of Secrets . Following The Pit and the Pendulum , Corman directed one of William Shatner 's earliest appearances in a lead role with The Intruder (a.k.a. The Stranger , 1962). Based on a novel by Charles Beaumont , the film was co-produced by Gene Corman and was shot in July and August 1961. It took

8712-513: The Whirlwind and The Shooting —initially failed to interest U.S. film distributors but gained cult success on the French art-house circuit and were later sold to television. Nicholson also appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show , and starred as a rebellious dirt-track race driver in the 1960 film The Wild Ride . With his acting career foundering, Nicholson seemed resigned to

8844-543: The X-ray Eyes (1963), and the counterculture films, The Wild Angels (1966) and The Trip (1967). House of Usher (1960) became the first of eight films directed by Corman that were adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe , and which collectively came to be known as the " Poe Cycle ". In 1964, Corman became the youngest filmmaker to have a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française , as well as in

8976-573: The bar yelling he was the Shore Patrol. Critic Roger Ebert called it a very good movie, but credited Nicholson's acting as the main reason: "He creates a character so complete and so complex that we stop thinking about the movie and just watch to see what he'll do next." In 1974, Nicholson starred in Roman Polanski 's noir thriller Chinatown , and was again nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake Gittes,

9108-529: The conventional wisdom, it doesn't seem particularly adventurous or weird or wild." Also in 1970, Nicholson appeared in the film adaptation of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever , although most of his performance was left on the cutting room floor . His agent turned down a starring role in Deliverance when the film's producer and director, John Boorman , refused to pay what Nicholson's agent wanted. In 1971, Nicholson starred in Carnal Knowledge ,

9240-535: The editing for turning it into a "predictable" film and said so publicly. "I was livid", he recalls. Nicholson also co-wrote, with Bob Rafelson , the movie Head , which starred The Monkees , and arranged the movie's soundtrack. Nicholson's first big acting break came when a role opened up in Fonda and Hopper's Easy Rider (1969). He played alcoholic lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The film cost only $ 400,000 to make, and became

9372-445: The famous gangster , which gave Charles Bronson his first leading role and co-starred Cabot. Campbell wrote the script. Also for AIP, he did Teenage Caveman (1958), with Robert Vaughn , originally titled Prehistoric World . He helped produce two films for Allied Artists, both from scripts by Leo Gordon : Hot Car Girl (1958), directed by Bernard Kowalski and produced by his brother Gene (the first film they made together) from

9504-408: The film as writer Jack Torrance remains one of his more significant. He was Kubrick's first choice to play the role, although the book's author, Stephen King, wanted more of an "everyman". Kubrick won the argument and called Nicholson's acting "on a par with the greatest stars of the past, like Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Cagney ". In preparation for the role, Nicholson drew upon his own experiences as

9636-486: The film commenced, the project fizzled out , partly due to a change in ownership at MGM. In 1970, Nicholson starred in Five Easy Pieces alongside Karen Black in what became his persona-defining role. Nicholson and Black were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. Nicholson played Bobby Dupea, an oil rig worker, and Black played his waitress girlfriend. Black noted that Nicholson's character in

9768-399: The film could get a deal with a major studio. It was seen by Robert Evans of Paramount Pictures , who bought it for $ 150,000, giving Corman an instant profit on the movie before it was even released. Although the film was written and production photography completed in late 1967, it was not released until after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and that of Robert F. Kennedy in

9900-442: The film was very subdued and very different from Nicholson's real personality. She said that the now-infamous restaurant scene was partly improvised by Nicholson, and was out of character for Bobby, who would not have cared enough to argue with a waitress. "I think that Jack really has very little in common with Bobby. I think Bobby has given up looking for love. But Jack hasn't, he's very interested in love, in finding out things. Jack

10032-449: The film: "Aware of the virtue of implied violence, Bogdanovich conveys moments of shock, terror, suspense and fear." In a retrospective review of the film, Geoff Andrew of Time Out called it "a fascinatingly complex commentary on American mythology, exploring the relationship between the inner world of the imagination and the outer world of violence and paranoia, both of which were relevant to contemporary American traumas." Writing for

10164-562: The filming, with Hunt saying that he "treated me like a queen", and they connected immediately: "It wasn't even what we said", she said. "It was just some frequency we both could tune into that was very, very compatible." Critic Jack Mathews of Newsday said Nicholson was "in rare form", adding, "it's one of those performances that make you aware how much fun the actor is having". Author and screenwriter Andrew Horton describes their on-screen relationship as being like "fire and ice, oil and water—seemingly complete opposites". In 2001, Nicholson

10296-481: The first film directed by Monte Hellman . Corman went to Puerto Rico and produced another two films back-to-back: Battle of Blood Island (1960), directed by Joel Rapp , and Last Woman on Earth (1960), directed by Corman from a script by Robert Towne . Filming on these two films went so quickly and incentivized by the tax breaks on offer for filming in Puerto Rico, Corman commissioned Griffith to write

10428-495: The framing inside the screen tower. While the Orlok film is shown, Thompson kills the theater's projectionist and shoots at the patrons throughout the parking lot via a hole in the screen. After Thompson wounds Orlok's secretary, Jenny, Orlok confronts Thompson, who is disoriented by Orlok's simultaneous appearance before him and on the large movie screen behind him, allowing the actor to disarm Thompson using his walking cane. Looking at

10560-443: The freeway was not permitted, so the freeway shooting spree was filmed guerilla-style in a two-day period. To save money, the whole sequence was filmed without sound, and editor Verna Fields added the effects after-the-fact. Bogdanovich has said that Samuel Fuller provided generous help on the screenplay and refused to accept either a fee or a screen credit, so Bogdanovich named his own character Sammy Michaels (Fuller's middle name

10692-636: The greatest actors of the 20th century. Throughout his five-decade career he received numerous accolades , including three Academy Awards , three BAFTA Film Awards , six Golden Globe Awards , and a Grammy Award . He also received the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1994 and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2001. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. Nicholson has won three Academy Awards , for Best Actor in One Flew Over

10824-662: The impact that Brando had on an audience. ... He's always been the patron saint of actors". "I'm part of the first generation that idolized Marlon Brando", he said. Nicholson has observed that while both De Niro and Brando were noted for their skill as method actors , he himself has seldom been described as one, a fact he sees as an accomplishment: "I'm still fooling them", he told Sean Penn . "I consider it an accomplishment because there's probably no one who understands Method acting better academically than I do—or actually uses it more in his work. But it's funny, nobody really sees that. It's perception versus reality, I guess." His work

10956-539: The market for them was in decline. He proposed making a film in color for $ 200,000, shot over 15 days. Corman proposed an adaptation of " The Fall of the House of Usher " by Edgar Allan Poe and AIP agreed. The film was announced in May 1959. Richard Matheson was hired to do the adaptation and Vincent Price was brought in to star; Haller did the art direction. The resulting film, House of Usher (1960), shot in early 1960,

11088-503: The movie is composed largely of first takes with him." In the 1989 Batman movie, Nicholson played the psychotic villain, the Joker . The film was an international smash hit, and a lucrative deal earned him a percentage of the box office gross estimated at $ 60 million to $ 90 million. Nicholson said that he was "particularly proud" of his performance as the Joker: "I considered it

11220-418: The movie. The clips from The Terror feature Jack Nicholson , Dick Miller and Boris Karloff. A brief clip of Howard Hawks ' 1931 film The Criminal Code featuring Karloff was also used. Polly Platt was the film's production designer, in addition to developing the story, and it was her idea to set the ending at a drive-in movie theater. Interviewed in 2003, Bogdanovich explained that filming on or near

11352-535: The now-defeated Thompson, a visibly shaken Orlok remarks, "Is that what I was afraid of?" Moments later, police officers arrive to arrest Thompson for the murders he has committed; as they lead him away, Thompson states with apparent satisfaction that he "hardly ever missed." The character and actions of Bobby Thompson are patterned after Charles Whitman , who perpetrated the University of Texas tower shooting in 1966. The character of Byron Orlok, named after Max Schreck 's vampire Count Orlok in 1922's Nosferatu ,

11484-646: The other actors during rehearsals: "I had the luck of having Jack Nicholson there. He knows what he's doing, and he comes to play, every time out, full-out performance! And what it says to a lot of the other actors is, 'Oooooh, I better get on my game here because this guy's coming to play! So I can't hold back; I've got to come up to him.' He sets the tone." In 1996, Nicholson collaborated once more with Batman director Tim Burton on Mars Attacks! , pulling double duty as two contrasting characters, President James Dale and Las Vegas property developer Art Land. Not all of Nicholson's performances have been well received. He

11616-520: The other patients. Playing one of the patients was Danny DeVito in an early role. Nicholson learned afterward that DeVito grew up in the same area of New Jersey, and they knew many of the same people. The film received nine nominations at the Academy Awards, and won five, including Nicholson's first for Best Actor . The role seemed perfect for Nicholson, with biographer Ken Burke noting that his "smartass demeanor balances his genuine concern for

11748-483: The project after an argument with Hopper. Nicholson later acknowledged the importance of being cast in Easy Rider : "All I could see in the early films, before Easy Rider , was this desperate young actor trying to vault out of the screen and create a movie career." Stanley Kubrick , who was impressed by his performance in Easy Rider , cast Nicholson as Napoleon in a film about his life, and although production on

11880-754: The result was Battle Beyond the Sun (1962). He also released The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (1962), dubbed from a Soviet film. The fourth Poe was an anthology, Tales of Terror (1962), shot in late 1961. One of the installments, "The Black Cat", was a comedy, inspiring Corman to do a whole Poe story comedically next: The Raven (1963). Later, Corman used the sets for that film for The Terror (1963), made for Filmgroup but released by AIP, and starring Boris Karloff (whose scenes were all shot in two days) and Jack Nicholson. Corman did not direct all of this film; additional scenes were shot by Monte Hellman, Coppola, and Jack Hill, among others. The Young Racers (1963)

12012-471: The role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses. Nicholson is the Hollywood celebrity who is most like a character in some ongoing novel of our times. He is also the most beloved of stars—not even his huge wealth, his reckless aging, and the public disasters of his private life can detract from this ... For he is still a touchstone, someone we value for

12144-447: The rules—confronts the new, realistic, nihilistic late-1960s "monster" in the shape of a clean-cut, unassuming multiple murderer. Bogdanovich got the chance to make Targets because Boris Karloff owed studio head Roger Corman two days' work. Corman told Bogdanovich he could make any film he liked provided he used Karloff and stayed under budget. In addition, Bogdanovich used clips from Corman's Napoleonic-era thriller The Terror in

12276-540: The same script structure and Corman employed many of the same cast in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). This film was reputedly shot in two days and one night. For Filmgroup, Corman directed The Wasp Woman (1959), starring Cabot from a script by Gordon. His brother and he made two films back-to-back in South Dakota: Ski Troop Attack (1960), a war movie written by Griffith and directed by Corman, and Beast from Haunted Cave (1959),

12408-453: The science-fiction story It Conquered the World (1956). Co-written by Griffith, it was a follow-up to The Day the World Ended . It was a big hit. He optioned a TV play, The Stake , and hoped to get Dana Andrews to star. It was never made. Instead, Walter Mirisch of Allied Artists hired Corman to make The Undead (1957), inspired by The Search for Bridey Murphy . Griffith wrote

12540-627: The script. For example, Nicholson improvised his now-famous "Here's Johnny!" line, along with a scene in which he unleashes his anger on his wife when she interrupts his work. There were also extensive takes of scenes, due to Kubrick's perfectionism. Nicholson shot a scene with the ghostly bartender 36 times. He said, "Stanley's demanding. He'll do a scene fifty times, and you have to be good to do that." In 1982, he starred as an immigration enforcement agent in The Border , directed by Tony Richardson . It co-starred Warren Oates , who played

12672-535: The script. In June, Corman made a science-fiction film for Allied Artists, Not of this Earth (1957), written by Griffith. In August 1956, AIP financed a Corman heist movie shot in Hawaii, Naked Paradise (1957), co-written by Griffith. Corman shot it back-to-back with a movie made with his own money, She Gods of Shark Reef (1958). Corman wound up selling the movie to AIP. Corman and Griffith reunited in Attack of

12804-531: The son of a showgirl , June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson; 1918–1963). Nicholson's mother was of Irish, English, German, and Welsh descent. Nicholson has identified as Irish, comparing himself to the playwright Eugene O'Neill , whom he played in the film Reds (1981): "I'm not saying I'm as dark as he was ... but I am a writer, I am Irish, I have had problems with my family." His mother married Italian-American showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose; 1909–1997) in 1936, before realizing that he

12936-496: The summer of 1968, thus having some topical relevance to then-current events. However, Bogdanovich, who appears in the film as a young writer-director, credits it with getting him noticed by the studios, which in turn led to his directing three very successful studio films ( The Last Picture Show , What's Up, Doc? , and Paper Moon ) in the early 1970s. Around five years after release, in March 1973, New Zealand refused to issue

13068-487: The time they met, although they dated only briefly. "He was very beautiful. He just looked right at you ... I liked him a lot ... He really sort of wanted to date me but I didn't think of him that way because I was going with Peter Kastner  ... Then I went to do Easy Rider , but didn't see him because we didn't have any scenes together ... At the premiere, I saw him out in the lobby afterward and I started crying ... He didn't understand that, but what it

13200-459: The treatment of his fellow patients with his independent spirit too free to exist in a repressive social structure". Forman allowed Nicholson to improvise throughout the film, including most of the group therapy sequences. Reviewer Marie Brenner notes that his bravura performance "transcends the screen" and continually inspires the other actors by lightening their mental illnesses with his comic dialogue. She describes his performance: Nicholson

13332-535: The wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy ." In 2020, Quentin Tarantino called Targets "the most political movie Corman ever made since The Intruder . And forty years later it's still one of the strongest cries for gun control in American cinema. The film isn't a thriller with a social commentary buried inside of it (the normal Corman model), it's a social commentary with

13464-399: The way he helps us see ourselves. — David Thomson , a film critic. Nicholson's next film role saw him reunite with James L. Brooks , director of Terms of Endearment , Broadcast News and As Good as It Gets , for a supporting role for the 2010 film How Do You Know starring Paul Rudd , Reese Witherspoon , and Owen Wilson . The film was a financial and critical failure. In

13596-422: The writer Eugene O'Neill with a quiet intensity; Prizzi's Honor (1985); Heartburn (1986); The Witches of Eastwick (1987); Broadcast News (1987); and Ironweed (1987). Three Oscar nominations also followed ( Reds , Prizzi's Honor , and Ironweed ). John Huston , who directed Prizzi's Honor , said of Nicholson's acting, "He just illuminates the book. He impressed me in one scene after another;

13728-419: Was Blood Bath (1966). He also had an investment in the beach party films Beach Ball (1965) and It's a Bikini World (1967). Corman said, "For ten years as an independent I could get financing for $ 100–$ 200–$ 300,000 pictures. Everything had been interesting, artistically satisfying, economically satisfying. But I decided I was going nowhere and wanted to move directly into the business. So I accepted

13860-482: Was Michael) in tribute. Fuller advised Bogdanovich to save as much money in the film's budget as possible for the film to have an action-packed conclusion. Bogdanovich cast Tim O'Kelly as the lead role of murderer Bobby Thompson, who impressed him during an audition for the film. Nancy Hsueh was cast by Bogdanovich after he met the actress while she was appearing in John Ford 's Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Targets

13992-445: Was Nicholson's third Academy Award, tying him with six other actors, Walter Brennan , Ingrid Bergman , Meryl Streep , Daniel Day-Lewis , and Frances McDormand who all have three acting Oscars. Nicholson admits he initially disliked playing a middle-aged man alongside a much younger Hunt, seeing it as a movie cliché. "But Helen disarmed that at the first meeting", he says, "and I stopped thinking about it." They got along well during

14124-466: Was a critical and commercial hit. Following this, Corman bought two scripts, Sob Sisters Don't Cry and Cop Killer . In March 1960, Corman announced that Filmgroup would be part of an international production group, Compass Productions. He directed a peplum in Greece, Atlas , (1961) in August. He was going to direct a thriller from a script by Robert Towne , I Flew a Spy Plane Over Russia . It

14256-543: Was actually his mother, and his other "sister", Lorraine, was really his aunt. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). On finding out, Nicholson said it was "a pretty dramatic event, but it wasn't what I'd call traumatizing ... I was pretty well psychologically formed". Nicholson grew up in Neptune City, New Jersey . Before starting high school, his family moved to an apartment in Spring Lake, New Jersey . "Nick", as he

14388-571: Was already married. Biographer Patrick McGilligan stated in his book Jack's Life that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), June's manager, may have been Nicholson's biological father, rather than Furcillo. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of the father's identity. As June was only 17 and unmarried, her parents agreed to raise Nicholson as their own child without revealing his true parentage, with June acting as his sister. In 1974, Time magazine researchers learned, and informed Nicholson, that his "sister", June,

14520-469: Was always fascinating to me, a fascinating man – and a good businessman! He had such incredible energy, it was tremendous – he was a dynamo to be around. I always knew he was going to be a huge success because there was no stopping him. He just made up his mind that he was going to be a success and that was it. ARC changed its name to American International Pictures. Corman was established as their leading filmmaker. They financed Corman's next film as director,

14652-476: Was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood ", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film . Many of the more than 500 features directed or produced by Corman were low-budget films that later attracted a cult following, such as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Intruder (1962), X: The Man with

14784-574: Was based on Karloff himself, with a fictional component of being embittered with the movie business and wanting to retire. The role was Karloff's last appearance in a major American film. Karloff gives a celebrated 100-second single-take performance of W. Somerset Maugham 's retelling of the Babylonian fable Appointment in Samarra . In the film's finale at a drive-in theater, Orlok—the old-fashioned, traditional screen monster who always obeyed

14916-512: Was born in Detroit , Michigan , to Anne (née High) and William Corman, an engineer of Russian Jewish descent. His younger brother, Gene , produced numerous films, sometimes in collaboration with Roger. Corman was raised in his mother's Catholic faith. Corman went to Beverly Hills High School and then to Stanford University to study industrial engineering. While at Stanford, Corman realized he did not want to be an engineer. He enlisted in

15048-797: Was conceived and shot in record time to take advantage of the Sputnik launch; it was his first collaboration with art director Daniel Haller . Corman also produced, but did not direct, Stakeout on Dope Street (1958), directed by Irvin Kershner , Night of the Blood Beast (1958), directed by Kowalski for AIP, using leftover costumes from Teenage Caveman , and Crime and Punishment U.S.A. (1959), directed by Dennis Sanders with George Hamilton in his first lead role. In January 1959, Corman announced he would be moving into distribution. In 1959, Corman founded The Filmgroup with his brother Gene,

15180-660: Was considered a box-office bomb . Despite initial commercial failure, the film was well-received by critics, and was included in the 2003 book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die . Byron Orlok, an aged, embittered horror movie actor, abruptly announces his decision to retire from Hollywood and return to his native England to live out his final days. Orlok considers himself outdated because he believes that people are no longer frightened by old-fashioned horror, citing real-life news stories as more horrifying than anything in his films. However, after much persuasion, particularly from young director Sammy Michaels, Orlok agrees to make

15312-652: Was filmed in Los Angeles, with principal photography beginning November 27, 1967, and concluding December 15, 1967. Interior sequences were shot on makeshift soundstages in a lumberyard building on Santa Monica Boulevard . Targets premiered in New York City on August 13, 1968. It later screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival in September of that year. American International Pictures offered to release, but Bogdanovich wanted to try to see if

15444-418: Was funny and let me pay myself a commission," said Corman. Originally called House in the Sea , it was retitled Highway Dragnet (1954) and starred Richard Conte and Joan Bennett . Corman also worked as associate producer on the film for nothing, just for the experience. Corman used his script fee and personal contacts to raise US$ 12,000 (equivalent to $ 136,149 in 2023) to produce his first feature,

15576-442: Was in a relationship with singer Michelle Phillips , the ex-wife of his best friend Dennis Hopper , during which time she suffered a miscarriage. Nicholson's longest relationship was 17 years with actress Anjelica Huston , from 1973 until 1990. Their on-again, off-again romance included several periods of overlap with other women, notably former Bond girl Jill St. John and Danish model Winnie Hollman, with whom Nicholson fathered

15708-552: Was known to his high school friends, attended nearby Manasquan High School , where he was voted "Class Clown" by the Class of 1954. He was in detention every day for a whole school year. A theatre and a drama award at the school are named in his honor. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50-year high school reunion accompanied by his aunt Lorraine. In 1957, Nicholson joined the California Air National Guard ,

15840-485: Was made, nor was The Gold Bug , a Poe adaptation written by Griffith. Corman made two Poes in England starring Price, the much-delayed The Masque of the Red Death (1964), with Campbell rewriting Beaumont's scripts, and The Tomb of Ligeia (1965), from a script by Robert Towne. Corman made no further Poes; AIP started up a fresh Poe cycle in the late 1960s, but Corman was not part of it. Corman got Towne to write

15972-461: Was modeling for Polanski during a magazine photo shoot around the pool. At the time, Nicholson was out of town making a film, but his steady girlfriend, actress Anjelica Huston , had dropped by unannounced to pick up some items. She heard Polanski in the other room say, "We'll be right out." Polanski then came out with Geimer and introduced her to Huston, and they chatted about Nicholson's two large dogs, which were sitting nearby. Huston recalled Geimer

16104-489: Was nominated for Razzie Awards as worst actor for Man Trouble (1992) and Hoffa (1992). But his performance in Hoffa also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. David Thomson states that the film was terribly neglected, since Nicholson portrayed one of his best screen characters, someone who is "snarly, dumb, smart, noble, rascally—all the parts of 'Jack'". Roger Ebert also praised his performance writing, "Nicholson

16236-541: Was not made; neither were two comedies he was to make with Dick Miller and Jon Haze, Murder at the Convention and Pan and the Satyrs . House of Usher had been so successful that AIP wanted a follow-up, and Corman, Haller, Matheson and Price reunited on The Pit and the Pendulum (1961). It was another sizable hit, and the " Poe cycle " of films was underway. Corman hired Charles Beaumont to write Masque of

16368-446: Was one he decided to direct, Five Guns West (1955), a Western, made in color for around $ 60,000, with Malone and John Lund . The script was written by Robert Wright Campbell , who worked with Corman on several more occasions. Corman announced he would make four more projects for ARC: High Steel , Cobra , Fortress Beneath the Sea , and an untitled film from Campbell. Instead, Corman did some uncredited directing on The Beast with

16500-489: Was one of Nicholson's most complex and unforgettable characters. He and MacLaine played many of their scenes in different ways, constantly testing and making adjustments. Their scenes together gave the film its "buoyant edge", states McGilligan, and describes Nicholson's acting as "Jack floating like a butterfly". Nicholson continued to work prolifically in the 1980s, starring in such films as: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981); Reds (1981), where Nicholson portrays

16632-477: Was produced and directed by Corman in Europe for AIP, starring and written by Campbell. Working on the film was Francis Ford Coppola, whom Corman financed to make his directorial debut, Dementia 13 (1963). Back in the U.S., Corman made X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), a contemporary science-fiction film for AIP starring Ray Milland . He followed it with The Haunted Palace (1963), ostensibly part of

16764-652: Was reported to be starring in an English-language remake of Toni Erdmann in 2017 opposite Kristen Wiig , his first feature film role since How Do You Know , but the project was later abandoned. In October 2019, with the release of The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep , director Mike Flanagan revealed he approached Nicholson for a cameo appearance , but Nicholson declined with best wishes. Flanagan also disclosed that Nicholson had previously been approached to appear in Steven Spielberg 's science-fiction film Ready Player One (2018). During an appearance in

16896-841: Was the first actor to receive the Stanislavsky Award at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival for "conquering the heights of acting and faithfulness". That same year Nicholson starred in The Pledge , a mystery drama where he portrays retired police detective Jerry Black, who vows to find a murderer of a young girl. Nicholson was praised for his performance; Bob Graham of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "deeply felt" compared to some of Nicholson's other films. Nicholson acted in Alexander Payne 's comedy-drama About Schmidt (2002), playing

17028-622: Was to The Terror co-star Sandra Knight from 1962 to 1968, though they separated in 1966. The couple had one daughter, Jennifer (born September 13, 1963). Five Easy Pieces co-star Susan Anspach contended that her son Caleb (born September 26, 1970), whose legal father was Mark Goddard , was actually Nicholson's biological son. In 1984, Nicholson said he was not convinced of this, but in 1996, Caleb said that Nicholson had recognized him as his son in private. By 1998, Nicholson publicly acknowledged Caleb as his son and said that they got along "beautifully now." In 1971 and 1972, Nicholson

17160-490: Was trapped in Movieland, in more than subject matter". John Simon wrote- " Targets handled a valid subject but in a trashy way." In 2018, on the film's 50th anniversary, Mark Lager wrote on Cinema Retro that "Bogdanovich had been deeply disturbed by Charles Whitman 's mass shooting and felt compelled to write a screenplay based on the event. Targets was released in August 1968 and was especially relevant that year in

17292-490: Was was that I really loved him a lot, and I didn't know it until I saw him again, because it all welled up." Within a month after its release that September, Five Easy Pieces became a blockbuster, making Nicholson a leading man and the "new American anti-hero", according to McDougal. Critics began speculating as to whether he might become another Marlon Brando or James Dean . His career and income skyrocketed. He said, "I have [become] much sought after. Your name becomes

17424-549: Was wearing platform heels and appeared quite tall. After a few minutes of talking, Polanski had packed up his camera gear and Huston saw them drive off in his car. Huston told police the next day, after Polanski was arrested, that she "had witnessed nothing untoward" and never saw them together in the other room. Geimer learned afterward that Huston herself was not supposed to be at Nicholson's house that day, since they had recently broken up, but stopped over to pick up some belongings. Geimer described Nicholson's house as "definitely"

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