One of the most little known facts about the life of one of the very best movie stars, Jack Nicholson is that he almost became an animator for cartoon legends Hannah Barbera, makers of the Flintstones and Jetsons. Indeed Nicholson is a highly talented artist in his own right and continues to produce superb artwork to this day.

Jack Nicholson needs no introductions as an actor, nominated for an Academy Award in every one of the last five decades; he has won three, the first for the mighty, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest, one of the very best films ever. He is an active voting member of the Academy and a respected member of the elite actors Guild of America. Jack Nicholson is perhaps one of the very best male lead actors of the last century.

In my humble opinion, three performances of Nicholson’s stand out as examples of his superb screen presence.

The first is his superb performance as McMurphy, the lead protagonist in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, based on the novel by Ken Kessey. His performance won him his first Oscar, and is nothing short of utterly brilliant with his mixture of cheerful optimism and maniacal outbursts that provoke the perfect juxtaposition that the book intends, who are the crazy ones? His performance and portrayal of anti-establishment anti-hero both incite us to question the roles of authority and leads to us revaluating what mental illness is all about. The superb film, one of his very best, aired to critical acclaim, and although the rest of the cast and the direction were phenomenally good, it is Nicholson who commands the screen. The second superb performance is as The Joker in the reinvention of the franchise by Tim Burton. Recently the role has been performed by the Late Heath Ledger to critical acclaim. But it was Jack Nicholson’s performance as the deranged and psychotic arch villain that reinvigorated the franchise so successfully. Set against Burton’s reinvention of gothic film and opposite the considerable acting talents of another of the very best actors in the world, Michael Keaton, as Batman, he literally stole the show.

More recently Nicholson has continued to take the big roles and twist them with his own superb unique ability. His portrayal of Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese’s, The Departed, reaffirmed Nicholson’s ability to bring his own brand of complex characterization and overbearing menace to yet another role.

Nicholson is without doubt one of the finest actors of all times and he was also the cause of many nightmares of mine as a youngster, after watching the Shining. I was terrified by his head appearing through a splintered door frame proclaiming, HERE'S JOHHNY!

Editorial | Image Corbis Apeiron Photos