John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22 1937), known as Jack Nicholson, is a three-time Academy Award, seven-time Golden Globe-, three-time BAFTA- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor, internationally renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters.

He has been nominated for an Academy Award 12 times and has won three times (twice for Best Actor and once as Best Supporting Actor). 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 since the 1960s; the other is 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 Institute's Life Achievement Award. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films Chinatown, Easy Rider, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, As Good as It Gets, Batman, A Few Good Men, and The Departed.

Abandoned by his father in his childhood, he was raised believing his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his older sister. The truth was revealed to him years later when a Time magazine researcher uncovered the truth while preparing a story on the star. Jack had a 17-year relationship with actress Anjelica Huston, which ended in 1990 after Rebecca Broussard was carrying his child.