Jack Nicholson
I've watched his entire body of work and have compiled a list of favourite performances ranked in order. I've not included all of his films. If they're not on the list a) his role was just as an extra b) I didn't rate his performance or like the film. Small roles are tagged at the end & are not ranked in the list but his performances are well worth a watch.
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- DirectorHector BabencoStarsJack NicholsonMeryl StreepCarroll BakerAn alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJack NicholsonBruce DernEllen BurstynA daydreamer convinces his radio personality brother to help fund one of his get-rich-quick schemes.
- DirectorAlexander PayneStarsJack NicholsonHope DavisDermot MulroneyA recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJack NicholsonMaria SchneiderJenny RunacreUnable to find the war he's been asked to cover, a frustrated war correspondent takes the risky path of co-opting the identity of a dead arms-deal acquaintance.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJack NicholsonKaren BlackBilly Green BushA dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsJack NicholsonRandy QuaidOtis YoungTwo Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsJack NicholsonHelen HuntGreg KinnearA single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsJack NicholsonCandice BergenArt GarfunkelChronicling the lifelong sexual development of two men who meet and become friends in college.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioMatt DamonJack NicholsonAn undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
- DirectorSean PennStarsJack NicholsonBenicio Del ToroPatricia ClarksonA retiring police detective pledges to catch the killer of a young child.
- DirectorPeter SegalStarsJack NicholsonAdam SandlerMarisa TomeiDave Buznik is a businessman who is wrongly sentenced to an anger management program, where he meets an aggressive instructor.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsJack NicholsonCherSusan SarandonThree single women in a picturesque village have their wishes granted, at a cost, when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.
- DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsJack NicholsonDanny DeVitoArmand AssanteThe story of the notorious American labor union figure Jimmy Hoffa, who organizes a bitter strike, makes deals with members of the organized crime syndicate and mysteriously disappears in 1975.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJack NicholsonJessica LangeJohn ColicosThe sensuous wife of a roadside diner proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordid, steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
- DirectorJack NicholsonStarsJack NicholsonMary SteenburgenChristopher LloydDue to the lack of men after the Civil War, a western town allows a young bachelorette who lives alone to save a thief from hanging by marrying him. They must deal with his old gang, the Sheriff, the railroad, a gold mine, and each other.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsJack NicholsonMichelle PfeifferJames SpaderPublisher Will Randall becomes a demon wolf and has to fight to keep his job.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsJack NicholsonHarvey KeitelValerie PerrineA corrupt border Agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsJack NicholsonKathleen TurnerRobert LoggiaTwo professional assassins fall in love.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsStockard ChanningJack NicholsonWarren BeattyTwo bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them, not even murder.
- DirectorJack NicholsonStarsJack NicholsonHarvey KeitelMeg TillyThe sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds J.J. "Jake" Gittes investigating adultery and murder, and the money that comes from oil.
- DirectorNancy MeyersStarsJack NicholsonDiane KeatonKeanu ReevesA swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women falls in love with an accomplished woman closer to his age.
- DirectorSean PennStarsJack NicholsonDavid MorseAnjelica HustonFreddy Gale is a seedy jeweller who has sworn to kill the drunk driver who killed his little girl.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJack NicholsonMichael CaineStephen DorffA man who has failed as a father and husband commits a heist to make money for his fledging business, but things become complicated when his wife interferes.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsJack NicholsonMorgan FreemanSean HayesTwo terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsMarlon BrandoJack NicholsonRandy QuaidTom Logan is a horse thief. Rancher David Braxton has horses, and a daughter, worth stealing. But Braxton has just hired Lee Clayton, an infamous "regulator", to hunt down the horse thieves; one at a time.
- DirectorRichard RushStarsSusan StrasbergDean StockwellJack NicholsonA deaf runaway is taken in by a psychedelic band while searching for her missing brother in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury hippie district.
- DirectorRichard RushStarsAdam RoarkeJack NicholsonSabrina ScharfAt first, gas station attendant Poet is happy when the Hell's Angels gang finally accepts him. But he's shocked when he learns just how brutal they are.
- DirectorRoger CormanFrancis Ford CoppolaJack HaleStarsBoris KarloffJack NicholsonSandra KnightA young French soldier cut off from his unit is beguiled by a mysterious woman, whom he learns is the wife of the local Baron - and that she seemingly died twenty years earlier.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsMillie PerkinsJack NicholsonWill HutchinsA mysterious woman persuades two cowboys to help her in a revenge scheme.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsJack NicholsonCameron MitchellMillie PerkinsThree cowboys, mistaken for members of an outlaw gang, are relentlessly pursued by a posse.
- DirectorHarvey BermanStarsJack NicholsonGeorgianna CarterRobert BeanA rebellious punk of the beat generation spends his days as an amateur dirt track driver in between partying and troublemaking. He eventually kidnaps his buddy's girlfriend, kills a few police officers, and finally sees his own life end in tragedy.
- DirectorJustus AddissStarsHarry LauterJack NicholsonCarolyn MitchellA teenage boy panics and takes hostages when he thinks he's committed murder.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsDewey MartinFay SpainJack NicholsonStolen diamonds spark a deadly drama involving a group of strangers in the Philippine jungle.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsJonathan HazeJackie JosephMel WellesA clumsy young man working at an impoverished flower shop discovers that the strange plant he has been nurturing has an insatiable appetite for blood, forcing him to kill to feed it.Small role. Hilarious little scene.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsPeter FondaDennis HopperJack NicholsonTwo bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.Small role. Jack steals the show.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsRoger DaltreyAnn-MargretOliver ReedA psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute boy becomes a master pinball player and, subsequently, the figurehead of a cult.Small role. Jack singing in English accent.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsTom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreMilitary lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.Small role. You can't handle I put this here.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJack NicholsonPierce BrosnanSarah Jessica ParkerEarth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.Small role. Wacky Jack for president.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsReese WitherspoonPaul RuddOwen WilsonAfter being cut from the U.S.A. softball team and feeling a bit past her prime, Lisa finds herself evaluating her life and in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy in crisis competes with her current, baseball-playing beau.Small role. Channeling Buddy Rydell?