“Jack’s Life feels true. . . . Fascinating.”—Entertainment Weekly Jack Nicholson has lived large on and off the screen. Patrick McGilligan, one of America’s outstanding film biographers, has plumbed research and interviews to expand his definitive biography since its publication twenty years ago. Jack’s Life captures the essence of this most private and public of stars with a vivid depiction of Nicholson’s tangled Dickensian upbringing, his hungry years as actor and writer, his nearaccidental breakthrough in Easy Rider, and his prolificacy and artistry ever since, with roles in Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces, The Shining, A Few Good Men, As Good As It Gets, and The Departed, to name a beloved handful of his sixty-plus films. McGilligan captures the life and legacy of this unabashed and complex personality

Originally published in 1975, this book is about the enigmatic star and the only one to have Nicholson's participation. In 1975 Nicholson was just becoming a household name in spite of having already starred in, written or produced 25 films.

Throughout his career, Jack Nicholson has portrayed unique and challenging roles in classic movies such as Easy Rider (1969), Chinatown (1974), The Shining (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Terms of Endearment (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and The Departed (2006). Nicholson's twelve Oscar nominations make him the most nominated male actor in history. Jack Nicholson: Anatomy of an Actor is a new addition to Cahiers du cinema, a fascinating series from the world-renowned cinema magazine. The book focuses on ten key performances, exploring the unparalleled career of Jack Nicholson through narrative and analytical text accompanied by 300 images, including film stills and set photographs, as well as film sequences, script notes, and more. This thoughtful and lively examination of Nicholson's craft will appeal to film professionals and casual movie fans alike.

Examining eight films produced between 1969 and 1980, this book explores how the actor and the filmmakers played upon audience expectations of "Jack Nicholson" to challenge prevailing attitudes about masculinity and power. In each of these films-Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, C...

Praise for Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times "Dennis McDougal is a rare Hollywood reporter: honest, fearless, nobody's fool. This is unvarnished Jack for Jack-lovers and Jack-skeptics but, also, for anyone interested in the state of American culture and celebrity. I always read Mr. McDougal for pointers but worry that he will end up in a tin drum off the coast of New Jersey." — Patrick McGilligan, author of Jack's Life and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light Praise for Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty "A great freeway pileup—part biography, part dysfunctional family chronicle, and part institutional and urban history, with generous dollops of scandal and gossip." — Hendrick Hertzberg, The New Yorker "McDougal has managed to scale the high walls that have long protected the Chandler clan and returned with wicked tales told by angry ex-wives and jealous siblings." —The Washington Post Praise for The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden History of Hollywood "Real glamour needs a dark side. That is part of the fascination of Dennis McDougal's wonderful book." —The Economist "Thoroughly reported and engrossing . . . the most noteworthy trait of MCA was how it hid its power." —The New York Times Book Review "Over the years, I've read hundreds of books on Hollywood and the movie business, and this one is right at the top." — Michael Blowen, The Boston Globe

For ten years Jack Nicholson toiled in low-budget films and guest spots in such television shows as Dr. Kildare and The Andy Griffith Show before his breakout performance in Easy Rider. Despite “retiring” in 2010, Nicholson remains one of the most revered actors of the last half century. Nominated for twelve Academy Awards—the most of any male actor—Nicholson has received three Oscars and countless other honors. The Essential Jack Nicholson looks at the key films in the career of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. After a brief profile of the actor, James L. Neibaur highlights each of Nicholson’s most important works, explaining why his performances are essential viewing. In addition to Easy Rider, the films discussed include Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail, Chinatown, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining, Reds, Terms of Endearment, Prizzi’s Honor, Ironweed, Batman, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, About Schmidt, and The Departed. Neibaur also provides details about each film’s production, critical reaction, commercial reception, major nominations, and awards. A filmography of all of Nicholson’s movie roles (and select television performances) is also included. The Essential Jack Nicholson is a valuable source of information for fans of this iconic star and his films.

The definitive biography of a man with one of the most iconic and fascinating careers—and lives—in Hollywood. For six decades, Jack Nicholson has been part of film history. With three Oscar wins and twelve nominations to his credit and legendary roles in films like Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Terms of Endearment, The Shining, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nicholson created original, memorable characters like no other actor of his generation. And his offscreen life has been no less of an adventure—Nicholson has always been at the center of the Hollywood elite and has courted some of the most famous and beautiful women in the world. Relying on years of extensive research and interviews with insiders who know Nicholson best, acclaimed biographer Marc Eliot sheds light on Nicholson’s life on and off the screen. From Nicholson’s working class childhood in New Jersey, where family secrets threatened to tear his family apart, to raucous nights on the town with Warren Beatty and tumultuous relationships with starlets like Michelle Phillips, Anjelica Huston, and Lara Flynn Boyle, to movie sets working with such legendary directors and costars as Dennis Hopper, Stanley Kubrick, and Meryl Streep, Eliot paints a sweeping picture of the breadth of Nicholson’s decades-long career in film and an intimate portrait of the real man. Both a comprehensive tribute to a film legend and an entertaining look at a truly remarkable life, Nicholson is a compulsively readable biography of an iconic Hollywood star.