Jack Nicholson has officially retired from acting after 60 years in the business. Sure, one reaction might be “yeah didn’t he kind of already retire?” Well, now it’s official, and we won’t be seeing anything else from one of Hollywood’s greatest, most unconventional leading men. Nicholson’s career has had some fascinating ups and downs, but no matter how his films may have failed, he always had another hit just around the corner. One of his underrated talents as an actor was his ability to reinvent himself for his audience.
Here are the 10 greatest Jack Nicholson roles, from this humble writer (with a shoutout to Wolf, a ridiculous movie that will always hold a special place in my heart for it’s campy brilliance):
10. George Hanson, Easy Rider
Nicholson’s breakout role came in Dennis Hopper’s freewheeling look at two bikers driving across the country in the dying days of the hippie movement. While this was more a story about Hopper and Peter Fonda’s rebel, Wyatt, it was Nicholson, as buttoned up attorney George Hanson, that broke apart the otherwise listless story. Of all this film’s importance in cinematic history, there’s no more iconic a shot from it than the sight of Nicholson, blasted on dope, riding on the back of a motorcycle in a football helmet.
