Claim: Jack Nicholson has played the "eternal outsider, the sardonic drifter."

John Joseph `` Jack '' Nicholson -LRB- born April 22 , 1937 -RRB- is an American actor and filmmaker , who has performed for over 60 years . Nicholson is known for playing a wide range of starring or supporting roles , including satirical comedy , romance and dark portrayals of antiheroes and psychopathic characters . In many of his films , he has played the `` eternal outsider , the sardonic drifter , '' someone who rebels against the social structure .   Nicholson 's 12 Academy Award nominations make him the most nominated male actor in the Academy 's history . Nicholson has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice , one for the drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest -LRB- 1975 -RRB- and the other for the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets -LRB- 1997 -RRB- . He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment -LRB- 1983 -RRB- . Nicholson is one of three male actors to win three Academy Awards .   Nicholson is one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s ; the other is Michael Caine . He has won six Golden Globe Awards , and received the 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 .   Other films in which he has starred include the road movie Easy Rider -LRB- 1969 -RRB- , the drama Five Easy Pieces -LRB- 1970 -RRB- , the comedy-drama film The Last Detail -LRB- 1973 -RRB- , the neo-noir mystery film Chinatown -LRB- 1974 -RRB- , the drama The Passenger -LRB- 1975 -RRB- , and the epic film Reds -LRB- 1981 -RRB- .   He played Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick 's horror film The Shining -LRB- 1980 -RRB- , the Joker in Tim Burton 's superhero film Batman -LRB- 1989 -RRB- , and Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese 's neo-noir crime drama The Departed -LRB- 2006 -RRB- . Other films include the legal drama A Few Good Men -LRB- 1992 -RRB- , the Sean Penn-directed mystery film The Pledge -LRB- 2001 -RRB- , and the comedy-drama About Schmidt -LRB- 2002 -RRB- .