How many actors have a list of screen credits as long as the number of years they’ve been alive?

Jack Nicholson is one actor whose age does not stop him from succeeding. Born John Joseph Nicholson on April 22, 1937, the screen legend has made over seventy films and won three Oscars, among numerous other awards and nominations. Raised by his grandmother, he attended Manasquan High School in Manasquan, NJ Class of 1954, before heading to Hollywood.

His earliest credits were in producing and writing, but his first real break into acting was with the 1969 film Easy Rider, for which he was Oscar-nominated. In the years that followed, he took on roles in both large and small films that earned him recognition, but the next hit that took him to a new ballpark was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975. He was named Best Actor by both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, and thus became a popular face in Hollywood.

His part in Steven King’s The Shining was another of his most notable films, but he didn’t receive another Oscar win until Terms of Endearment, directed by James Brooks in 1983. Yet awards were not the only criteria for success. In 1989 he created the role of the Joker in the popular Batman movie to much acclaim.

Two additional hits followed in the 1990’s: A Few Good Men and As Good as it Gets. Nicholson enjoyed an Oscar for the latter.

In 2001 he was awarded at the Kennedy Center Honors, and he has since continued his career legacy, most notably in Payne’s About Schmidt and Scorsese‘s The Departed. Interestingly, his most recent film, The Bucket List released in late 2007, features him as a near-death elderly man looking to get his last kicks in life. Luckily for Hollywood, Nicholson himself seems far from that stage, with more thrills ahead despite his years.