His sharp eye and arched brow give his disarming magnetism a hint of menace, as if he might go for your throat at any moment with a howl of Machiavellian laughter. In a Hollywood career spanning more than 50 years, Nicholson has conquered everyone, becoming the archetypal star who lives according to his own rules.

With more than 60 movie credits to his name, and having worked with many of the best directors, from Roman Polanski to Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, Michelangelo Antonioni and Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson has helped to redefine the notion of actor and remodel the American cinema landscape. Unmoved by critical approval, polemic, or convention, Nicholson remains the most elusive of American actors. For more than five decades, he has hauled his frame through Hollywood like a predator stalking the jungle, always on the alert, never satisfied, and fiercely free.