My Favorite Actor: Jack Nicholson Sure he plays the same character a lot (the manic) but he has been in a lot of great roles. Throughout the 60's he starred in forgettable B Movie shlock. In 1969, his funny role in Easy Rider, the counterculture classic starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper won him great acclaim, and by the next year he starred in the classic Five Easy Pieces. Between 1970 and 1980, he appeared in such classics as Chinatown, The Last Detail, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining etc. Although he hasn't had a great film s memorable as those classics he has had some great performances, whether it's in romantic comedies like Something's Gotta Give, acting crazy in Adam Sandler's Anger Managment, playing the Joker in Tim Burton's classic 1989 take on Batman, or having one of his most restrained roles in About Schmidt, he is truly a great actor.