After seeing “Jack Nicholson retires from acting” all over the news this morning, I knew I would likely have to write a lengthy post about Nicholson for Daily Actor. How could I not? Few film actors have ever been as great as Nicholson, who is one of only three male actors to win three Oscars. Probably my earliest exposure to how great his ability was as an actor was as The Joker in Batman and as I got older I learned that Batman was just the tip of the iceberg of his greatness on screen.
So how was I going to write a career eulogy for the man who gave us George Hanson, Robert Eroica Dupea, J.J. Gittes, R.P. McMurphy, Jack Torrance, Col. Nathan R. Jessup, Melvin Udall, Frank Costello, among countless other iconic film characters? This was probably going to take up most of my day!
Turns out I don’t have to write that post after all. To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Nicholson’s retirement have been greatly exaggerated. E! Online and other outlets are reporting that despite his latest film role being 2010’s How Do You Know, the 76 year-old Nicholson is not retiring from acting due to “memory loss” or dementia or any other reason. He’s just become more picky about his roles as he’s gotten older and more prone to spending his time at Lakers games.
So while it isn’t clear what movie we’ll see Nicholson in next, the fact that we WILL see him in another movie someday is not off the table. And after the “Bryan Cranston is already cast as Lex Luthor rumors in Man of Steel 2,” debacle last week we already have yet another example of how quickly the Internet can spread misinformation. Just leave “great actor retires” out of it next time, okay Internet?
