You Can't Handle Jack Nicholson Quiz

Answer: Neptune, NJ

John "Jack" Joseph Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey. Before high school, his family moved to Spring Lake, NJ, where his friends called him "Nick." His birth mother was a showgirl, and after she found his birth father was a bigamist, she left him and did not keep Jack as her son.

Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" came out in 1975. Nicholson played Randle Patrick "R.P." McMurphy. McMurphy is found guilty of battery, gambling, and rape while in the service. He is sentenced to six months of hard labor, but after a couple of months, he pretends to be insane in order to go to a mental institution. He thinks there he will live a luxurious life.

That is until he meets Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), a tyrant. She punishes patients who misbehave by withholding their medications or things such as toilet paper from them. McMurphy becomes her enemy when he sets out to free the other patients from her control.

The movie also won Oscars for Best Actress (Louise Fletcher), Best Direction (Milos Forman), Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman).

Answer: She was his mother.

June was seventeen when Jack was born and unmarried. Her parents decided to protect her; they would act like her mother, his grandmother, was Jack's birth mother, and his grandparents would raise Jack as their son and let him think June was his sister.

It was a "Time" magazine researcher who discovered the truth in 1974. At this time, both Jack's mother and grandmother were deceased. Nicholson stated that finding out was "a pretty dramatic event, but it wasn't what I'd call traumatizing...I was pretty well psychologically formed."

Answer: The Joker

Jack Nicholson played The Joker who was the alter ego of Jack Napier in "Batman." Batman (played by Michael Keaton) years ago, had accidentally caused Jack Napier to fall in some acid. This created The Joker. Batman replies "You killed my parents." This triggers the following exchange:

The Joker: "What? What? Are you talking about?"
Batman: "I made you, you made me first."
The Joker: "Hey, bat-brain, I mean, I was a kid when I killed your parents. I mean, I say ' I made you' you gotta say 'You made me.' I mean, how childish can you get?"

The Joker wears purple and has a huge smile painted on his face much like a clown. Jack Nicholson was nominated for (though did not win) a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He was also nominated (and didn't win) for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award as well as a Saturn Award.

The American Film Insitute (AFI) declared that The Joker is the 45th greatest movie villain of the first 100 years of films.

The director of the movie described "Batman" as "a duel of the freaks."

Answer: The Cry Baby Killer

"The Cry Baby Killer" was released in 1958. Jack Nicholson played Jimmy Wallace, a seventeen-year-old who thinks he committed manslaughter when he gets in a fight with a group of teens from the hood. Scared, he takes a couple and their baby hostage at a food shelter for a local restaurant.

Answer: LA Lakers

Between 1970 and 2021, Nicholson was a regular attender to the Laker home games. An unknown person once said that Nicholson had better attendance than some of the players themselves. It was not uncommon to see Nicholson arguing with the refs or even walking onto the court. At least once, he was almost ejected from the game because he yelled at a referee.

Answer: The Andy Griffith Show

In the season seven episode, "Opie Finds a Baby (1967)," he plays Mr. Garland. Opie (Ronny Howard - later just Ron as an adult) and Arnold (Sheldon Collins) find a baby outside of the courthouse. Opie wants to tell his father but Arnold is afraid Sheriff Taylor will send the baby to an orphanage and he read they mistreat babies at orphanages. Opie agrees not to say anything and they will try to find a home for the baby, so they take him to their clubhouse.

While Arnold babysits, Opie goes around town asking people if they are interested in babies. Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) receives several calls from the people and tells Andy he needs to have a talk with Opie. Andy (Andy Griffith) does not want to do it.

At the courthouse, Dr. Baily (James McCallion) stops by. Andy asks him how he talked to Arnold about it. He says he's waiting for Andy to tell Opie so that Opie can tell Arnold. Andy finally starts to tell Opie when Mr. and Mrs. Garland (Jack Nicholson and Janie Kelly) come in to get their baby. Mrs. Garland apologizes for leaving him. Opie goes to get the baby, and Andy informs the Garlands he has to report that they abandoned the baby and that if it happens again, welfare will get involved. They leave with the baby, he has Arnold wait outside and tells Opie about the facts of life.

In the season eight episode "Aunt Bee, The Juror (1968)," he plays Marvin Jenkins.

Marvin Jenkins is on trial for breaking and entering a store in Mayberry, and for stealing a TV as well in the process. He claims he did not steal it, that he was bringing it in for repairs, and that the back door to the store was open.

The jury hears the trial and goes back to vote. Aunt Bee, the only woman on the jury, is the only one who believes he is not guilty. Jenkins gets off because it's a hung jury. People are upset with Aunt Bee for letting a criminal get away, but Andy figures out that a lighter he learns was dropped in the store which belonged to Mr. Granger (Richard Chambers) put him at the scene of the crime. A search warrant is given, and sure enough, the stolen items are found at Mr. Granger's.

Answer: Took a golf club to Blank's car

Blank, a man who was living in Hollywood at the time, was driving a Mercedes-Benz at the time. Nicholson took the golf club and smashed in Blank's windshield and bashed the roof of the car as well. Blank filed charges, but they were dropped because they settled out of court.

Answer: writer

Jack Nicholson won his third Oscar for "As Good as It Gets" (second for Best Actor). The other two were for Best Actor - "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), and Best Supporting Actor - "Terms of Endearment" (1983).

Nicholson plays Melvin Udall, a romance novel writer with OCD. He meets Carol (Helen Hunt), a waitress at the diner he always goes to, and only wants her to serve him. She instantly dislikes him, however, because he is extremely rude and obnoxious. Carol's son is sick, so she stops working to take care of him; Melvin pays to have her son's medical needs taken care of so Carol and return to work and wait on him.

Meanwhile, Melvin's neighbor in his apartment, Simon (Greg Kinnear), is a gay artist who Melvin often makes prejudiced comments, and goes so far as throwing Simon's dog Verdell (played by Jill the dog) down the laundry shoot) because he doesn't like the dog and has no respect for Simon. When Simon is badly beaten up by a theft gone badly and cannot take care of Verdell one of Simon's friends (played by Cuba Gooding Jr) tells Melvin that Melvin will be taking care of Verdell and if anything should happen to the dog, Melvin will look worse than Simon does. At first, Melvin resents having the dog, but out of fear takes good care of him anyway. Then he is upset the dog doesn't like him, so he starts putting treats in his pockets so she will want to be near him. Then he grows to like the dog. Simon needs to go see his parents, who he has not seen since he came out as gay as they have not approved of his lifestyle, but he is in desperate need of help. He cannot drive so his friend volunteers Melvin to drive him. Melvin then volunteers Carol to go with them because he is afraid to be alone with Simon on a road trip and in a hotel. He makes sure her son, Spencer's medical needs are taken care of and she reluctantly agrees to go.

Melvin has another motive, he is attracted to Carol as well, but things do not go as planned for him when she and Simon hit it off. But then he discovers she is attracted to him as well, until he blows it by as she puts it, "being you."

Answer: Paintings

Jack Nicholson collects 20th-century and contemporary paintings. He has paintings by artists such as Henry Matisse, Andy Warhol, and Jack Vettriano. At one point CNBC listed Jack Nicholson as one of the top five celebrity art collectors.