10 Greatest Jack Nicholson Performances Of All Time

Without question Jack Nicholson's most iconic and best remembered role, his performance in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was nothing short of a masterclass. He was terrifying, frantic, violent, paranoid, cruel, cold and uncharacteristically unlikable from start to finish - and he makes it all works wonders.

Stephen King may not have liked Kubrick's adaptation of his novel that much, but the film's fame and place in pop culture speaks for itself. From his iconic "Here's Johnny!" ad-lib to the darkly funny "Light of my life" stair sequence, Nicholson completely disappeared into the role of Jack Torrance, a violent, driven-mad writer whose growing insanity causes him to try and kill his own family.

It could be argued that no role has ever seen the actor so energetic. He explodes into every scene, delivers every threat with perfect clarity. He's horrible, sinister and fully prepared to be as petrifying as possible. It's safe to say that he delivered, and that it's massively thanks to his unwavering commitment to the role that The Shining is regarded as one of the key landmarks in modern horror.