Michael Douglas has said that Jack Nicholson will not return to acting, describing the 89-year-old star as having "disappeared" from public life. Speaking on Monday night at the Swansea Building Society Arena in South Wales, Douglas, 82, said: "He's not working any more. He's well. He has disappeared. I know that."
Nicholson, a three-time Oscar nominee, is widely regarded as one of the finest screen actors of the twentieth century, known for performances in films including Chinatown, The Shining and Something's Gotta Give. Douglas, who collaborated with Nicholson on 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, made the comments while promoting his memoir One Helluva Ride in the hometown of his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Douglas on Nicholson's retirement
"I would have liked to have acted with Jack," Douglas said. "I still see him, but he is fine. He is up there by his house and walking around in his slippers." He added, according to the Daily Mail: "It happens. He deserves it. I understand. He is a few years older than me, but I understand."
Douglas produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which Nicholson won his first Academy Award after four previous nominations. The film also took best picture, best director for Miloš Forman, best actress for Louise Fletcher and best adapted screenplay from its nine nominations.
Career and recent appearances
Nicholson made his onscreen debut in 1958's The Cry Baby Killer before breaking through in the 1969 countercultural classic Easy Rider. His other films include Five Easy Pieces, The Witches of Eastwick, A Few Good Men, Batman and The Departed.
While Nicholson has never officially retired, he told Vanity Fair in 2013 that he was less driven to "be out there anymore". In 2017 he was due to star in the English-language remake of the Oscar-nominated German comedy Toni Erdmann with Kristen Wiig, but he dropped out and the project never came to fruition.
The actor has rarely been seen in recent years, though he has occasionally been glimpsed watching his beloved team, the Los Angeles Lakers, for whom he has been a season ticket holder since 1970. This included an appearance in 2023 with his son Ray, 34, one of his six children, after going over two years without being pictured in public. He also made an unexpected appearance in the audience for the special 50th anniversary episode of Saturday Night Live last year.
Speculation over a comeback
That appearance prompted speculation about a potential return, with filmmaker James L. Brooks, who wrote Nicholson's last movie, the 2010 rom-com How Do You Know, telling People magazine last December: "Oh, I don't think he stopped. I mean, he's gotten scripts, he's reading them, and I'm sure we'll be seeing them."
Douglas's comments now appear to contradict that suggestion. Nicholson also acted in Brooks' dramedies Terms of Endearment and As Good as It Gets, as well as taking a small role in Broadcast News. Metro has contacted a representative for Jack Nicholson for comment.
