The unofficial retirement of Jack Nicholson – where did Hollywood’s most charismatic star go?

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, the 1930s LA-set crime thriller that has one of Jack Nicholson’s most famous performances, as sardonic detective Jake Gittes. As Thomas puts it, “He is an incredible screen actor and his speciality is choosing the right thing to do.” open image in gallery Nicholson’s RP McMurphy in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ Those who worked with Nicholson generally speak highly of him. open image in gallery It’s been 14 years since Nicholson’s last movie Matt Damon told a fascinating story about working with Nicholson on Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. It has been years since we last heard him flirting with Jenni Murray on Woman’s Hour.. It’s as if Nicholson is the movie industry’s answer to one of those mafia bosses who goes off grid and hides out in his sandals in a remote Sicilian village - or that he is like the character he played in The Passenger, shedding his old identity and trying to become someone else.