Film: About Schmidt
Wins for role: Golden Globe (best actor, drama); Broadcast Film Critics Association (tied with Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York); Los Angeles Film Critics Association (also tied with Daniel Day-Lewis)
Previous Oscar wins/nominations:
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Easy Rider (1969)
Nominated for Best Actor, Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Nominated for Best Actor, The Last Detail (1973)
Nominated for Best Actor, Chinatown (1974)
Won for Best Actor, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Reds (1981)
Won for Best Supporting Actor, Terms of Endearment (1983)
Nominated for Best Actor, Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Ironweed (1987)
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, A Few Good Men (1992)
Won for Best Actor, As Good As It Gets (1997)
Character bio: Nicholson as 66-year-old Warren Schmidt retires from his long-standing job as an insurance salesman planning to travel the U.S. with his wife, until she dies unexpectedly. He ends up traveling across country anyway, to stop his daughter’s wedding to a man he disapproves of. Along the way he spends time writing his thoughts down in letters to the third-world African foster child he sponsors and although he sets out with a purpose in life–to stop Jeannie’s marriage–as with any good, soul-searching journey, he discovers more things about himself than anything else.
