John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker whose career has spanned more than 50 years. He is known for having played a wide range of starring and supporting roles, including comic characters, romantic leads, anti-heroes and villains. In many of his films, he played the "eternal outsider, the sardonic drifter", someone who rebels against the social structure. For several decades, Nicholson has been a spectator at basketball games featuring the Los Angeles Lakers.