Jack Nicholson makes rare public appearance for ‘SNL50’ special

Jack Nicholson made a rare public appearance for Saturday Night Live’s 50th Anniversary celebration episode, making up part of the live crowd and introducing one of the acts.

Appearing in the audience for the episode, the acting legend was applauded as he introduced a former SNL cast member, saying: “Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler!” An excited crowd was led by Sandler saying “Let’s hear it for Jack baby! Jack made it out tonight! Love you brother”. The pair appeared together in the 2003 comedy hit Anger Management.

One of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars, Jack Nicholson is best known for his work in cinema classics like The Shining, Chinatown, A Few Good Men, and as The Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 version of Batman. He is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards history, with a total of 12 nominations.

Jack Nicholson makes a surprise appearance at #SNL50 to introduce Adam Sandler.
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The star has not acted on the big screen since 2010’s How Do You Know, with reports emerging in the years since that the Oscar winner had retired. Nicholson has never officially confirmed this, although he did state in a 2013 Vanity Fair interview that he was less driven to “be out there anymore”.

In 2023, podcaster Marc Maron said during an episode of his show: “A friend of mine wanted to put him in a movie, and he had a conversation with him. But Jack says, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ He goes, ‘You know what I did today? I sat under a tree and I read a book.’” His guest on the show, producer Lou Adler, a friend of Nicholson’s confirmed: “That sounds like Jack”.

Conversely, last July actress and Nicholson’s former partner Lara Flynn Boyle appeared to debunk the rumours, saying in an interview: “The world of Jack is always here. There’s no retiring for the world of Jack. Never”. In January, the first public pictures of him in almost two years emerged via a social media post from his daughter Lorraine.

Nicholson was not the only famous face making their first appearance in some time. Aubrey Plaza introduced a musical act, appearing on camera for the first time since the death of her husband Jeff Baena in January.

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