The Stars With No Successors

THOSE of us who admire Jack Nicholson and his work had been wondering for months why things have been so quiet on the Jack front.

He had not made a film in three years, so what was the story? He is 76. Had he discreetly retired? Now comes word, and it is not good: reports from the US claim he has indeed quit acting because of issues relating to memory loss.

It appears he can no longer remember his lines. If it is true, it would bring down the curtain on one of the greatest careers in movies.

Nicholson has been nominated for an Oscar 12 times, more than any other male actor. Along with only Michael Caine, he has been Oscar-nominated for films made in five different decades, starting in the 1960s and all the way up to the 2000s.

On the acting front, Nicholson has been virtually invisible for some time. His last major film was The Bucket List (2007), in which he and Morgan Freeman played terminal cancer patients with a zest for life. Then came a minor part in the forgettable rom-com How Do You Know? (2010).

If Nicholson has quit, it is also another milestone in the gradual fading of an extraordinary generation of male American dramatic actors, all born between 1930 and 1943, who dominated cinema screens worldwide for decades.

Oddly, it is the oldest of these, Clint Eastwood, who is busiest, still acting occasionally and, at 83, directing a movie most years.

Of Nicholson's exact contemporaries, Warren Beatty lost the taste, or perhaps the energy, for making movies more than a decade ago; Robert Redford ploughs on, appearing in the occasional film, but also (more importantly for him, one suspects) fronting the Sundance Film Festival; Dustin Hoffman still acts, but not in what anyone would call great roles.

The youngest of the group, Al Pacino, stars in TV movies, parodies himself in TV commercials and now gives the impression of coasting on his past splendour.

Robert De Niro has segued into comedy, supporting roles and producing, but remains a force to be reckoned with.

In their peak years, these seven actors bestrode Hollywood cinema. Between them, they seemed to carve up almost every great lead role that came along. They played complex, memorable, intense, grown-up and often flawed characters.

They have all been senior citizens for a while, and what is blindingly obvious is that a generation of actors following behind them has singularly failed to step into their shoes. Who would the contenders even be?

Sean Penn, 53, has shown the desire to inherit those great acting roles, but he is a divisive personality and the public does not love him in the same way it loved Nicholson's peer group.

George Clooney, 52, certainly has what it takes and seems likely to be a movie star for as long as he wishes.

At a stretch, you could say the same of Brad Pitt, 50 this year, although one wonders if acting is even his main ambition these days. But it is too late for Johnny Depp, who has just turned 50. He has spent his time playing too many man-children on screen to claim the ground occupied by Nicholson and his ilk.

And once you survey even younger generations of actors, you realise how much more difficult it will be for them to carve out comparable careers. Recall how that golden generation emerged: Eastwood came from a TV Western and easily made the transition into movie cowboy or tough guy. Beatty and Redford, both blessed with exceptional good looks, were also more than capable actors.

But when it comes to Nicholson, Hoffman, Pacino and De Niro, one wonders if they would even make it past the gate of a Hollywood studio today. They were not conventionally handsome young men, and the three last-named broke into the industry when it was striving for realism and was amenable to actors who looked like a guy you might see on the street - the antithesis of the all-American golden boy. In this respect, their ethnicity helped them.

It was the first and maybe last time this was true in Hollywood, and it accounts for a golden era of films stretching from the late 1960s to the end of the 1970s. Something about that era - Watergate and the aftermath of Vietnam? - seemed to persuade studio executives that life was short and maybe absurd, and it was worth going the extra mile to make great movies rather than merely profitable ones.

Things are different today. Fewer films are being made and many of those rely on special effects rather than first-rate dramatic acting. Profits and merchandising are key. Hollywood has turned its sights on younger audiences and thus seeks out pretty young actors to appeal to them.

In contrast, Nicholson had directed a film, written screenplays and had been acting on screen for 13 years before he became famous in Easy Rider (1969).

Once Nicholson made it big, his career was rock-solid. He got an Oscar nomination for Easy Rider and another for his next film, Five Easy Pieces, the following year. Then the great roles came thick and fast: Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining. It seemed there was nothing he could not handle. He was loads of fun as the Joker in Batman; he won an Oscar for As Good As It Gets; and seven years ago he was sensational as a mob boss in The Departed. His is a wondrous career.

Even if he holds good to his promise to stay away from acting, this intensely sociable man will probably show up at future Oscar ceremonies, in his trademark shades, lounging in a front-row seat, wearing a wide, roguish grin.