It's impossible to ignore him. He's got tremendous screen presence and a magnetic personality. He's your irresistible charmer - Jack Nicholson

' You make me want to be a better man,' Jack Nicholson tells Helen Hunt in 'As Good As It Gets'. She tells him it's probably the best compliment of her life.

'Well maybe I overshot a little,' says Nicholson's insufferable character, 'because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.'

It's difficult to imagine any other actor as the obsessive, compulsive and cranky writer Melvin Udall, the character played by Jack Nicholson in 'As Good As it Gets'. And it's easy to see why this role got him his third Oscar!

That's the thing about Jack. He's 66, paunchy and balding and, according to one magazine, has a wrinkled butt, but it's hard to take your eyes off him when he's on screen. The acid wit and slow, gruff drawl add to his wicked charm.

Strangely, this man is the very opposite of the kind women usually have crushes on. He's far from sweet. He's quite the Casanova, considering his 20-year-relationship with actress Anjelica Houston ended because he cheated on her. Not exactly what nice guys do, but...

In movies, Jack's real fame came with 'Easy Rider'. He was 32 and stole the show as the middle-aged, disillusioned, boozy lawyer. The film turned him into a cult hero and got him his first Oscar nomination.

The Academy Award and Jack Nicholson have a never-ending relationship. He's got about 13 nominations and won three of them. Quite a rise for a former messenger boy in MGM's cartoon department. And there's a story behind it as well. Abandoned by his father, Jack grew up believing his grandmother to be his mother and his mother to be an older sister until a journalist revealed the truth.

So who's the real Jack Nicholson? Best known for his playing cynical, neurotic and often aggressive characters, in real-life too, he's said to have quite an attitude. But therein lies the charm of the man. He's a rare star who is actually comfortable in his skin.

He's a man who won't give up doing what he enjoys, like watching his favourite basketball team, LA Lakers, play. Unlike other stars, he prefers to do movies that are intellectually stimulating, even if they aren't blockbuster material.

As they say, some things separate the men from the boys. A shark's grin, wicked eyes, merciless wit and amazing acting skills are what define those men.

Jack's Must-Watch Movies
• Five Easy Pieces
• Witches of Eastwick
• Chinatown
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• A Few Good Men
• Batman
• As Good As It Gets
• Something's Gotta Give