Parmi les films remarquables dans lesquels il a joué, on trouve, par ordre chronologique, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, The Shining, Reds, Terms of Endearment, Batman, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, About Schmidt, Something' s Got / Ota Give, and The Departed.
Il a remporté trois Oscars, pour As Good as it Gets, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest et Terms of Endearment.