47. Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy 
      One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

The mischief in Nicholson’s raised eyebrow is pure poetry. Nicholson proved to be the perfect fit in the skullcap of McMurphy, the low-level hood who fakes mental illness to transfer out of jail into an asylum, only to find a sense of purpose leading his fellow patients against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Looking back now, one might think Nicholson heading up a bunch of crazies was a walk in the park for the actor, but he truly earned his first Oscar by infusing McMurphy with a childlike wonder that underlines his misfit tendencies.

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