Jack Nicholson Accidentally Destroyed This Prop In The Shining
By Matthew Martinez
By the time Jack Nicholson came on the set of "The Shining," he had plenty of experience as an actor. In fact, many of his early roles were in horror films. The first time he appeared on screen, he played a teenager who wrongly believes he's a murderer in 1958's "Cry Baby Killer." Nicholson went on to make a name for himself in classics including 1969's "Easy Rider," 1974's "Chinatown," and 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
But his background in the industry was balanced with work that had nothing to do with entertainment. As a teenager, Nicholson worked as a lifeguard, as detailed by the Washington Post, and at a toy store. Later on, he served in the military and trained as a fire marshal (via the Independent). But it was Nicholson's firefighting skills that came into play when he took on the role of Jack Torrance in "The Shining."
Surely director Stanley Kubrick knew what he was doing when he cast Nicholson to play the part, but did anyone on set realize this was an actor who knew exactly how to wield an axe?
