Jack Nicholson, the renowned actor from The Shining, made a rare public appearance during the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, which many viewers described as a ‘legendary moment’.
Since his role in the film How Do You Know back in 2010, Nicholson has not appeared in any new movies and has largely stayed out of the public eye.
However, on February 16, the 87-year-old actor was spotted in New York City at the SNL50: The Anniversary Special event for Saturday Night Live.
Despite never hosting SNL, Nicholson had previously appeared as a presenter during the show’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2015.
During the recent three-hour special, Nicholson introduced Adam Sandler from the audience, saying: “Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler.”
Sandler, holding a guitar, replied: “Let’s hear it for Jack, baby! Jack made it out tonight! Love you, brother.”
Nicholson’s fans quickly took to social media to share their excitement.
One Twitter user remarked: “Jack showing up is the real headline here.”
Another commented: “Such a legendary moment love the energy between them both.”
A third added: “I can’t believe Jack has never hosted or even had a cameo on SNL, with the exception being that he presented during the SNL40 reunion show in 2015. You’d think Jack would be good at some sketch comedy, albeit on live late night network television.”
A fourth concluded: “Jack is the man… awesome.”
Following Nicholson’s introduction, Sandler performed a tribute song celebrating 50 years of Saturday Night Live, highlighting some of the memorable behind-the-scenes moments and talented individuals involved.
In his tribute, Sandler stated: “Everyone in this room has something in common. All of our lives were changed by the show.”
Sandler sang: “50 years of writers seeing Spielberg at Lorne’s monitors, not laughing at one of their sketches that he obviously hated. 50 years of those same writers getting wasted at the after party and loudly telling everybody that ‘Jaws was overrated’.”
He also made a reference to Kanye West, who had multiple appearances on the show, adding: “50 years of finding out your favorite musician is antisemitic.”
Sandler honored the original SNL cast members as well.
“We got four years of Eddie Murphy, eight years of Will Forte, five years of Jan Hooks and Gilda [Radner], six of Victoria [Jackson], 11 of [Michael] Che, three years of Melanie Hutsell, Michael McKean crushed it in two,” he sang. “One of Billy Crystal, six of Dennis Miller, eight of [Phil] Hartman, the glue.”
But as many viewers noted, Nicholson’s appearance was a highlight of the show.