Danny DeVito has opened up about his friend Jack Nicholson and said the Oscar winner is doing ‘great.’

Nicholson, who is now 87 years old, was last spotted in public when he made an appearance on the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary show in February. Many of his fans expressed concern as he appeared to be quite frail during that appearance.

Speaking about his enduring friendship with Nicholson, DeVito, who is 80 years old, mentioned this while promoting the 50th-anniversary re-release of their first film together, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

‘I just saw Jack a couple weeks ago — it was his birthday a month ago, and he’s great,’ the Taxi star told People.  

Reflecting on the time they spent working on the groundbreaking film in 1975, DeVito recalled how he and his co-stars, including Christopher Lloyd and Louise Fletcher, were all amazed by Nicholson. By that time, Nicholson had already gained recognition for his roles in movies like Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, and Chinatown.

‘We’re in the presence of this guy who’s really at his moment, where he was breaking out into the big time,’ DeVito said of his initial encounter. 

Danny DeVito has opened up about his friend Jack Nicholson and said the Oscar winner is doing ‘great. I just saw Jack a couple weeks ago — it was his birthday a month ago, and he’s great,’ the Taxi star told People 

‘There was no need for an icebreaker,’ the Emmy winner recalled.

‘He was immediately just so embracing…He started out exactly the way everybody else did, where he couldn’t get a job. It was like he came to Hollywood and he was going to just write and direct, and then comes along after the Corman stuff,’ he said of Nicholson’s start in low-budget thrillers such as The Terror and The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

‘He was in our milieu, and he was always just as open and genuine, and we all felt it immediately,’ DeVito said. 

‘Of course, he was doing it because he’s that way,’ the write and director explained. 

‘And he was also doing it because that had to be, because we had to be all joined at the hip in that movie, and we had such great performances.’

DeVito noted he and Nicholson eventually bonded over their shared New Jersey backgrounds. They were born in the same hospital and both had sisters who were hair dressers in the same local area. 

The two would go on to work together again on Goin’ South, which was directed by Nicholson, Terms of Endearment, Hoffa, which DeVito directed and the sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks.  

‘When I was a kid, I always heard about this really handsome guy from Neptune who went out to California and became a movie star,’ he recalled. 

Nicholson’s last public appearance was on  the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary show in February;  Pictured in New York City in February

DeVito and Nicholson met when they worked on 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. ‘We’re in the presence of this guy who’s really at his moment, where he was breaking out into the big time,’ DeVito said of the experience

Nicholson won his first Oscar for his portrayal of a rebellious convict sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he inspired rebellion against a dominating nurse;  Pictured in Los Angeles in 1976

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was the first film since 1934’s It Happened One Night to sweep all five of the top Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress for Fletcher, Best Director for Milos Forman, and Best Adapted Screenplay

DeVito was keeping that information to himself, but it was his friend and former roommate Michael Douglas, 80, who was producing the film, who spilled the beans. 

‘Jack came running around the corner: “Ahhhh! You’re from Asbury Park?”‘ he asked.

Nicholson received his first Oscar award for his portrayal of a rebellious convict sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he inspired rebellion against a dominating nurse. 

In fact One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was the first film since 1934’s It Happened One Night to sweep all five of the top Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress  for Fletcher, Best Director for Milos Forman, and Best Adapted Screenplay.