Frozen Jack: Actor or Prop?

Question

At the end of the film The Shining, when Jack Torrance has frozen to death, was this shot accomplished by putting make-up on Jack Nicholson or by using a prop body with a face cast in his likeness?I realize it's most likely the former, but knowing Kubrick's attention to detail, he might have used a prop to remove any hint of movement from a live body. Plus, it would have meant less time shooting with Nicholson, which might have been advantageous in scheduling.

Answer 1

No, that's actually Jack Nicholson. They propped him up with some pillows and a stick. Your theory of it working around scheduling isn't a bad theory, as many movies have done reshoots without their principal cast. However, an extra day on set and a bit of makeup and set decoration are almost always going to be drastically cheaper than creating a wax double. It takes hours for actors to sit in the mold, and it isn't a pleasant experience either; many actors may even refuse to do it. Then the wax has to be painted and there usually have to be a few copies in case of accidents. Nicholson was likely contracted on a fixed rate as well, meaning that, even if the movie went overschedule, they probably wouldn't have had to pay him any extra.