Jack Nicholson, 87, makes rare public appearance on 50th anniversary special of SNL

The Shining star Jack Nicholson made a rare appearance during Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary show and viewers have called it a 'legendary moment'.

Since his appearance in How Do You Know in 2010, Nicholson hasn't starred in any more movies and hasn't been spotted out in public much either.

However, last night (February 16), The Shining actor, 87, was seen in New York City at Saturday Night Live's SNL50: The Anniversary Special event.

While the actor has never hosted the show himself, Nicholson served as a presenter during the series' 40th anniversary in 2015.

And during last night's three-hour special, Nicholson introduced Adam Sandler from his spot in the audience, telling the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Sandler."

Stood on stage with a guitar in his hands, Sandler responded: "Let's hear it for Jack, baby! Jack made it out tonight! Love you, brother."

And it's not taken long for fans of Nicholson to flock to social media to weigh in.

Jack Nicholson made a rare public appearance on SNL50 (NBC)

One Twitter user said: "Jack showing up is the real headline here."

Another added: "Such a legendary moment love the energy between them both."

A third commented: "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 Jack would be good at some sketch comedy, albeit on live late night network television."

A fourth resolved: "Jack is the man… awesome."

Sandler then went on to perform a tribute song reflecting on 50 years of Saturday Night Live including some of the best behind-the-scenes moments and talent involved.

The Grown Ups star said: "Everyone in this room has something in common. All of our lives were changed by the show."

Nicholson introduced Adam Sandler (NBC)

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'."

The actor also prodded at Kanye West - who's appeared on the show multiple times - adding: "50 years of finding out your favorite musicain is antisemitic."

Sandler also paid respect to the original cast members of SNL.

"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 viewers said, for many, Nicholson's appearance stole the show.