 Robert De Niro (qv) and Jack Nicholson (qv) were offered the  role of Dick Tracy. Nicholson was committed to playing The Joker in  _Batman (1989)_ (qv), and De Niro refused the role for fear of being  typecast as a grim, hardened tough guy similar to his Travis Bickle  character in _Taxi Driver (1976)_ (qv).