Jack Lemmon

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Jack Lemmon

Lemmon at the 40th Emmy Awards, August 1988
Photo by Alan Light
Born John Uhler Lemmon III
February 8, 1925(1925-02-08)
Newton, Massachusetts
Died June 27, 2001 (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Occupation Actor, comedian, director
Years active 1949-2000
Spouse(s) Cynthia Stone (1950-1956)
Felicia Farr (1962-2001)

John Uhler “Jack” Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor known principally for his comedic roles. He starred in such legendary classics as Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, Irma La Douce, The Great Race, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, Glengarry Glen Ross, The China Syndrome, Short Cuts and JFK.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Lemmon was born in an elevator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, the son of Mildred Burgess LaRue (née Noel),[1] and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., who was the president of a doughnut company.[2] Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School in Newton. He later revealed that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight. Lemmon attended Phillips Academy (Class of 43) and Harvard University (Class of 47), where he was an active member of several Drama Clubs - becoming president of the Hasty Pudding Club. At twenty-two years of age, Lemmon graduated from Harvard University and joined the Navy, received V-12 training and served as an ensign. On being discharged, he took up acting professionally, working on radio, television and Broadway. He studied acting under Uta Hagen. He also became enthused with the piano and learned to play it on his own. He could also play the harmonica and the bass fiddle.

[edit] Career

Lemmon's film debut was a bit part as a plasterer/painter in the 1949 film The Lady Takes a Sailor, but he was not noticed until his official debut opposite Judy Holliday in the 1954 comedy, It Should Happen to You. Lemmon worked with many legendary leading ladies of the cinema screen. He worked with Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Betty Grable, Janet Leigh, Shirley MacLaine, Doris Day, Kim Novak, Judy Holliday, Rita Hayworth, June Allyson, Virna Lisi, Ann Margret, Sophia Loren, Grace Lee Whitney, Kathryn Grant and many, many more. He was also close friends with Tony Curtis, Ernie Kovacs, and Walter Matthau. He made two films with Curtis and a total of eleven films with Matthau.

He became a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, starring in his films Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Irma La Douce, The Fortune Cookie, Avanti!, The Front Page and Buddy Buddy. Wilder felt Lemmon had a natural tendency toward overacting that had to be tempered; the Wilder biography "Nobody's Perfect" quotes the director as saying: "Lemmon, I would describe him as a ham, a fine ham, and with ham you have to trim a little fat". The same Billy Wilder biography quotes Jack Lemmon as saying: "I am particularly susceptible to the parts I play... If my character was having a nervous breakdown I started to have one".

Lemmon recorded his own album in 1958 while filming Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe. Twelve jazz tracks were created for Lemmon and another twelve tracks were added which were the soundtracks to his 1959 comedy film, Some Like It Hot. Lemmon also played the piano on his Frank Sinatra-type album. He recorded his own versions of Monroe's trademark songs, I Wanna Be Loved By You and I'm Through With Love. These two tracks can be heard on the album, which was eventually released in 1959 and was titled "A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot".

Lemmon was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1956 for Mister Roberts (1955), and the Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973), being the first actor to achieve this double. He was also nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the controversial film Missing in 1982 and for his role in "Some Like it Hot" in 1959. In 1988, the American Film Institute gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Days of Wine and Roses (1962) was one of his favorite roles. He portrayed Joe Clay, a young, fun-loving alcoholic businessman. In that film, Lemmon delivered the line, "My name is Joe Clay ... I'm an alcoholic." Three and a half decades later, he admitted on the television program, Inside the Actors Studio, that he was not acting when he delivered that line, that he really was a recovering alcoholic at the end of his life.

Throughout his career, Lemmon often appeared in films alongside actor Walter Matthau. They would go on to be one of the most beloved duos in cinema history. Among their pairings was as Felix Unger (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau) in the 1968 film, The Odd Couple. They also starred together in The Fortune Cookie (for which Matthau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), The Front Page, and Buddy Buddy. In 1971, Lemmon directed Matthau in the comedy Kotch. It was the only movie that Lemmon ever directed, and Matthau was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. Additionally, Lemmon and Matthau had small parts in Oliver Stone's 1991 film, JFK (the only film in which they both appear, but share no screentime). In 1993, the duo teamed up again to star in Grumpy Old Men. The film was a surprise hit, earning the two actors a new generation of young fans. During the rest of the decade, they would go on to star together in Out to Sea, Grumpier Old Men and the widely-panned The Odd Couple II. The only death scene that Lemmon performed was in The China Syndrome in 1979. For this part, he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1982, he won another Cannes award for his performance in Missing (which also received the Palme d'Or). He is currently the only actor other than Marcello Mastroianni to have won it twice.

At the 1998 Golden Globe Awards, he was nominated for "Best Actor in a Made for TV Movie" for his role in Twelve Angry Men. He lost the award to Ving Rhames. After accepting the award, Rhames asked Lemmon to come onstage and in a move that stunned the audience, gave his award to him. (The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes, decided to have a second award made and sent to Rhames.)

[edit] Personal life

Lemmon was one of the best-liked actors in Hollywood. He is remembered as making time for people, as the actor Kevin Spacey recalled in a tribute. When already regarded as a legend, he met the teenage Spacey backstage after a theater performance and spoke to him about pursuing an acting career.[3] Spacey would later work with Lemmon in the critically acclaimed film Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and on stage in a revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Lemmon's performance even inspired Gil Gunderson, a character on The Simpsons that is modeled on Lemmon's character in the film.

When Lemmon won Best Actor for Save the Tiger, many people had expected Al Pacino to win for his performance in Serpico. Many years later, however, Pacino said that he was glad that Lemmon had won, because he (Pacino) was strung out on drugs that night and wouldn't have been able to have accepted the award. Lemmon and Pacino co-starred in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Lemmon was married twice. His son, Chris Lemmon, (b. 1954), was his first child by his first wife, actress Cynthia Stone (b. February 26, 1926, Peoria, Illinois). He is also an actor. His second wife was the western actress Felicia Farr, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney, born in 1966.

Jack Lemmon died of colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder[4] on June 27, 2001. He had been fighting the disease, very privately, for two years before his death.

Lemmon's son, Chris Lemmon, made several TV shows and movies. He also wrote a book about his father after his death, named "A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father". He has three kids named Sydney Noel, Chris Jr. and Jonathon.

He is interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, where he is buried next to Walter Matthau. In typical Jack Lemmon wit, his gravestone simply reads 'Jack Lemmon — in'. After Matthau's death in 2000, Lemmon appeared with friends and relatives of the actor on a Larry King Live show in tribute. A year later, many of the same people appeared on the show again to pay tribute to Lemmon.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Academy Award

Nominations

[edit] Cannes Film Festival

[edit] Golden Globe Awards

Currently, Jack Lemmon holds the record for most Golden Globe nominations with twenty-two.

Nominations

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

[edit] Television

  • That Wonderful Guy (1949-1950)
  • Toni Twin Time (1950) (canceled after 6 months)
  • The Ad-Libbers (1951) (canceled after 5 episodes)
  • The Frances Langford-Don Ameche Show (1951-1952)
  • Heaven for Betsy (1952) (canceled after a few weeks)
  • The Road of Life (1954) (canceled after a few weeks)
  • Alcoa theatre (1959), one of five rotating stars for a full season
  • The Dinah Shore Show (1962), a guest appearance
  • The Entertainer (1976)

[edit] Discography

  • A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot (1959)
  • Piano Selections from Irma La Douce (1963)
  • Piano and Vocals (1990)
  • Peter and the Wolf (1991)
  • Songs and music from Some Like It Hot (2001)

[edit] Personal Quotes

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  • Death ends a life, not a relationship.
  • I won't quit until I get run over by a truck, a producer or a critic.
  • Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure.
  • If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.
  • It's hard enough to write a good drama, it's much harder to write a good comedy, and it's hardest of all to write a drama with comedy. Which is what life is.
  • Nobody deserves this much money - certainly not an actor.
  • Stay humble. Always answer your phone - no matter who else is in the car.
  • Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw your stinkin' palm tree overboard! Now what's all this crud about no movie tonight?
  • [on Marilyn Monroe] Difficult? Yes. But she was a wonderful comedienne and she had a charisma like no one before or since.
  • [on Judy Holliday] She was intelligent and not at all like the dumb blonds she so often depicted. She didn't give a damn where the camera was placed, how she was made to look, or about being a star. She just played the scene -- acted with, not at. She was also one of the nicest people I ever met.
  • [on Billy Wilder] I've had directors who were marvelous at breaking scenes down and handling people. But when you would string all the pearls together, they wouldn't make a beautiful necklace. But Billy is the kind of picture-maker who can make a beautiful string of pearls. He makes the kind of movies that are classics and last forever.
  • [on Walter Matthau] Walter is a helluva actor. The best I've ever worked with.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Lemmon, Chris (2006). A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. ISBN 9781565124806. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1
  2. ^ Jack Lemmon Biography (1925-2001)
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Danny Kaye
for Me and the Colonel		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1960
for Some Like It Hot
1961
for The Apartment		 Succeeded by
Glenn Ford
for Pocketful of Miracles
Preceded by
Chaim Topol
for Fiddler on the Roof		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1973
for Avanti!		 Succeeded by
George Segal
for A Touch of Class
Preceded by
John Voight
for Coming Home		 Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival
1979
for The China Syndrome		 Succeeded by
Michel Piccoli
for Leap Into The Void
Preceded by
Ugo Tognazzi
for La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo		 Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival
1982
for Missing		 Succeeded by
Gian Maria Volontè
for La Morte di Mario Ricci
Preceded by
Barbara Stanwyck		 AFI Life Achievement Award
1988		 Succeeded by
Gregory Peck
Preceded by
Audrey Hepburn		 Cecil B. DeMille Award
1991		 Succeeded by
Robert Mitchum
Preceded by
Stanley Tucci
for Winchell		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Mini-series
2000
for Inherit The Wind		 Succeeded by
Brian Dennehy
for Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Actor

Maximilian Schell (1961) · Gregory Peck (1962) · Sidney Poitier (1963) · Rex Harrison (1964) · Lee Marvin (1965) · Paul Scofield (1966) · Rod Steiger (1967) · Cliff Robertson (1968) · John Wayne (1969) · George C. Scott (1970) · Gene Hackman (1971) · Marlon Brando (1972) · Jack Lemmon (1973) · Art Carney (1974) · Jack Nicholson (1975) · Peter Finch (1976) · Richard Dreyfuss (1977) · Jon Voight (1978) · Dustin Hoffman (1979) · Robert De Niro (1980)

Complete List · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Donald Crisp (1941) · Van Heflin (1942) · Charles Coburn (1943) · Barry Fitzgerald (1944) · James Dunn (1945) · Harold Russell (1946) · Edmund Gwenn (1947) · Walter Huston (1948) · Dean Jagger (1949) George Sanders (1950) · Karl Malden (1951) · Anthony Quinn (1952) · Frank Sinatra (1953) · Edmond O'Brien (1954) · Jack Lemmon (1955) · Anthony Quinn (1956) · Red Buttons (1957) · Burl Ives (1958) · Hugh Griffith (1959) · Peter Ustinov (1960)

Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Bob Hope (1941) · Bob Hope (1943) · Jack Benny (1944) · Bob Hope / John Cromwell (1945) · Bob Hope / James Stewart (1946) · Jack Benny (1947) · Robert Montgomery (1949) · Paul Douglas (1950) · Fred Astaire (1951) · Danny Kaye (1952) · Bob Hope / Conrad Nagel (1953) · Donald O'Connor / Fredric March (1954) · Bob Hope / Thelma Ritter (1955) · Jerry Lewis / Claudette Colbert / Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1956) · Jerry Lewis / Celeste Holm (1957) · Bob Hope / David Niven / James Stewart / Jack Lemmon / Rosalind Russell (1958) · Bob Hope / David Niven / Tony Randall / Mort Sahl / Laurence Olivier / Jerry Lewis (1959) · Bob Hope (1960)
v • d • e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Bob Hope (1961) · Bob Hope (1962) · Frank Sinatra (1963) · Jack Lemmon (1964) · Bob Hope (1965) · Bob Hope (1966) · Bob Hope (1967) · Bob Hope (1968) · Helen Hayes / Alan King / Sammy Davis, Jr. / Jack Lemmon (1972) · Carol Burnett / Michael Caine / Charlton Heston / Rock Hudson (1973) · John Huston / Burt Reynolds / David Niven / Diana Ross (1974) · Sammy Davis, Jr. / Bob Hope / Shirley MacLaine / Frank Sinatra (1975) · Goldie Hawn / Gene Kelly / Walter Matthau / George Segal / Robert Shaw (1976) · Warren Beatty / Ellen Burstyn / Jane Fonda / Richard Pryor (1977) · Bob Hope (1978) · Johnny Carson (1979) · Johnny Carson (1980)
v • d • e
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Johnny Carson (1981) · Johnny Carson (1982) · Liza Minnelli / Dudley Moore / Richard Pryor / Walter Matthau (1983) · Johnny Carson (1984) · Jack Lemmon (1985) · Alan Alda / Jane Fonda / Robin Williams (1986) · Chevy Chase / Goldie Hawn / Paul Hogan (1987) · Chevy Chase (1988) · Billy Crystal (1990) · Billy Crystal (1991) · Billy Crystal (1992) · Billy Crystal (1993) · Whoopi Goldberg (1994) · David Letterman (1995) · Whoopi Goldberg (1996) · Billy Crystal (1997) · Billy Crystal (1998) · Whoopi Goldberg (1999) · Billy Crystal (2000)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie

Anthony Hopkins (1976) · Hal Holbrook (1976) · Ed Flanders (1977) · Christopher Plummer (1977) · Fred Astaire (1978) · Michael Moriarty (1978) · Peter Strauss (1979) · Powers Boothe (1980) · Anthony Hopkins (1981) · Mickey Rooney (1982) · Tommy Lee Jones (1983) · Laurence Olivier (1984) · Richard Crenna (1985) · Dustin Hoffman (1986) · James Woods (1987) · Jason Robards (1988) · James Woods (1989) · Hume Cronyn (1990) · John Gielgud (1991) · Beau Bridges (1992) · Robert Morse (1993) · Hume Cronyn (1994) · Raúl Juliá (1995) · Alan Rickman (1996) · Armand Assante (1997) · Gary Sinise (1998) · Stanley Tucci (1999) · Jack Lemmon (2000)
Persondata
NAME Lemmon, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lemmon, John Uhler III
SHORT DESCRIPTION actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1925(1925-02-08)
PLACE OF BIRTH Newton, Massachusetts, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 2001
PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California, United States