Jack Lemmon
Encyclopedia
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June 27, 2001) was an American actor
and musician
. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot
, The Apartment
, Mister Roberts (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), Days of Wine and Roses
, The Great Race
, Irma la Douce
, The Odd Couple
, Save the Tiger
(for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), The Out-of-Towners
, The China Syndrome
, Missing
(for which he won 'Best Actor
' at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival), Glengarry Glen Ross
, Grumpy Old Men
and Grumpier Old Men
.
at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
in Newton
, Massachusetts
, a suburb of Boston
. He was the only child of Mildred Burgess LaRue (née
Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., who was the president of a doughnut
company. Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School in Newton and The Rivers School in Weston
, Massachusetts
. He later revealed that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight. Lemmon attended Phillips Academy
(Class of 1943) and Harvard University
(Class of 1947) where he lived in Adams House
and was an active member of several Drama Clubs - becoming president of the Hasty Pudding Club
- as well as a member of the Delphic Club for Gentleman, a final club
at Harvard. After Harvard, Lemmon joined the Navy
, receiving V-12
training and serving 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 enamored of the piano
and learned to play it on his own. He could also play the harmonica, organ, and the double bass
.
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, among them Marilyn Monroe
, Natalie Wood
, Betty Grable
, Janet Leigh
, Shirley MacLaine
, Romy Schneider
, Doris Day
, Kim Novak
, Judy Holliday
, Rita Hayworth
, June Allyson
, Virna Lisi
, Ann-Margret
, Sophia Loren
and many more. He was also close friends with Tony Curtis
, Ernie Kovacs
, Walter Matthau
and Kevin Spacey
. He made two films with Curtis, three films with Kovacs (Operation Mad Ball
, Bell, Book and Candle
, and It Happened to Jane
), and eleven with Matthau.
Early in Lemmon's career, Lemmon met Ernie Kovacs
during the filming of Operation Mad Ball
and co-starred with the comedian in this film. Lemmon and Kovacs became close friends and appeared together in two subsequent films - Bell, Book and Candle
. and It Happened to Jane
In 1977 PBS
broadcast a compilation series of Kovacs' television work, and Lemmon served as the narrator
of the series
. Lemmon discussed his friendship with Kovacs in the documentary, Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius.
He became a favorite actor of director
Billy Wilder
, starring in his films Some Like It Hot
(although voice actor Paul Frees
read his and Tony Curtis
's "Daphne" and "Josephine" dialogues), 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 biography also 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".
He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards
, starring in My Sister Eileen
(1955), Days of Wine and Roses
(1962), The Great Race
(1965) and That's Life!
(1986).
Lemmon recorded an album in 1958 while filming Some Like It Hot
with Marilyn Monroe
. Twelve jazz tracks were created for Lemmon and another twelve were added. Lemmon played the piano and recorded his own versions of Monroe's trademark songs, I Wanna Be Loved By You and I'm Through With Love, for the album which was released in 1959 as 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), becoming 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 roles in Some Like It Hot
(1959), The Apartment
(1960), Days of Wine and Roses
(1962), The China Syndrome
(1979), and Tribute
(1980). 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.
Lemmon's production company JML produced Cool Hand Luke
in 1967. Paul Newman
was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role of the Sundance Kid later played by Robert Redford
in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he also felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before.
Lemmon often appeared in films partnered with Walter Matthau
. Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple
, as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison
(Matthau). 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 both appeared without sharing screen time). 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
.
Lemmon starred in Some Like It Hot
, for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival
. In 1982
, he won another Cannes award for his performance in Missing
(which received the Palme d'Or
).
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
losing to Ving Rhames
. After accepting the award, Rhames asked Lemmon to come on stage 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.).
He received the AFI Life Achievement Award
in 1988.
recalled that Lemmon is remembered as always making time for other people. 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. Spacey would later work with Lemmon in Dad
(1989), the critically acclaimed film Glengarry Glen Ross
(1992) and on stage in a revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night
. Lemmon's performance also inspired Gil Gunderson, a character on The Simpsons
that is modeled on Lemmon's.
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
, d. December 26, 1988). His second wife was the actress Felicia Farr
, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney (b.1966).
Lemmon admitted that he was an alcoholic in the late 1960s. (Source: Los Angeles Tomes Obituary.)
Felicia Farr had another daughter from a previous relationship (her marriage to Lee Farr) called Denise, who would become Lemmon's stepdaughter.
and metastatic cancer
of the bladder
on June 27, 2001. He had been fighting the disease, very privately, for two years before his death. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Westwood
, California where he is buried near his friend and co-star, Walter Matthau
, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon. 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.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, The Apartment
The Apartment
The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder's follow-up to the enormously popular Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, was a commercial and critical hit, grossing $25...
, Mister Roberts (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), Days of Wine and Roses
Days of Wine and Roses (film)
Days of Wine and Roses is a film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name....
, The Great Race
The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
, Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:...
, The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (film)
The Odd Couple is a 1968 comedy film written by Neil Simon, based on his play The Odd Couple, directed by Gene Saks, and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau...
, Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger is a 1973 film about moral conflict in contemporary America. It stars Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Thayer David, Lara Parker and Liv Lindeland. The film is directed by John G...
(for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), The Out-of-Towners
The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)
The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970....
, The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film that tells the story of a reporter and cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. It stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Richard Herd, and Wilford Brimley.The film was...
, Missing
Missing (film)
Missing is a 1982 American drama film directed by Costa Gavras, and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi and Janice Rule...
(for which he won 'Best Actor
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
' at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival), Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Glen Ross (film)
Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name...
, Grumpy Old Men
Grumpy Old Men (film)
Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
and Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...
.
Early life
Lemmon was born in an elevatorElevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a community teaching medical center located in Newton, Massachusetts on Washington Street. It is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School...
in Newton
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, a suburb of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He was the only child of Mildred Burgess LaRue (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., who was the president of a doughnut
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
company. Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School in Newton and The Rivers School in Weston
Weston, Massachusetts
Weston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The population of Weston, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, is 11,261....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He later revealed that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight. Lemmon attended Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
(Class of 1943) and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(Class of 1947) where he lived in Adams House
Adams House (Harvard University)
Adams House is one of the twelve undergraduate houses at Harvard University, located between Harvard Square and the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Named to commemorate the Adams family, including John Adams, the second president of the United States and John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
and was an active member of several Drama Clubs - becoming president of the Hasty Pudding Club
Hasty Pudding Club
The Hasty Pudding Club is a social club for Harvard students. It was founded by Nymphus Hatch, a junior at Harvard College, in 1770. The club is named for the traditional American dish that the founding members ate at their first meeting...
- as well as a member of the Delphic Club for Gentleman, a final club
Final club
A final club is an undergraduate social club at Harvard College.- Origins :The historical basis for the name final clubs is that Harvard used to have a variety of clubs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, with students of different years being in different clubs, and the "final clubs"...
at Harvard. After Harvard, Lemmon joined the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, receiving V-12
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
training and serving as an ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
. On being discharged, he took up acting professionally, working on radio, television and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. He studied acting under Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
. He also became enamored of the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and learned to play it on his own. He could also play the harmonica, organ, and the double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
.
Career
Lemmon's film debut was a bit partBit part
A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...
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
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
in the 1954 comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
It Should Happen to You
It Should Happen to You
It Should Happen to You is a romantic comedy film starring Judy Holliday, notable as the first screen appearance of Jack Lemmon, who was then an aspiring young actor. The film was directed by George Cukor and filmed on location in New York City...
. Lemmon worked with many legendary leading ladies, among them Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
, Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
, Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
, Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
, Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
, Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
, June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
, Virna Lisi
Virna Lisi
Virna Lisi is a Cannes and César award-winning Italian film actress. She was born in Ancona, Marche, as Virna Lisa Pieralisi.-Early career:...
, Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
, Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
and many more. He was also close friends with Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
, Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
and Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
. He made two films with Curtis, three films with Kovacs (Operation Mad Ball
Operation Mad Ball
Operation Mad Ball is a 1957 military comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Kathryn Grant, Ernie Kovacs, Dick York, Arthur O'Connell, and Mickey Rooney and directed by Richard Quine. The screenplay by Blake Edwards and Jed Harris is based on an unproduced play by Arthur Carter.-Plot:In a hospital unit in...
, Bell, Book and Candle
Bell, Book and Candle
Bell, Book and Candle is a romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine based on the hit Broadway play by John Van Druten. It starred James Stewart and Kim Novak in their second on-screen pairing . The film, adapted by Daniel Taradash, was Stewart's last film as a romantic lead...
, and It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane is a 1959 romantic comedy film starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, and Ernie Kovacs directed by Richard Quine and written by Norman Katkov and Max Wilk.The film was co-produced by Quine and star Day's husband at the time, Martin Melcher....
), and eleven with Matthau.
Early in Lemmon's career, Lemmon met Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
during the filming of Operation Mad Ball
Operation Mad Ball
Operation Mad Ball is a 1957 military comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Kathryn Grant, Ernie Kovacs, Dick York, Arthur O'Connell, and Mickey Rooney and directed by Richard Quine. The screenplay by Blake Edwards and Jed Harris is based on an unproduced play by Arthur Carter.-Plot:In a hospital unit in...
and co-starred with the comedian in this film. Lemmon and Kovacs became close friends and appeared together in two subsequent films - Bell, Book and Candle
Bell, Book and Candle
Bell, Book and Candle is a romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine based on the hit Broadway play by John Van Druten. It starred James Stewart and Kim Novak in their second on-screen pairing . The film, adapted by Daniel Taradash, was Stewart's last film as a romantic lead...
. and It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane
It Happened to Jane is a 1959 romantic comedy film starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, and Ernie Kovacs directed by Richard Quine and written by Norman Katkov and Max Wilk.The film was co-produced by Quine and star Day's husband at the time, Martin Melcher....
In 1977 PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
broadcast a compilation series of Kovacs' television work, and Lemmon served as the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
of the series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. Lemmon discussed his friendship with Kovacs in the documentary, Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius.
He became a favorite actor of director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
, starring in his films Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
(although voice actor Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
read his and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
's "Daphne" and "Josephine" dialogues), The Apartment
The Apartment
The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder's follow-up to the enormously popular Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, was a commercial and critical hit, grossing $25...
, Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:...
, The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on-screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.- Plot :...
, Avanti!
Avanti!
Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L...
, The Front Page
The Front Page (1974 film)
The Front Page is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1928 play of the same title by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, which was previously adapted for the screen under its...
and Buddy Buddy
Buddy Buddy
Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder that stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss and Klaus Kinski. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1973 French language film L'Emmerdeur, which screenwriter Francis Veber had adapted from his play...
. 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 biography also 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".
He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
, starring in My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
(1955), Days of Wine and Roses
Days of Wine and Roses (film)
Days of Wine and Roses is a film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name....
(1962), The Great Race
The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
(1965) and That's Life!
That's Life! (film)
That's Life! is a 1986 film with Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews, directed by Blake Edwards.The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures...
(1986).
Lemmon recorded an album in 1958 while filming Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
. Twelve jazz tracks were created for Lemmon and another twelve were added. Lemmon played the piano and recorded his own versions of Monroe's trademark songs, I Wanna Be Loved By You and I'm Through With Love, for the album which was released in 1959 as A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot.
Lemmon was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
in 1956 for Mister Roberts (1955) and the Best Actor Oscar
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger
Save the Tiger is a 1973 film about moral conflict in contemporary America. It stars Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Thayer David, Lara Parker and Liv Lindeland. The film is directed by John G...
(1973), becoming the first actor to achieve this double. He was also nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the controversial film Missing
Missing (film)
Missing is a 1982 American drama film directed by Costa Gavras, and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi and Janice Rule...
in 1982 and for his roles in Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
(1959), The Apartment
The Apartment
The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder's follow-up to the enormously popular Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, was a commercial and critical hit, grossing $25...
(1960), Days of Wine and Roses
Days of Wine and Roses (film)
Days of Wine and Roses is a film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name....
(1962), The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film that tells the story of a reporter and cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. It stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Richard Herd, and Wilford Brimley.The film was...
(1979), and Tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
(1980). In 1988, the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award
AFI Life Achievement Award
The AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973 to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television....
.
Days of Wine and Roses
Days of Wine and Roses (film)
Days of Wine and Roses is a film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name....
(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
Inside the Actors Studio
Inside the Actors Studio is a series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz; the executive producer is James Lipton. The program, which premiered in 1994, is distributed internationally by CABLEready and is broadcast in 125 countries...
, that he was not acting when he delivered that line, that he really was a recovering alcoholic at the end of his life.
Lemmon's production company JML produced Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
in 1967. Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role of the Sundance Kid later played by Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he also felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before.
Lemmon often appeared in films partnered with Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
. Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple (film)
The Odd Couple is a 1968 comedy film written by Neil Simon, based on his play The Odd Couple, directed by Gene Saks, and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau...
, as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison is a character in The Odd Couple, which began as a Broadway play, then was a film and then a television series.In The Odd Couple, Oscar Madison is the everyman, and is a sportswriter for the New York Herald...
(Matthau). They also starred together in The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie
The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their first on-screen collaboration, and directed by Billy Wilder.- Plot :...
(for which Matthau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
and Buddy Buddy
Buddy Buddy
Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder that stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss and Klaus Kinski. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1973 French language film L'Emmerdeur, which screenwriter Francis Veber had adapted from his play...
. In 1971, Lemmon directed Matthau in the comedy Kotch
Kotch
Kotch is a 1971 American comedy film which tells the story of an elderly man who runs away so as not to be put into a nursing home, and strikes up a friendship with a pregnant teenage girl. It stars Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman and Ellen Geer.The film was adapted...
. 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
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's 1991 film, JFK
JFK (film)
JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...
(the only film in which both appeared without sharing screen time). In 1993, the duo teamed up again to star in Grumpy Old Men
Grumpy Old Men (film)
Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote...
. 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
Out to Sea
Out to Sea is a 1997 romantic comedy film starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon and Brent Spiner. The film was directed by Martha Coolidge, with a screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs...
, Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert...
and the widely panned The Odd Couple II
The Odd Couple II
The Odd Couple II is the 1998 sequel to 1968's The Odd Couple. The movie reunites Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in their last film together.- Plot :...
.
Lemmon starred in Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. In 1982
1982 in film
-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
, he won another Cannes award for his performance in Missing
Missing (film)
Missing is a 1982 American drama film directed by Costa Gavras, and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi and Janice Rule...
(which received the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
).
At the 1998 Golden Globe Awards
55th Golden Globe Awards
The 55th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1997, were held on 18 January 1998. The winners were selected from the 55th Golden Globe Awards nominees. The ceremony was notable for two memorable moments...
, he was nominated for "Best Actor in a Made for TV Movie" for his role in Twelve Angry Men
12 Angry Men (1997 film)
12 Angry Men is a 1997 television film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the Reginald Rose teleplay of the same title.-Plot:After the final closing arguments have been presented to the judge, she gives her instructions to the jury. In the United States , the verdict in criminal cases must...
losing to Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
. After accepting the award, Rhames asked Lemmon to come on stage and, in a move that stunned the audience, gave his award to him. (The Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
, which presents the Golden Globes, decided to have a second award made and sent to Rhames.).
He received the AFI Life Achievement Award
AFI Life Achievement Award
The AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973 to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television....
in 1988.
Personal life
Kevin SpaceyKevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
recalled that Lemmon is remembered as always making time for other people. 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. Spacey would later work with Lemmon in Dad
Dad (film)
Dad is a 1989 comedy-drama film based on William Wharton's novel of the same name. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, Olympia Dukakis, Kevin Spacey and Ethan Hawke, and was written and directed by Gary David Goldberg. The original music score was composed by James Horner...
(1989), the critically acclaimed film Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Glen Ross (film)
Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name...
(1992) and on stage in a revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
. Lemmon's performance also inspired Gil Gunderson, a character on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
that is modeled on Lemmon's.
Lemmon was married twice. His son Chris Lemmon
Chris Lemmon
-History:Lemmon was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Cynthia Stone and actor Jack Lemmon. With a natural talent for music, he was encouraged by his father to study piano. Lemmon considered playing piano professionally after having graduated from the California Institute of the...
(b. 1954), was his first child by his first wife, actress Cynthia Stone
Cynthia Stone
Cynthia Stone was an American television actress.-Biography:Born in Peoria, Illinois, Stone had a brief career in the 1950s and 1960s as a television actress. Though she mainly appeared in guest spots in various television series, she and then-husband Jack Lemmon starred together in the short...
(b. February 26, 1926, Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, d. December 26, 1988). His second wife was the actress Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr is a former American actress and model.-Biography:Felicia Farr appeared in several modeling photo shoots and advertisements throughout the 1950s and 1960s...
, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney (b.1966).
Lemmon admitted that he was an alcoholic in the late 1960s. (Source: Los Angeles Tomes Obituary.)
Felicia Farr had another daughter from a previous relationship (her marriage to Lee Farr) called Denise, who would become Lemmon's stepdaughter.
Death
Jack Lemmon died of colon cancerColorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
and metastatic cancer
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
of the bladder
Urinary bladder
The urinary bladder is the organ that collects urine excreted by the kidneys before disposal by urination. A hollow muscular, and distensible organ, the bladder sits on the pelvic floor...
on June 27, 2001. He had been fighting the disease, very privately, for two years before his death. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
, California where he is buried near his friend and co-star, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon. 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
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
show in tribute. A year later, many of the same people appeared on the show again to pay tribute to Lemmon.
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Plasterer | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | It Should Happen to You It Should Happen to You It Should Happen to You is a romantic comedy film starring Judy Holliday, notable as the first screen appearance of Jack Lemmon, who was then an aspiring young actor. The film was directed by George Cukor and filmed on location in New York City... |
Pete Sheppard | |
| 1954 | Phffft! Phffft! Phffft! is a 1954 black and white romantic comedy starring Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Jack Carson and featuring Kim Novak, in a small but notable role... |
Robert Tracey | |
| 1955 | Three for the Show Three for the Show Three for the Show is a 1955 musical comedy remake of Too Many Husbands. It starred actress Betty Grable in her last musical, opposite Jack Lemmon, Gower Champion and Marge Champion.-Cast:*Betty Grable as Julie Lowndes... |
Martin 'Marty' Stewart | |
| 1955 | Mister Roberts | Ens. Frank Thurlowe Pulver | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... |
| 1955 | My Sister Eileen My Sister Eileen (1955 film) My Sister Eileen is a 1955 American CinemaScope musical film directed by Richard Quine. It stars Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett and Jack Lemmon.... |
Robert 'Bob' Baker | |
| 1955 | Hollywood Bronc Busters | Himself | |
| 1956 | You Can't Run Away from It You Can't Run Away from It You Can't Run Away from It is a 1956 Technicolor and CinemaScope musical comedy starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon. Directed and produced by Dick Powell, the film is a remake of the 1934 Academy Award-winning film It Happened One Night.-Plot:... |
Peter Warne | |
| 1957 | Fire Down Below Fire Down Below (1957 film) Fire Down Below is a 1957 adventure drama film starring Rita Hayworth, Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum and was directed by Robert Parrish.It was based on Max Catto's 1954 novel and filmed by Warwick Films on location in Trinidad and Tobago in Technicolor and CinemaScope.-Plot:After the Korean War,... |
Tony | |
| 1957 | Operation Mad Ball Operation Mad Ball Operation Mad Ball is a 1957 military comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Kathryn Grant, Ernie Kovacs, Dick York, Arthur O'Connell, and Mickey Rooney and directed by Richard Quine. The screenplay by Blake Edwards and Jed Harris is based on an unproduced play by Arthur Carter.-Plot:In a hospital unit in... |
Pvt. Hogan | |
| 1958 | Cowboy | Frank Harris | |
| 1958 | Bell, Book and Candle Bell, Book and Candle Bell, Book and Candle is a romantic comedy directed by Richard Quine based on the hit Broadway play by John Van Druten. It starred James Stewart and Kim Novak in their second on-screen pairing . The film, adapted by Daniel Taradash, was Stewart's last film as a romantic lead... |
Nicky Holroyd | |
| 1959 | Some Like It Hot Some Like It Hot Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I.... |
Jerry - 'Daphne' | BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
| 1959 | It Happened to Jane It Happened to Jane It Happened to Jane is a 1959 romantic comedy film starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, and Ernie Kovacs directed by Richard Quine and written by Norman Katkov and Max Wilk.The film was co-produced by Quine and star Day's husband at the time, Martin Melcher.... |
George Denham | |
| 1960 | C.C. Baxter | BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
|
| 1960 | Stowaway in the Sky Stowaway in the Sky Stowaway in the Sky is a 1960 French family adventure film, directed by Albert Lamorisse.Albert Lamorisse used his ten year old son Pascal as the main character in the film.-Plot:... |
Narrator | voice |
| 1960 | Pepe Pepe (film) Pepe is a 1960 film starring Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno in the title role, directed by George Sidney. A multitude of cameo appearances attempted to replicate the success of Mario Moreno's American debut, notably Around the World in Eighty Days, produced by Mike Todd in 1956.The film failed to... |
Himself | Cameo appearance as Daphne |
| 1960 | Lt. Rip Crandall | ||
| 1962 | William 'Bill' Gridley | ||
| 1962 | Days of Wine and Roses Days of Wine and Roses (film) Days of Wine and Roses is a film directed by Blake Edwards with a screenplay by JP Miller adapted from his own 1958 Playhouse 90 teleplay of the same name.... |
Joe Clay | San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953... Award for Best Actor Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1963 | Irma la Douce Irma la Douce Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:... |
Nestor Patou / Lord X | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1963 | Under the Yum Yum Tree Under the Yum Yum Tree Under the Yum Yum Tree is a 1963 comedy movie that stars Jack Lemmon, Carol Lynley, Paul Lynde, Dean Jones and Edie Adams.This sex comedy was one of the successful small comic movies that Lemmon despised making . It first ran on Broadway in 1960-1961.-Plot:Jack Lemmon stars as the playboy landlord... |
Hogan | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1964 | Good Neighbor Sam Good Neighbor Sam Good Neighbor Sam is a 1964 American comedy movie co-written and directed by David Swift and starring Jack Lemmon and Romy Schneider.It was based on the novel by Jack Finney. The screenplay was the motion picture debut of James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum, who had written many American... |
Sam Bissel | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... |
| 1965 | How to Murder Your Wife How to Murder Your Wife How to Murder Your Wife is a 1965 American comedy film starring Jack Lemmon and Virna Lisi. It was directed by Richard Quine, who also directed Lemmon in My Sister Eileen, It Happened to Jane, Operation Mad Ball and Bell, Book and Candle.... |
Stanley Ford | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... |
| 1965 | Professor Fate / Prince Hapnick | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1966 | Harry Hinkle | First collaboration with Walter Matthau Walter Matthau Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears... . |
|
| 1967 | Luv Luv (film) Luv is a 1967 romantic slapstick comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Elaine May and Nina Wayne. The original Broadway production of Luv by Murray Schisgal opened at the Booth Theater in New York on 11 November 1964. It ran for 901 performances and was nominated for the 1965 Tony Award for... |
Harry Berlin | |
| 1968 | There Comes a Day | ||
| 1968 | Felix Ungar | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1969 | Howard Brubaker | ||
| 1970 | George Kellerman | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1971 | Kotch Kotch Kotch is a 1971 American comedy film which tells the story of an elderly man who runs away so as not to be put into a nursing home, and strikes up a friendship with a pregnant teenage girl. It stars Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman and Ellen Geer.The film was adapted... |
Sleeping bus passenger | uncredited, also director |
| 1972 | Peter Edward Wilson | ||
| 1972 | Avanti! Avanti! Avanti! is a 1972 American/Italian comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder. The film starred Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L... |
Wendell Armbruster, Jr. | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1973 | Save the Tiger Save the Tiger Save the Tiger is a 1973 film about moral conflict in contemporary America. It stars Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Laurie Heineman, Thayer David, Lara Parker and Liv Lindeland. The film is directed by John G... |
Harry Stoner | Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1974 | Narrator | voice | |
| 1974 | Hildy Johnson | David di Donatello for Best Actor David di Donatello for Best Actor The David di Donatello for Best Actor is a category of the major Italian film award, the David di Donatello, given by La Accademia del Cinema Italiano .-Winners and nominees:... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
|
| 1975 | Wednesday | Jerry Murphy | |
| 1975 | Narrator | ||
| 1975 | Mel Edison | ||
| 1976 | Alex & the Gypsy | Alexander Main | |
| 1977 | Airport '77 Airport '77 Airport '77 is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise.The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, Airport '77 was a box office hit earning US$30 million and... |
Capt. Don Gallagher | |
| 1979 | Jack Godell | Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * .... David di Donatello for Best Actor David di Donatello for Best Actor The David di Donatello for Best Actor is a category of the major Italian film award, the David di Donatello, given by La Accademia del Cinema Italiano .-Winners and nominees:... BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
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| 1980 | Tribute Tribute (film) Tribute is a play by Bernard Slade.The plot focuses on Scottie Templeton, a popular actor who has spent his life shirking responsibility. When he discovers he is terminally ill with leukemia, he attempts to reconnect with his long-estranged son.... |
Scottie Templeton | Silver Bear for Best Actor Silver Bear for Best Actor The Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*... Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor The Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor was awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 1980 to 1983, for the best performance by non-Canadian actor in a Canadian film.... Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — American Movie Award American Movie Awards The American Movie Awards were awards to honour excellence in film, there were only two ceremonies, one in 1980, and one in 1982.-1980:*Best Film: Rocky II*Best Actor: Alan Alda *Best Actress: Sally Field... for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1981 | Buddy Buddy Buddy Buddy Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder that stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss and Klaus Kinski. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1973 French language film L'Emmerdeur, which screenwriter Francis Veber had adapted from his play... |
Victor Clooney | |
| 1982 | Missing Missing (film) Missing is a 1982 American drama film directed by Costa Gavras, and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi and Janice Rule... |
Ed Horman | Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * .... Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1984 | Mass Appeal Mass Appeal (film) Mass Appeal is a 1984 American dramedy film starring Jack Lemmon, directed by Glenn Jordan. The screenplay by Bill C. Davis is based on his 1980 play of the same title.-Plot:... |
Father Tim Farley | |
| 1985 | Macaroni Macaroni (film) -Plot:Jack Lemmon plays a successful, physically exhausted, pill-popping American businessman, going through a divorce, who visits Naples, Italy. He spends several days there as a guest of a local business acquaintance, played by the elderly Marcello Mastroianni, who has a more laid-back... |
Robert Traven | |
| 1986 | That's Life! That's Life! (film) That's Life! is a 1986 film with Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews, directed by Blake Edwards.The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by Columbia Pictures... |
Harvey Fairchild | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1989 | Dad Dad (film) Dad is a 1989 comedy-drama film based on William Wharton's novel of the same name. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, Olympia Dukakis, Kevin Spacey and Ethan Hawke, and was written and directed by Gary David Goldberg. The original music score was composed by James Horner... |
Jake Tremont | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1991 | JFK JFK (film) JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay... |
Jack Martin | |
| 1992 | Beyond 'JFK': The Question of Conspiracy | Himself | also archive footage |
| 1992 | Himself | ||
| 1992 | Glengarry Glen Ross Glengarry Glen Ross (film) Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name... |
Shelley Levene | National Board of Review Award for Best Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Actor An incomplete list of the winners of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor :-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Valladolid International Film Festival Seminci Valladolid International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain since 1956.... Award for Best Actor Volpi Cup Volpi Cup The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year... |
| 1993 | Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman In Carver County | Himself | |
| 1993 | Short Cuts Short Cuts Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver... |
Paul Finnigan | Golden Globe Award Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign... for Best Ensemble Cast Volpi Cup Volpi Cup The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year... |
| 1993 | Grumpy Old Men Grumpy Old Men (film) Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote... |
John Gustafson | Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture |
| 1995 | Dr. Morris Ritz | ||
| 1995 | Grumpier Old Men Grumpier Old Men Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert... |
John Gustafson | |
| 1996 | Getting Away with Murder Getting Away with Murder (1996 film) Getting Away with Murder is a 1996 comedy film written and directed by Harvey Miller. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Jack Lemmon, Lily Tomlin and Bonnie Hunt.This was the final project for veteran writer and director Harvey Miller.... |
Max Mueller / Karl Luger | |
| 1996 | My Fellow Americans My Fellow Americans My Fellow Americans is a 1996 American comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Dan Aykroyd and James Garner as feuding ex-presidents. Lauren Bacall, Esther Rolle, John Heard, Wilford Brimley, Bradley Whitford and Jeff Yagher also appear in supporting performances... |
President Russell P. Kramer | |
| 1996 | Hamlet Hamlet (1996 film) Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet... |
Marcellus | |
| 1997 | Out to Sea Out to Sea Out to Sea is a 1997 romantic comedy film starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon and Brent Spiner. The film was directed by Martha Coolidge, with a screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs... |
Herb Sullivan | |
| 1997 | Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's | Himself | |
| 1998 | Puppies for Sale | Pet Shop Owner | |
| 1998 | Felix Ungar | ||
| 2000 | Narrator / Old Hardy Greaves | uncredited |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | That Wonderful Guy | Harold | |
| 1950 | Toni Twin Time | Host | Episode dated May 31, 1950 |
| 1951 | Celebrity Panelist | Ended after 5 episodes | |
| 1951–52 | Newlywed | in 'The Couple Next Door' sketches | |
| 1952 | Heaven for Betsy Heaven for Betsy Heaven for Betsy is an American sitcom that aired live on CBS twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday for fifteen minutes from September 30, 1952 to December 23, 1952. The series starred real-life husband and wife Jack Lemmon and Cynthia Stone... |
Pete Bell | September 30, 1952 to December 23, 1952 |
| 1954 | Surgeon | cancelled after a few weeks | |
| 1956 | John Wilkes Booth | February 11, 1956 | |
| 1957 | What's My Line? What's My Line? What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations.... |
Mystery Guest | November 3, 1957 Episode # 388, Season 9, Ep 10 |
| 1957–58 | Alcoa Theatre Alcoa Theatre Alcoa Theatre is a half-hour anthology series telecast on NBC at 9:30 pm on alternate Monday nights from October 7, 1957 to September 16, 1960. The program also aired under the title Turn of Fate, with the stories depicting the difficulties faced by individuals who are suddenly thrust into... |
Henry Coyle Steve Tyler Wally Mall Lieutenant Tony Crawford Edward King |
Episode: "Disappearance" Episode: "Most Likely to Succeed" Episode: "Loudmouth" Episode: "The Days of November" Episode: "Souvenir" |
| 1976 | Archie Rice | ||
| 1987 | Long Day's Journey Into Night Long Day's Journey Into Night Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork... |
James Tyrone Sr. | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1988 | Gov. John Slaton | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
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| 1992 | For Richer, for Poorer | Aram Katourian | |
| 1993 | Robert | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film | |
| 1994 | Wild West | host | |
| 1996 | Bud Bailey | ||
| 1997 | Frank Ormand | Voice role; Episode: "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson The Twisted World of Marge Simpson "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" is the eleventh episode of the The Simpsons eighth season, which originally aired January 19, 1997. It was written by Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Chuck Sheetz. The episode guest stars Jack Lemmon as Frank Ormand and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony... " |
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| 1997 | 12 Angry Men 12 Angry Men (1997 film) 12 Angry Men is a 1997 television film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the Reginald Rose teleplay of the same title.-Plot:After the final closing arguments have been presented to the judge, she gives her instructions to the jury. In the United States , the verdict in criminal cases must... |
Juror #8 | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| 1998 | Thomas Gerrin | ||
| 1999 | Inherit the Wind Inherit the Wind (1999 film) Inherit the Wind is a 1999 television film adaptation of the play of the same name. The original 1955 play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials.... |
Henry Drummond | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1999 | Tuesdays with Morrie | Morrie Schwartz | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
Discography
- A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Piano Selections from Irma La Douce (1963)
- Piano and Vocals (1990)
- Peter and the WolfPeter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
(1991) - Songs and music from Some Like It Hot (2001)
External links
- "The Films of Jack Lemmon", compilation of movie clips, 4 minutes
- Actor Jack Lemmon dead at 76
- Jack Lemmon at the Archive of American Television
- Obituary in the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....