Actors Jack Lemmon, left, and Tony Curtis are shown in costume in 1959 as they masquerade as women to escape gangsters in „Some Like It Hot“. Lemmon, the two-time Oscar winner whose acting talents ranged from the adroit comedy of „The Apartment“ and „Some Like It Hot“ to the dramatic intensity of „Days of Wine and Roses“ and „Tuesdays with Morrie,“ died Wednesday, June 27, 2001. He was 76.
AP PHOTO – TASR/AP
LOS ANGELES – Veteran actor Jack Lemmon, whose roles ranged from befuddled young men to grumpy old ones and who formed one of cinema‘s great odd couples with
late partner Walter Matthau, has died at age 76. Lemmon, a two time Oscar winner and an Emmy winner for „Tuesdays with Morrie,“ died last Wednesday night at the University of Southern California‘s Norris Cancer Center with his wife, former actress Felicia Farr, and his son and daughter at his side, his longtime spokesman Warren Cowan said. He said that Lemmon died of complications from cancer.
The Harvard–educated son of a baker, Lemmon dreamed of becoming an actor during a sickly boyhood. Born John Uhler Lemmon III in Boston on Feb. 8, 1925 — in an elevator because his mother refused to leave a winning bridge hand — Lemmon from an early age had his heart set on acting. His father gave him the go–ahead, $300 in cash and his blessing. Theater work in stock companies led to hundreds of appearances on early 1950‘s TV programs, followed by his casting opposite Holliday in „It Should Happen To You“ (1954).
Lemmon‘s career took off in 1955 when he won an Oscar for best supporting actor as Ensign Pulver in „Mister Roberts“. It was his first Oscar. He received a best actor‘s one for „Save the Tiger“ in 1973 for his portrayal of a clothing manufacturer trying desperately to save his business. He received six other Oscar nominations.
Lemmon was known for two great longtime screen collaborations — one with director Billy Wilder and the other with actor Walter Matthau. He made the screen classic „Some Like it Hot“ with Wilder directing and he playing one of two Chicago musicians who hide out from the mob by posing as women. „Happiness,“ said director Wilder, „is working with Jack Lemmon.“
Lemmon teams up with Matthau
It was Wilder who teamed Lemmon with Matthau in „The Fortune Cookie“ in 1966. In 1993, they made the popular film „Grumpy Old Men.“ Matthau died last year. Lemmon made seven films with Wilder and eight with Matthau. He also produced the 1967 hit „Cool Hand Luke“ with Paul Newman and directed frequent co–star and close friend Matthau in „Kotch“ (1971).
Lemmon always displayed a sense of humanity that audiences could easily relate to. He usually played an earnest but naive man whose good intentions run afoul of his manic energy. His last known work was a made for television film „Tuesdays with Morrie“ in 1999 which won him an Emmy. An accomplished pianist, Lemmon was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards and, in 1988, won the American Film Institute‘s 16th Life Achievement Award. But he attributed much of his success to „remarkable coincidences that have nothing to do with me.“
Lemmon, who liked to play pool and the piano, had a son, Chris, an actor, with his first wife, Cynthia Stone (their marriage lasted from 1950–56). In 1962, he married actress Felicia Farr, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney. Reuters
