Jack Lemmon(1925-2001)
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Lankford Noel and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company.
His ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and
English. Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age
9 he was sent to Rivers Country Day School, then located in nearby
Brookline. After RCDS, he went to high school at Phillips Andover
Academy. Jack was a member of the Harvard class of 1947, where he was
in Navy ROTC and the Dramatic Club. After service as a Navy ensign, he
worked in a beer hall (playing piano), on radio, off Broadway, TV and
Broadway. His movie debut was with
Judy Holliday in
It Should Happen to You (1954).
He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in
Mister Roberts (1955). He received
nominations in comedy
(Some Like It Hot (1959),
The Apartment (1960)) and drama
(Days of Wine and Roses (1962),
The China Syndrome (1979),
Tribute (1980) and
Missing (1982)). He won the Best Actor
Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973)
and the Cannes Best Actor award for "Syndrome" and "Missing". He made
his debut as a director with Kotch (1971)
and in 1985 on Broadway in "Long Day's Journey into Night". In 1988 he
received the Life Achievement Award of the American Film Institute.
