Editing Jack Lemmon (section)

==Career==
=== 1949–1958: Early roles and Broadway debut ===
Lemmon became a professional actor, working on radio and Broadway.<ref name=tca /> His film debut was a [[bit part]] as a plasterer in the film ''[[The Lady Takes a Sailor]]'' (1949),<ref>{{cite book|last=Tucker|first=David C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1ONAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|title=Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances|location=Jefferson, NC|publisher=McFarland|year=2012|page=110|isbn=9780786488100}}</ref> but he had already appeared in television shows, which numbered about 400 from 1948 to 1953.<ref name="Krikorian" /> Lemmon believed his stage career was about to take off when he was appearing on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] for the first time in a 1953 revival of the comedy ''[[Room Service (play)|Room Service]]'', but the production closed after two weeks.<ref name="NYTAP2001">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/28/obituaries/jack-lemmon-academy-award-winning-actor-dies-at-76-2001062892218652797.html|title=Jack Lemmon, Academy Award Winning Actor, Dies at 76|work=-The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=June 28, 2001|access-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref> Despite this setback, he was spotted by talent scout [[Maxwell Arnow|Max Arnow]], who was then working for [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]], and Lemmon's focus shifted to films and Hollywood.<ref name="Harmetz" /> Columbia's head, [[Harry Cohn]], wanted to change Lemmon's name, in case it was used to describe the quality of the actor's films, but he successfully resisted.<ref name="LdnTimes2001">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/jack-lemmon-06pcsf2qzxj|title=Jack Lemmon|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|date=June 29, 2001|access-date=April 1, 2019}} {{subscription required}}</ref> His first role as a leading man was in the comedy ''[[It Should Happen to You]]'' (1954), which also featured the established [[Judy Holliday]] in the female lead. [[Bosley Crowther]] in his review for ''[[The New York Times]]'' described Lemmon as possessing "a warm and appealing personality. The screen should see more of him."<ref>{{cite news|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/01/16/archives/the-screen-in-review-it-should-happen-to-you-starring-judy-holliday.html?auth=login-smartlock|title=' It Should Happen to You,' Starring Judy Holliday, Is New Comedy at State|work=The New York Times|date=January 16, 1954|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> The two leads soon reunited in ''[[Phffft]]'' (also 1954).<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Brody|first=Richard|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/happen-stance|title=Happen-Stance|magazine=The New Yorker|date<!-- Retrieved from the source code. -->=May 14, 2010|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> [[Kim Novak]] had a secondary role as a brief love interest for Lemmon's character.<ref name="Lim">{{cite news|last=Lim|first=Dennis|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jun-07-ca-secondlook7-story.html|title=Jack Lemmon's earlier, lighter side|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 7, 2009|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> "If it wasn't for Judy, I'm not sure I would have concentrated on films", he told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1986 saying early in his career he had a snobbish attitude towards films over the stage.<ref name="Richards">{{cite news|last=Richards|first=David|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/03/24/lemmon-with-a-new-twist/4fa2d199-d118-4457-b084-5a675cf1ba38/|title=Lemmon, With a New Twist|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 24, 1986|access-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref>

He managed to negotiate a contract with Columbia allowing him leeway to pursue other projects, some of the terms of which he said "nobody had gotten before".<ref name="Shipman320">{{cite book|last=Shipman|first=David|title=The Great Movie Stars: The International Years|location=London|publisher=Macdonald|year=1989|page=320}}</ref> He signed a seven-year contract, but ended up staying with Columbia for 10 years.<ref name="DTelobit" /> Lemmon's appearance as Ensign Pulver in ''[[Mister Roberts (1955 film)|Mister Roberts]]'' (1955), with [[James Cagney]], [[Henry Fonda]], and [[William Powell]] for [[Warner Bros.]], gained Lemmon the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor Oscar]]. Director [[John Ford]] decided to cast Lemmon after seeing his Columbia screen test, which had been directed by [[Richard Quine]]. At an impromptu meeting on the studio lot, Ford persuaded the actor to appear in the film, although Lemmon did not realize he was in conversation with Ford at the time.<ref name="Krikorian" /> In the military farce ''[[Operation Mad Ball]]'' (1957) set in a U.S. Army base in France after [[World War II]], Lemmon played a calculating private.<ref name="Lim" /> He met comedian [[Ernie Kovacs]], who co-starred, and they became close friends, appearing together in two subsequent films, as a warlock in ''[[Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958, a film he apparently disliked)<ref name="Shipman320" /> and ''[[It Happened to Jane]]'' (1959), all three under the direction of Richard Quine. Lemmon starred in six films directed by Quine.<ref name="DTelobit">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1312729/Jack-Lemmon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1312729/Jack-Lemmon.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Jack Lemmon|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=June 29, 2001|access-date=April 5, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The others were ''[[My Sister Eileen (1955 film)|My Sister Eileen]]'' (1955), ''[[The Notorious Landlady]]'' (1962) and ''[[How to Murder Your Wife]]'' (1965).

=== 1959–1969: Breakthrough and stardom ===
[[File:Some Like It Hot (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon).jpg|thumb|left|[[Tony Curtis]] and Lemmon in ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959)]]
Lemmon worked with director [[Billy Wilder]] on seven films. Their association began with the gender-bending comedy ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959), with [[Tony Curtis]] and [[Marilyn Monroe]].<ref name="Bernstein">{{cite news|last=Bernstein|first=Adam|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/06/29/actor-jack-lemmon-dies-at-76/60532edb-0664-4441-8674-9cdd44d39f95/|title=Actor Jack Lemmon Dies at 76|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 29, 2001|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref> His role required him to perform 80% of the role in drag. People who knew his mother, Millie Lemmon, said he had mimicked her personality and even her hairstyle.<ref name="NYT1981" /> Critic [[Pauline Kael]] said he was "demonically funny" in the part.<ref name="Harmetz" /> 

After his success with ''Some Like It Hot'', and with his exclusive contract to Columbia Pictures expiring, Lemmon was finally free to form his own independent film production company in early 1960, Jalem Productions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1960-03-26 |title=Press-Telegram from Long Beach, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/705315446/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1960-03-23 |title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684107280/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=1963-11-05 |title=The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/179208338/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Lemmon later joked about the banality of the company's name being made up of the first letters of his names, admitting that he could not find another name that he both liked and was also available to use.<ref name=":0" /> Lemmon was president and director of the company, his father was vice-president and co-director, and William Freedman was secretary-treasurer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boxoffice |url=https://archive.org/details/boxofficeoctdec180boxo |title=Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1961) |last2=Boxoffice |date=1961 |publisher=New York, Boxoffice |others=Media History Digital Library}}</ref> The first production through Jalem was the stage play [[Face of a Hero|''Face of a Hero'']], starring Lemmon and directed by [[Alexander Mackendrick]] and was presented in October–November 1960.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai87unse |title=Motion picture daily |date=1960 |publisher=New York [Motion picture daily, inc.] |others=MBRS Library of Congress}}</ref> In August 1964, Lemmon appointed producer [[Gordon Carroll]] vice president of Jalem Productions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1964-08-15 |title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684512033/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

The sequence of films with Wilder continued with ''[[The Apartment]]'' (1960) alongside [[Shirley MacLaine]]. The film received mixed reviews from critics at the time, although it has been re-evaluated as a classic today. It received 11 nominations, winning five [[Academy Award]]s for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]. Lemmon received [[Academy Award|Oscar]] nominations for his performances in ''Some Like it Hot'' and ''The Apartment''. He reunited with MacLaine in ''[[Irma la Douce]]'' (1963). MacLaine, observing the director's relationship with his male lead, believed it amounted to "professional infatuation".<ref name="Harmetz" />

Lemmon's first role in a film directed by [[Blake Edwards]] was in ''[[Days of Wine and Roses (film)|Days of Wine and Roses]]'' (1962) portraying Joe Clay, a young alcoholic businessman. The role, for which he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor Oscar]], was one of Lemmon's favorites. By this time, he had appeared in 15 comedies, a Western and an adventure film. "The movie people put a label attached to your big toe — 'light comedy' — and that's the only way they think of you", he commented in an interview during 1984. "I knew damn well I could play drama. Things changed following ''Days of Wine and Roses''. That was as important a film as I've ever done."<ref name="Harmetz" /> ''Days of Wine and Roses'' was the first film where Lemmon was involved with production of the film via his Jalem production company.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Stang|first = Joanne| url = https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/apartment-ar3.html |title = Jack Lemmon: They Loved Him in Moscow |work = The New York Times | date = August 29, 1965 | access-date = April 6, 2019}}</ref> Lemmon's association with Edwards continued with ''[[The Great Race]]'' (1965), which reunited him with Tony Curtis. His salary this time was $1&nbsp;million, but the film did not return its large budget at the box office.<ref>Shipman, p. 320-21</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', in its December 31, 1964, review, commented: "never has there been a villain so dastardly as Jack Lemmon".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1964/film/reviews/the-great-race-1200420760/|title=The Great Race|work=Variety|date=December 31, 1964|access-date=December 31, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:The apartment trailer 1.JPG|thumb|Lemmon and MacLaine in ''[[The Apartment]]'' (1960)]]
In 1966, Lemmon began the first of his many collaborations with actor [[Walter Matthau]] in ''[[The Fortune Cookie]]''. The film has been described by the British film critic [[Philip French]] as their "one truly great film".<ref name="French">{{cite news|last=French|first=Philip|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jul/01/features.philipfrench|title=The nicest actor on the lot|work=The Observer|date=July 1, 2001|access-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref> Matthau went on to win an Academy Award for his performance in the film. Another nine films with them co-starring eventually followed, including ''[[The Odd Couple (film)|The Odd Couple]]'' (1968), ''[[The Front Page (1974 film)|The Front Page]]'' (1974), and ''[[Buddy Buddy]]'' (1981).<ref name="Krikorian">{{cite news|last=Krikorian|first=Greg|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jack-lemmon-20010629-story.html|title=Jack Lemmon, Everyman Star, Dies|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 29, 2001|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> In 1967, Lemmon's production company Jalem produced the film ''[[Cool Hand Luke]]'', which starred [[Paul Newman]] in the lead role.<ref name="Baxter" /> The film was a box-office and critical success. Newman, in gratitude, offered him the role of the Sundance Kid in ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]'', but Lemmon turned it down.<ref>''A slice of Lemmon for extra character'', Bob Flynn, Panorama, p. 7, Canberra Times, August 15, 1998</ref> The best-known Lemmon-Matthau film is ''The Odd Couple'' (1968), based on the [[Neil Simon]] play, with the lead characters being the mismatched Felix Unger (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau), respectively neurotical and cynical.<ref name="Gatward">{{cite web|last=Gatward|first=Hannah|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/jack-lemmon-10-essential-films|title=Jack Lemmon: 10 essential films|work=BFI Film Forever|date=February 8, 2018|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref>

=== 1970–1989: Established actor ===
[[File:Chaplin oscar.JPG|thumb|right|[[Charlie Chaplin]] (right) receiving an [[Honorary Academy Award]] from Lemmon at the [[44th Academy Awards]] in 1972]]
The much-admired comedy ''[[Kotch]]'' (1971), the only film Lemmon directed,<ref name="Baxter" /> starred Matthau, who was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. ''[[The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)|The Out-of-Towners]]'' (1970) was another Neil Simon-scripted film in which Lemmon appeared. In 1972, at the [[44th Academy Awards]], Jack Lemmon presented the Honorary Academy Award to silent screen legend [[Charlie Chaplin]]. Lemmon starred with [[Juliet Mills]] in ''[[Avanti!]]'' (1972) and appeared with Matthau in ''The Front Page'' (1974). Both films were directed by Wilder. He felt Lemmon had a natural tendency toward overacting that had to be tempered; Wilder's 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." Wilder, though, also once said: "Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon".<ref name="LdnTimes2001" /> Lemmon in ''[[Save the Tiger]]'' (1973) plays Harry Stoner, a businessman in the garment trade who finds someone to commit arson by burning down his warehouse to avoid bankruptcy.<ref name="Harmetz" /><ref name="Baxter" /> The project was rejected by multiple studios, but [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] was prepared to make the film if it were<!-- subjunctive --> budgeted for only $1&nbsp;million. Lemmon was so keen to play the part that he worked for union scale, then $165 a week.<ref name="NYTAP2001" /> The role was demanding; like the character, Lemmon came close to breaking point: "I started to crack as the character did," he recalled. "I just kept getting deeper and deeper into the character's despair."<ref name="Krikorian" /> For this film, Lemmon won the Best Actor Oscar. Having won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for ''Mister Roberts'', he became the first actor to achieve that particular double, although [[Helen Hayes]] had achieved this feat three years earlier in the equivalent female categories.<ref name="Harmetz" />
[[File:Jack Lemmon 2002.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lemmon at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center]]]]
Lemmon was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in ''[[The China Syndrome]]'' (1979), for which he was also awarded [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Howard|first=Annie|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/cannes-winners-who-went-oscars-887120/item/conversation-cannes-winners-who-went-887522|title=Cannes Winners Who Went on to the Oscars|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=May 9, 2016|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref> In ''[[Tribute (play)|Tribute]]'', a stage drama first performed in 1979, he played a press agent who has cancer while trying to mend his relationship with his son. The Broadway production ran for 212 performances, but it gained mixed reviews. Nevertheless, Lemmon was nominated for the [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play]].<ref name="Bernstein" /> For his role in the [[Tribute (1980 film)|1980 film version]], Lemmon gained another Oscar nomination.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/interview-with-jack-lemmon|title=Interview with Jack Lemmon|website=Roger Ebert|date=March 8, 1981|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref> His final Oscar nomination was for ''[[Missing (1982 film)|Missing]]'' (1982), as a conservative father whose son has vanished in Chile during the period the country was under the rule of [[Augusto Pinochet]]; he won another Cannes award for his performance.<ref name="Bernstein" /> A contemporary failure was his last film with Billy Wilder, ''[[Buddy Buddy]]'' (1981). Lemmon's character attempts suicide in a hotel while a hitman (Matthau) is in the next suite.<ref>{{cite web|last=Axmaker|first=Sean|url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/489518%257C0/Buddy-Buddy.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802052926/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/489518%257C0/Buddy-Buddy.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2020|title=''Buddy, Buddy''|work=TCM|access-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref> Another flop at the box office was his final film with Blake Edwards, another of his friends; in ''[[That's Life! (film)|That's Life!]]'' (1986), he appeared in the director's self-autobiographical part with Edwards's wife, [[Julie Andrews]]. A seductress role was played by Lemmon's wife, [[Felicia Farr]].<ref name="Baxter" /> His later career is said to have been affected by other bad choices, such as ''[[Mass Appeal (film)|Mass Appeal]]'' (1984), about a conservative Catholic priest, ''[[Macaroni (film)|Macaroni]]'' (1985), a tale about old Army friends with [[Marcello Mastroianni]], and ''That's Life''.<ref name="DTelobit" /> Lemmon received the [[AFI Life Achievement Award]] in 1988.

Lemmon was nominated for a Tony Award the second and last time for a revival of [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s [[Long Day's Journey into Night#1986 Broadway revival|''Long Day's Journey into Night'']] in 1986;<ref>{{cite web |title=Jack Lemmon Tony Awards Info |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Jack%20Lemmon |website=www.broadwayworld.com |access-date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> Lemmon had taken the lead role of James Tyrone in a production directed by [[Jonathan Miller]].<ref name="Richards" /> It had a London run in 1987, Lemmon's first theatre work in the city, and a television version followed. A return to London in 1989 for the antiwar play ''Veterans' Day'',<!-- both at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] --> with [[Michael Gambon]], was poorly received by critics, and following modest audiences, soon closed.<ref name="Baxter" /><ref name="LdnTimes2001" /> Lemmon also worked with [[Kevin Spacey]] in the films ''[[The Murder of Mary Phagan]]'' (1987), ''[[Dad (1989 film)|Dad]]'' (1989), and ''[[Glengarry Glen Ross (film)|Glengarry Glen Ross]]'' (1992), as well as the production of ''Long Day's Journey into Night''.

=== 1990–2000: Television work and later roles ===
Lemmon and Matthau had small parts in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]'' (1991), in which both men appeared without sharing screen time.<ref>{{cite news|last=Natale|first=Richard|url=https://variety.com/2001/scene/people-news/oscar-winner-jack-lemmon-dead-at-76-1117802077/|title=Oscar winner Jack Lemmon dead at 76|work=Variety|date=June 28, 2019|access-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref> The duo reunited in ''[[Grumpy Old Men (film)|Grumpy Old Men]]'' (1993). The film was a surprise hit. Later in the decade, they starred together in ''[[The Grass Harp (film)|The Grass Harp]]'' (1995), ''[[Grumpier Old Men]]'' (1995), ''[[Out to Sea]]'' (1997), and ''[[The Odd Couple II]]'' (1998). While ''Grumpier Old Men'' grossed slightly more than its predecessor, ''The Odd Couple II'' was a box-office disappointment.<ref name="DTelobit" />

In 1996, Lemmon was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album|Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Or Nonmusical Album]] for his narration on "Harry S Truman: A Journey To Independence".<ref>{{cite web |title=Jack Lemmon |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/jack-lemmon |website=GRAMMY.com |access-date=February 18, 2019 |language=en |date=February 15, 2019}}</ref> Around the same time, Lemmon starred along with [[James Garner]] in the comedy ''[[My Fellow Americans]]'' (1996) as two feuding ex-presidents. The supporting cast included [[Dan Aykroyd]] and [[Lauren Bacall]].  That same year, he played Marcellus in [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s 1996 film version of ''[[Hamlet (1996 film)|Hamlet]]''.

For his role in the [[William Friedkin]]-directed<ref name="Krikorian" /> version of ''[[12 Angry Men (1997 film)|12 Angry Men]]'' (1997), Lemmon was nominated for Best Actor in a Made-for-TV Movie in the [[55th Golden Globe Awards|1998 Golden Globe Awards]].
The award ceremony was memorable because [[Ving Rhames]], who won the Golden Globe for his portrayal of ''[[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King: Only in America]]'', stunned the A-list crowd and television audience by calling Lemmon up to the stage and handing him the award. Lemmon tried not to accept but Rhames insisted. The emotional crowd gave Lemmon a standing ovation to which he replied that, "This is one of the nicest, sweetest moments I have ever known in my life."<ref>{{cite web|title=5 Memorable Golden Globe Moments
|publisher=News24 |date=February 27, 2021 |url=https://www.news24.com/channel/movies/news/5-memorable-golden-globe-moments-20210227-2}}</ref>
The role was as the contentious juror, played in the original [[12 Angry Men (1957 film)|1957 film version]] by [[Henry Fonda]]. Lemmon appeared in the remake with [[George C. Scott]] and reunited with him in another television film, this time ''[[Inherit the Wind (1999 film)|Inherit the Wind]]'' (1999).<ref name="Bernstein" />

Lemmon was a guest voice on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[The Twisted World of Marge Simpson]]" (1997), as the owner of the pretzel business.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-classic-the-twisted-world-of-marge-sim-1798182395|title=The Simpsons (Classic): "The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson"|website= The AV Club|access-date= June 25, 2024}}</ref> For his role as Morrie Schwartz in his final television role, ''[[Tuesdays with Morrie (film)|Tuesdays with Morrie]]'' (1999), Lemmon won the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2000/outstanding-lead-actor-in-a-miniseries-or-a-movie|title= 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards|website= Television Academy|access-date= June 25, 2024}}</ref> His final film role was uncredited: the narrator in [[Robert Redford]]'s 2000 film ''[[The Legend of Bagger Vance]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://variety.com/1999/film/news/redford-mixes-lemmon-into-bagger-vance-1117756832/|title= Redford mixes Lemmon into 'Bagger Vance'|website= Variety|date= October 20, 1999|access-date= June 25, 2024}}</ref>