Editing Jack Lemmon (section)

=== 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).