Jack Lemmon

John Uhler Lemmon III was born on February 8, 1925, at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, the only child of Mildred Burgess LaRue and John Uhler Lemmon Jr., who held the position of vice president of sales at the Doughnut Corporation of America. Lemmon's father was of Irish heritage, and Lemmon was raised Catholic. His parents separated permanently when he was eighteen, though they never divorced. As a child he was frequently ill, undergoing three ear operations before the age of ten and spending a cumulative two years in hospital by the time he turned twelve. He later stated that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight.

Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School, Rivers Country Day School, and Phillips Andover Academy before entering Harvard College, where he graduated in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in war service sciences. At Harvard he served as president of the Hasty Pudding Club and vice president of both the Dramatic and Delphic Clubs. While on academic probation and forbidden from performing, he circumvented the restriction by appearing in productions under pseudonyms including Timothy Orange. During World War II he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy through the V-12 Navy College Training Program, serving as a communications officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain before returning to complete his degree. Following graduation he studied acting under Uta Hagen at HB Studio in New York City. He was also an accomplished pianist, having taken up the instrument at fourteen and learned to play by ear, and for roughly a year worked unpaid as a waiter, master of ceremonies, and pianist at the Old Knick bar on Second Avenue in New York City.

Lemmon's Broadway career spanned 1953 to 1986. He made his Broadway debut in a 1953 revival of the comedy Room Service, though the production closed after two weeks. Despite that short run, talent scout Max Arnow spotted him during the engagement, redirecting his career toward Hollywood. He returned to Broadway in Face of a Hero and, decades later, in two productions that earned him Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Play: the Bernard Slade drama Tribute in 1979 and a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night in 1986.

His screen career began with a small part in The Lady Takes a Sailor in 1949, following approximately 400 television appearances between 1948 and 1953. His first leading film role came in It Should Happen to You in 1954 alongside Judy Holliday, and the two reunited the same year in Phffft. His portrayal of Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts in 1955, alongside James Cagney, Henry Fonda, and William Powell, earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Director John Ford cast him after viewing a Columbia screen test directed by Richard Quine. Lemmon went on to star in six films directed by Quine, including My Sister Eileen, The Notorious Landlady, and How to Murder Your Wife.

A long creative partnership with director Billy Wilder began with Some Like It Hot in 1959, in which Lemmon performed approximately eighty percent of his role in drag alongside Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe. The film brought him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He received additional Best Actor nominations for The Apartment in 1960, Days of Wine and Roses in 1962, The China Syndrome in 1979, Tribute in 1980, and Missing in 1982, ultimately winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for Save the Tiger in 1973. His screen accolades also included five Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1988, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1991, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996.

Following the expiration of his exclusive contract with Columbia Pictures, Lemmon formed his own production company, Jalem Productions, in early 1960, with the name drawn from the initials of his own name. Through Jalem he produced Cool Hand Luke in 1967 and Kotch in 1971, the latter of which he also directed. He is further known for his roles in Irma la Douce, The Great Race, and Glengarry Glen Ross. A celebrated collaboration with actor Walter Matthau, which The New York Times described as one of Hollywood's most successful pairings, produced ten films between 1966 and 1998, among them The Fortune Cookie, The Odd Couple, The Front Page, and Grumpy Old Men.

On television, Lemmon received Emmy nominations for The Entertainer in 1975, The Murder of Mary Phagan in 1988, 12 Angry Men in 1997, and Inherit the Wind in 1999, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Tuesdays with Morrie in 1999. Jack Lemmon died on June 27, 2001.