Jack Lemmon's father was the president of a doughnut company, and Jack attended prep schools before Harvard, where he was in 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. He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts. He received nominations in comedy (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment) and drama (Days of Wine and Roses, The China Syndrome, Tribute and Missing). He won the Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger and the Cannes Best Actor award for "Syndrome" and "Missing". He made his debut as a director with Kotch 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.
An accomplished, self-taught pianist, he wrote the theme for the movie Tribute and played jazz in a Bobby Short TV special. Ranked #47 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] His son, Chris Lemmon, appeared with him in Airport '77. Son, Chris Lemmon, with Cynthia Stone. Daughter, Courtney Lemmon (b. 1966), with Felicia Farr. Born at 2:00pm-EST Lemmon admits to having had a serious drinking problem at one time, which is one reason he looks back on his Oscar-winning role as Harry Stoner in Save the Tiger (1973) as perhaps the most gratifying, emotionally fulfilling performance of his career. He was pleasantly shocked by Golden Globe-winner Ving Rhames in 1998 when Rhames called him up to the stage and all but gave him the award for Best Actor in TV Movie he had just won, to express his admiration to the veteran actor. Described his flamboyant, authoritarian mother as "Tallulah Bankhead on a road show". Laughs about how she used to hang out with her girl friends at the Ritz Bar in Boston, and, tried to have her cremation ashes, placed on the bar. (Mgt. refused) Since his middle initial was U., Jack had to deal with ribbing from kids who taunted him with: "Jack, u lemon." In Harvard, he was in Navy ROTC and graduated with a degree in "War Service Sciences." He studied with Uta Hagen, and considers her his prime early mentor. Lemmon's dad, a bakery executive, didn't approve of his son taking up acting, but told him he should continue with it only as long as he felt passion for it, adding: "The day I don't find romance in a loaf of bread..." His dying words to Jack were: "Spread a little sunshine." Was born February 8, 1925, in an elevator at a Newton, Massachusetts, hospital. 1947 graduate of Harvard University Lemmon passed away four days shy of one year after his frequent co-star, Walter Matthau. Was president of the Harvard Hasty Pudding Club. Graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. in 1943. During WW II, he served in the Naval Reserve and was the communications officer on the USS Lake Champlain. Before any take he would say, "It's magic time." Is a recipient of the Connor Award, an award given to someone who displays an excellence in the communicative arts, handed out by the brothers of the fraternity Phi Alpha Tau from Emerson College in Boston. Was good friends with Walter Matthau. He was voted the 33rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. He once had a flavor of ice cream named after him, ("Jack Lemmon" flavor); the eponymous treat was created, marketed and sold by Baskin & Robbins 31 Flavors. It was still being produced in the early 1980s but has since been discontinued and is not currently listed on the Baskin & Robbins website. Was twice nominated for Broadway's Best Actor (Play) Tony Award: in 1979, for "Tribute," a role he recreated in the film version of the same name, Tribute; and in 1986, for a revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Jouney into Night." Appeared on an episode of The Simpsons, in which he convinced Marge to get into the pretzel business. Shelley Levene, his character from Glengarry Glen Ross, was the inspiration for another Simpsons character, the usually jobless Gil, who Marge first met while working at a real estate firm. He was voted the 45th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Did all of his own stunts for My Fellow Americans. First actor to win two "Best Actor" Award at the Cannes Film Festival. (Dean Stockwell won twice at the festival before, but he had to share both of his awards with his co-stars) He and Walter Matthau acted together in 10 movies: Buddy Buddy, The Fortune Cookie, The Front Page, The Grass Harp, Grumpier Old Men, Grumpy Old Men, JFK, The Odd Couple II, The Odd Couple and Out to Sea. Lemmon also directed Matthau in Kotch. Billy Wilder directed him in 7 movies: The Apartment, Avanti!, Buddy Buddy, The Fortune Cookie, The Front Page, Irma la Douce and Some Like It Hot. He and The China Syndrome co-stars Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda have all won Oscars for Leading Roles. Lemmon won for Save the Tiger, Fonda won for Klute, and Douglas won for Wall Street. His headstone reads "Jack Lemmon in" Appears in Mister Roberts with Henry Fonda, in which he takes over Fonda's position of Morale Officer when Fonda is promoted. In 12 Angry Men, Lemmon plays the same juror that Fonda played in the original. His performance as Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot is ranked #65 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). A passionate but unskilled golfer who tried for 33 years to make the cut at Pebble Beach but didn't. Starred opposite Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts in 1955 and opposite Henry's daughter, Jane Fonda, in The China Syndrome in 1979. His performance as Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot is ranked #29 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Father-in-law of Gina Raymond. He was born in an elevator.