Beloved actor Jack Lemmon, perhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated performance in Some Like It Hot and for his turn as the fastidious Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, has died of cancer aged 76. He recently had his gall bladder removed and suffered from pneumonia earlier this year, before succumbing to the cancer.
“He is one of the greatest actors in the history of the business,” said his longtime spokesman Warren Cowan. “He was an absolutely beautiful person, but everybody who knew him said that.”
Jack, who starred in a series of comedies alongside the late Walter Matthau, was known for his portrayals of the Everyman confronted with bizarre and hilarious situations and disasters. And while he’ll be remembered with a smile for his turns in outrageous laugh-fests from The Fortune Cookie to Mister Roberts, his dramatic offerings were among his most lauded.
In 1962 he appeared in Days Of Wine And Roses, for which he received his first lead actor Oscar nomination, playing an alcoholic who induces his wife into joining his drinking binges. He was to rack up an impressive seven Academy Award nominations, and take home two trophies – the first for 1955’s Mister Roberts and the second in 1973 for Save The Tiger.
His on-screen clutziness occassionally carried over into his personal life, as one of the actor’s own anecdotes on his first trip to the Oscars as a nominee. “Naturally I was thrilled, and I arrived at the Pantages Theatre in my best tuxedo,” Jack said. “I walked up a ramp to a platform for an interview, and I leaned against a railing. Only after I finished did I see a sign that said ‘Fresh Paint’. So when I went up on the stage to accept my Oscar, I had this white streak across the back of my tuxedo.”
Jack also made a name for himself on stage, appearing in a 1985 Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, among others.
In his last years, Jack found his talents best appreciated on the small screen in critically acclaimed productions ranging from Inherit The Wind, alongside George C Scott, to an adaptation of the best-selling work Tuesdays With Morrie, for which he won an Emmy.
Jack was born on February 8, 1925, in an elevator at a Newton, Massachusetts hospital.
He grew up comfortably, the son of a bakery business owner, and made his acting debut at age four. He taught himself to play piano and overcame a number of childhood illnesses, suffering through a series of operations that in part led to his famously odd posture. At Harvard University he excelled in drama and after returning from a tour of duty in the navy, he announced his plans to make a go at acting. With $300 in his pocket, he moved to New York to embark on what would be a truly inspiring career.
Jack was married briefly to actress Cynthia Stone and the couple had one child, Chris, in 1954. They split in 1956 and Jack re-married in 1962 to actress Felicia Farr. The two had a daughter, Courtney, in 1966.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
