Jack Lemmon
08 February, 1925
| 1.75 m
Actor
Producer
Director
Biography
Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Lankford Noel and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. His ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and English. Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to Rivers Country Day School, then located in nearby Brookline. After RCDS, he went to high school at Phillips Andover Academy. Jack was a member of the Harvard class of 1947, where he was in Navy ROTC and 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 To może się zdarzyć każdemu (1954). He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts (1955). He received nominations in comedy (Pół żartem, pół serio (1959), Garsoniera (1960)) and drama (Dni wina i róż (1962), Chiński syndrom (1979), Haracz (1980) and Zaginiony (1982)). He won the Best Actor Oscar for Ocalić tygrysa (1973) and the Cannes Best Actor award for "Syndrome" and "Missing". He made his debut as a director with Kotch (1971) 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.
Movies
A dedicated bachelor drunkenly marries a young woman and immediately lives to regret it.
Troubled garment manufacturer Harry Stoner tries to make his small debt-ridden factory survive, hires an arsonist to burn down a building so Harry can collect the insurance money, he pimps for clients, and has flashbacks to the war.
While his mom recovers in hospital from a heart attack, John puts his busy life on hold to fly home and help his elderly dad around the house. John's son later joins them and they all truly bond for the first and, tragically, final time.
During a high-profile Mafia testimony case in California's Riverside County, a hired killer checks into a hotel room near the courthouse, while his depressed next-door neighbor wants to commit suicide over marital problems.