Two-time Academy Award winner Jack Lemmon (76) died of complications from cancer last night, his publicist said today.
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Jack Lemmon (76) who
died of complications from cancer last night. |
Born John Uhler Lemmon III in Boston on February 8th, 1925, - in an elevator because his mother refused to leave a winning bridge hand - Lemmon had his heart set on acting from an early age . While in the navy at the end of World War Two, he studied acting at Harvard.
His dithering style of acting suited both comedy and drama and won him the enormous devotion of fans and colleagues.
Happiness, said director Billy Wilder, is working with Jack Lemmon. Whether playing the comically conniving Ensign Pulver in Mr Roberts(1955) for which he won the Best Supporting Award, or the desperate businessman in Save the Tiger(1973), which won him the Best Actor Oscar, Lemmon displayed a sense of humanity that audiences could easily relate to.
Critic David Shipman called Lemmon Mr Average Guy, Junior Executive version, immeasurably committed to right and truth, and permanently insecure about the choice he has made.
Lemmon also starred in such popular movies as Some Like It Hot(1959), The Apartment(1960), The Days of Wine and Roses(1962), The Odd Couple(1968), The Front Page(1974), The Prisoner of Second Avenue(1975) and The China Syndrome(1979).
He also teamed up with his friend Walter Matthau in several films - most notably Fortune Cookieand the surprise hit Grumpy Old Menin 1993.
His last known work was made-for-television film Tuesdays with Morriein 1999 that won him an Emmy.
An accomplished pianist, Lemmon was nominated for eight Academy Awards and, in 1988, won the American Film Institute's 16th Life Achievement Award. But he attributed much of his success to remarkable coincidences that have nothing to do with me.
"But I will say this," he said.When you're conducting an overall career - be it in acting or golf - it's a selfish process. You must believe totally in what you are doing even if it is garbage."