Jack Lemmon

Actors

John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor and musician who was nominated for an Academy Award eight times, winning twice. He starred in over 60 films (frequently with writer/director Billy Wilder), such as Mister Roberts (1955, for which he won the year’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, and William Powell; Some Like It Hot (1959), with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis; Richard Quine’s It Happened to Jane (1959), with Doris Day and Ernie Kovacs; The Apartment (1960), with Shirley Maclane and Fred MacMurray; Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Irma la Douce (1963), David Swift’s Good Neighbor Sam (1964), with Romy Schneider, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine, and Michael Connors; The Great Race (1965), with Curtis and Natalie Wood; The Odd Couple (1968, and its sequel The Odd Couple II (1998), both with frequent co-star Walter Matthau; Save the Tiger (1973, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor), The China Syndrome (1979), with Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas; Missing (1982), with Sissy Spacek; Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), with Al Pacino, Alan Arkin and Ed Harris; My Fellow Americans (1996), with James Garner and Dan Aykroyd.

Other notable roles include Dad (1989), with Ted Danson, Olympia Dukakis, Kathy Baker, Spacey and Ethan Hawke; Oliver Stone‘s JFK (1992), with Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Spacek, and John Candy; Robert Altman‘s Short Cuts (1993), with Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Chris Penn, Frances McDormand, Lori Singer, Andie MacDowell, Buck Henry, Tom Waits, and Lily Tomlin; and Hamlet (1996), with Kenneth Branagh (who also directed), Dereck Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Brian Blessed, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud and Ken Dodd. His final role was as the uncredited narrator in Robert Redford’s The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), with Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949) – directed by Michael Curtiz – uncredited bit part
It Should Happen to You (1954) – directed by George Cukor
Phffft (1954) – directed by Mark Robson
Three for the Show (1955) – directed by H.C. Potter
Mister Roberts (1955) – directed by John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy
My Sister Eileen (1955) – directed by Richard Quine
Hollywood Bronc Busters (1955) – directed by Ralph Staub – documentary short
You Can’t Run Away from It (1956) – directed by Dick Powell
Fire Down Below (1957) – directed by Robert Parrish
Operation Mad Ball (1957) – directed by Richard Quine
Cowboy (1958) – directed by Delmer Daves
Bell, Book and Candle (1958) – directed by Richard Quine
Some Like It Hot (1959)** – directed by Billy Wilder
It Happened to Jane (1959) – directed by Richard Quine
The Apartment (1960) – directed by Billy Wilder
Stowaway in the Sky (1960) – directed by Albert Lamorisse – narrator
Pepe (1960) – directed by George Sidney
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1961) – directed by Richard Murphy
The Notorious Landlady (1962) – directed by Richard Quine
Days of Wine and Roses (1962) – directed by Blake Edwards
Irma la Douce (1963) – directed by Billy Wilder
Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963) – directed by David Swift
Good Neighbor Sam (1964) – directed by David Swift
How to Murder Your Wife (1965) – directed by Richard Quine
The Great Race (1965) – directed by Blake Edwards
The Fortune Cookie (1966) – directed by Billy Wilder
Luv (1967) – directed by Clive Donner
There Comes a Day (1968) – short
The Odd Couple (1968) – directed by Gene Saks
The April Fools (1969) – directed by Stuart Rosenberg
The Out-of-Towners (1970) – directed by Arthur Hiller
Kotch (1971) – director – also uncredited actor
The War Between Men and Women (1972) – directed by Melville Shavelson
Avanti! (1972) – directed by Billy Wilder
Save the Tiger (1973) – directed by John G. Avildsen
Killer Cop (1974) – directed by Luciano Ercoli
The Front Page (1974) – directed by Billy Wilder
Wednesday (1975) – directed by Marvin Kupfer – short
The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) – directed by Melvin Frank
The Gentleman Tramp (1976) – directed by Richard Patterson – documentary – narrator
Alex & the Gypsy (1976) – directed by John Korty
Airport ’77 (1977) – directed by Jerry Jameson
The China Syndrome (1979) – directed by James Bridges
Tribute (1980) – directed by Bob Clark
Buddy Buddy (1981) – directed by Billy Wilder
Missing (1982) – directed by Costa-Gavras
Mass Appeal (1984) – directed by Glenn Jordan
Macaroni (1985) – directed by Ettore Scola
That’s Life! (1986) – directed by Blake Edwards
Long Day’s Journey into Night (1987) – directed by Jonathan Miller – TV movie
Dad (1989) – directed by Gary David Goldberg
JFK (1991) – directed by Oliver Stone
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy (1992) – directed by Barbara Kopple & Danny Schechter – documentary
The Player (1992) – directed by Robert Altman – cameo as himself
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) – directed by James Foley
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman In Carver County (1993) – directed by John Dorr & Mike Kaplan – documentary
Short Cuts (1993) – directed by Robert Altman
Grumpy Old Men (1993) – directed by Donald Petrie
The Grass Harp (1995) – directed by Charles Matthau
Grumpier Old Men (1995)* – directed by Howard Deutch
Getting Away with Murder (1996) – directed by Harvey Miller
My Fellow Americans (1996) – Peter Segal
Hamlet (1996) – directed by Kenneth Branagh
Out to Sea (1997)* – directed by Martha Coolidge
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s (1997) – directed by Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini – documentary
Puppies for Sale (1998) – directed by Ronald Krauss – Short
The Odd Couple II (1998) – directed by Howard Deutch
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) – directed by Robert Redford – uncredited

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