Farewell Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon died of cancer this week, aged 76. The veteran actor had surgery earlier this year to remove his gall bladder and also suffered from pneumonia. Best known for his double act in The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau and his cross-dressing role in Some Like It Hot, Lemmon won two Oscars during his 50 year career, one for best Supporting Actor in 1955 for Mister Roberts and the other for Best Actor in 1974's Save The Tiger. He also won the Best Actor Award at Cannes for The China Syndrome in 1980 and Missing in 1983. In 1998 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Film Institute. Born John Uhler Lemmon III in a Boston elevator in 1925 (yes, you read that right), Lemmon joined the Dramatic Club during his time at Harvard. He graduated with a degree in War Service Sciences and subsequently became a Navy ensign, before moving into show business with performances on radio, TV and Broadway. Lemmon's film debut came in 1954 with It Should Happen To You, while his major break came with Mister Roberts in 1955 for directors John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy. Lemmon appeared in the 1959 Billy Wilder classic Some Like It Hot, which saw the actor drag up alongside Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe - a turn that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actor. Lemmon was nominated for the same award the following year when he worked for Wilder again on The Apartment and he founded one of cinema's greatest comedy double acts with Walter Matthau in The Odd Couple in 1968. Playing the uptight Felix, Lemmon and Matthau went on to work together on another six films, including 1993's Grumpy Old Men. Lemmon also directed Matthau in his only film behind the camera, 1971's Kotch, while his Broadway directorial debut came in 1985 with a staging of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Last year, Lemmon was awarded a Golden Globe for Inherit The Wind and also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmys. His first marriage, to Cynthia Stone, which gave him a son Christopher, ended in 1956. He leaves his second wife, Felicia Farr and a daughter, Courtney. Jack Lemmon 1925 - 2001