Jack Lemmon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jack Lemmon
Lemmon in 1968
Born	John Uhler Lemmon III (1925-02-08)February 8, 1925 Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	June 27, 2001(2001-06-27) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Alma mater	Harvard College
Occupation	Actor, musician
Years active	1949–2000
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Stone ​ ​ (m. 1950; div. 1956)​ Felicia Farr ​ ​ (m. 1962)​
Children	2, including Chris Lemmon
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1945–46
Rank	Ensign

John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001), better known as Jack Lemmon, was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor.

Life and career

Lemmon's Star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, California, USA July 19, 2012

Lemmon was born in an elevator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, where his father, John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., was the president of a doughnut company. His mother was Mildred Burgess Noel.

At Harvard, Lemmon was a member of the V-12 Navy College Training Program and was commissioned by the United States Navy, serving briefly as an ensign on an aircraft carrier during World War II before returning to Harvard after completing his military service. After graduation with a degree in War Service Sciences in 1947, Lemmon took up acting professionally, working on radio, television and Broadway.

Lemmon's film debut was a bit part in the 1949 film The Lady Takes a Sailor, but he was not noticed until his official debut opposite Judy Holliday in the 1954 It Should Happen to You. He became a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, starring in many of his his films.

Throughout his career, Lemmon often appeared in films alongside actor Walter Matthau. They would go on to be one of the most beloved duos in cinema history. Lemmon was one of the best-liked actors in Hollywood. He is remembered as taking time for people, as the actor Kevin Spacey recalled in a tribute. In his autobiography, My Life, Burt Reynolds recalls Lemmon as the quintessential gentleman who never spoke ill of anyone, even if they deserved it.

Death

Jack Lemmon's grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery

Lemmon died of metastatic cancer of the bladder on June 27, 2001. He had been fighting the disease, privately, for two years before his death. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California, buried near his friend and co-star, Walter Matthau, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon. His gravestone reads like a title screen from a film: "JACK LEMMON in"

Filmography

Film

Television

Images for kids

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  Tony Curtis and Lemmon in Some Like it Hot (1959)

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  Lemmon and MacLaine in The Apartment (1960)

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  Charlie Chaplin (right) receiving an Honorary Academy Award from Lemmon at the 44th Academy Awards in 1972

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  Lemmon's headstone (inscription reads "JACK LEMMON in")

See also

In Spanish: Jack Lemmon para niños