John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 - June 27, 2001), better known as Jack Lemmon, was a two-time Academy Award and Cannes award-winning American actor and comedian. He starred in legendary classics such as Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, Irma La Douce, The Great Race, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, My Fellow Americans, The China Syndrome and Short Cuts.
Jack Lemmon's father was the president of a doughnut company, and Jack attended prep schools before Harvard, where he was in 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 It Should Happen to You (1954). He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts (1955). He received nominations in comedy (Some Like It Hot (1959), Apartment, The (1960)) and drama (Days of Wine and Roses (1962), China Syndrome, The (1979), Tribute (1980) and Missing (1982)). He won the Best Actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (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.
