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Beloved Actor Jack Lemmon Dies at 76

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran actor Jack Lemmon, whose roles ranged from brash or befuddled young men to grumpy old ones and who formed one of cinema's great odd couples with late partner Walter Matthau, has died at age 76, a spokesman said Thursday.

Lemmon, a two time Oscar winner and an Emmy winner for ''Tuesdays with Morrie,'' died Wednesday night at the University of Southern California's Norris Cancer Center with his wife, former actress Felicia Farr, and his son and daughter at his side, his longtime spokesman Warren Cowan said.

He said that Lemmon died of complications from cancer.

The Harvard-educated son of a baker, Lemmon dreamed of becoming an actor during a sickly boyhood. His father gave him the go-ahead, $300 in cash and his blessing and Lemmon was off and running winding up in Hollywood in the early 1950s as the co-star of Broadway great Judy Holliday in two films.

Lemmon's career took off in 1955 when he won an Oscar for best supporting actor as Ensign Pulver in ``Mister Roberts.'' The role was ideal for Lemmon -- he played a dithering, conniving ship's officer who develops a backbone thanks to an inspiring mentor -- Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts.

It was his first Oscar. He received a best actor's one for ''Save the Tiger'' in 1973 for his portrayal of a clothing manufacturer trying desperately to save his business.

He received six other Oscar nominations.

Lemmon was known for two great longtime screen collaborations -- one with director Billy Wilder and the other with actor Walter Matthau.

He made the screen classic ``Some Like it Hot'' with Wilder directing and he playing one of two Chicago musicians who hide out from the mob by posing as women. In the film he winds up being courted by a confused Joe E. Brown while his partner played by Tony Curtis does a lot better -- Marilyn Monroe.

``Happiness,'' said director Wilder, ``is working with Jack Lemmon.''

LEMMON TEAMS UP WITH MATTHAU

It was Wilder who teamed Lemmon with Matthau in ``The Fortune Cookie'' in 1966. They starred in the 1968 film version of Neil Simon's ``The Odd Couple'' in which Lemmon played the fastidious ''neatnik'' to Matthau's total slob. And in 1993, they made the popular film ``Grumpy Old Men.'' Matthau died last year.

Lemmon made seven films with Wilder and eight with Matthau.

Whether playing the comically conniving Pulver or the desperate businessman in ``Save the Tiger,''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 ``The Apartment'' (1960), ``The Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), ``The Front Page'' (1974), ``The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1975) and ``The China Syndrome'' (1979).

His last known work was a made for television film ``Tuesdays with Morrie'' in 1999 which won him an Emmy.

An accomplished pianist, Lemmon was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards (news - web sites) and, in 1988, won the American Film Institute (news - web sites)'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.''

In 1989, he played co-star Ted Danson's father in the movie ''Dad'' and also appeared in the London version of the play ''Veteran's Day.''

Born John Uhler Lemmon III in Boston on Feb. 8, 1925 -- in an elevator because his mother refused to leave a winning bridge hand -- Lemmon from an early age had his heart set on acting. While in the Navy at the end of World War Two, he studied acting at Harvard.

Theater work in stock companies led to hundreds of appearances on early 1950's TV programs, followed by his casting opposite Holliday in ``It Should Happen To You'' (1954).

In that his first movie, Lemmon's screen personality was formed. He usually played an earnest but naive man whose good intentions run afoul of his manic energy.

OSCAR-WINNING ROLE

Lemmon's Oscar-winning role in ``Mr. Roberts'' earned him plenty of movie work, but nothing particularly popular until Billy Wilder's hit ``Some Like It Hot.''

Lemmon continued to take acting risks in the sex-charged ``The Apartment,'' the liquor-soaked ``Days of Wine and Roses'' and the titillating ``Irma la Douce'' (1963). Five years later, Lemmon recovered from a string of less popular movies by playing the finicky Felix Unger in the movie version of Neil Simon's ``The Odd Couple.'' Angered by the usual role restrictions placed on Hollywood stars, Lemmon throughout the rest of his career mixed ''star'' roles in the likes of ``The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' and ''The China Syndrome'' with smaller roles in such films as ``Airport '77'' (1977).

He also produced the 1967 hit ``Cool Hand Luke'' with Paul Newman and directed frequent co-star and close friend Matthau in ''Kotch'' (1971).

His later films included the dramas ``Missing'' (1982) and ''Mass Appeal'' (1984) and the serio-comic ``That's Life (news - Y! TV)'' (1986), with Julie Andrews. In 1978, he appeared on Broadway in ``Tribute'' and he returned to the New York stage in 1985 in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's ``Long Day's Journey Into Night'' that was taped for transmission on cable television.

Lemmon, who liked to play pool and the piano, had a son, Chris, an actor, with his first wife, Cynthia Stone (their marriage lasted from 1950-56).

In 1962, he married actress Felicia Farr, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney.

Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin once wrote of Lemmon: ``What marks all the best work Lemmon has done are some trace elements of the man himself, some perceived truth that as clown or tragic figure, the persona within the character is likable, decent, intelligent, vulnerable, worth knowing; disorganized possibly, flawed almost certainly, but forever worth knowing.''

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2001

Answers

Such a talented actor, I am saddened again, this is Carroll, Jack, .......they say it comes in threes.............

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2001

They were BOTH 76.

I'm now at an age, 47, where there are starting to be very substantial people in the world of that age as well, or at least contemporaries of my older siblings. (My bro went to school with Dubya; surely I'm too young to have a brother who is old enough to be president of the world.) I wonder what it is like for the older generation to see their famous contemporaries pass on, let alone stalwarts who are quite a bit younger. My dad, 90 y.o., is just a couple months younger than Reagan. I assume when someone like Reagan goes, it must be a reminder of your own mentality.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2001

You are exactly right, Brooks, and it is sad sometimes, to see GREAT men, that even they are still with us, they are not. (mentally)

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001

(Of course, I meant "mortality", but in Reagan's case, mentality works as well...)

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001