Jack Lemmon

He was married to actress, Cynthia Stone between 1950 and 1956 and had a son, Chris Lemmon with him.

His daughter, Courtney Lemmon, was born to him and Felicia Farr, whom he married in 1962. The couple stayed together, till the end of his life.

He passed away at the age of 76 after suffering from colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder.

Jack Lemmon was born in a hospital elevator, in Massachusetts to Mildred Burgess LaRue and John Ulher Lemmon Jr., the president of a doughnut company.

He was enrolled to Phillips Academy from where he graduated in 1943 and then joined the reputed, Harvard University, from where he graduated in 1947. Here, he was a member of a few drama clubs—the Delphic Club for Gentlemen and the Hasty Pudding Club.

After university, he immediately joined the Navy, where he worked as an ensign. After leaving the navy, he dabbled with acting for radio, television, and Broadway. It was during this time that he studied acting under Uta Hagen and learned to play the piano and a few other instruments.

Lemmon started his film career with a small appearance in the 1949 movie ‘The Lady Takes a Sailor’. In the 50s, Lemmon built a formidable resume working in radio soap operas, Broadway productions, television series, which finally secured him a contract with Columbia.

He played his first major role in the film, ‘It Should Happen To You’ in 1954, in which he was cast with Judy Holliday. This film earned him recognition and his fame catapulted.

Soon, a stream of films including ‘Mister Roberts’ and ‘Some Like It Hot’, followed, which established him as a bankable star in Hollywood.

The next decade opened with the box office hit ‘The Apartment’, a comedy drama film, released in 1960, both produced and directed by Billy Wilder.

One of his most critically acclaimed films, ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ was released in 1962, in which he played a recovering alcoholic, Joe Clay.

He tasted his first commercial success with the John Ford comedy-drama, ‘Mister Roberts’ in 1955, in which he was co-starred with Henry Fonda and James Cagney. It sold 36 million tickets with a domestic box office collection of $21.2 million.

In the romantic-zany comedy, ‘Some Like it Hot’, released in 1959, he was cast opposite Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis. The film earned $7.2 million in the first year of its release, and clocked $25 million at the domestic box office.

‘Grumpy Old Men’, released in 1993, grossed $3.8 million in the opening weekend. It eventually earned a domestic total of $70 million; its critically panned sequel, ‘Grumpier Old Men’, grossed nearly $71 million at the box office.