Jack Lemmon was American actor of the stage and screen. He has earned numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards. He also earned the Berlin Film Festival's Silver Bear for Best Actor, the Cannes Film Festival's Award for Best Actor and the Venice International Film Festival's Volpi Cup for Best Actor.
Lemmon played a morale officer in the comedy-drama Mister Roberts (1955) earning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played a man pretending to be a woman in the comedy film Some Like it Hot (1959), an insurance clerk looking for love in the romance drama The Apartment (1960), and a businessman looking for the remains of his father in Avanti! (1972), all of which earned him three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. For playing a troubled businessman facing a moral and emotional crisis in the drama Save the Tiger (1973) he won the Academy Award for Best Actor as well as nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
He was further nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayals of an executive who struggles with alcoholism in the Blake Edwards drama Days of Wine and Roses (1962), a shift supervisor at a nuclear power plant in the James Bridges drama The China Syndrome (1979), a charismatic but self-absorbed Broadway press agent who is terminally ill in the Bob Clark comedy-drama Tribute (1980), and conservative American businessman who travels in search of his missing son in the drama Costa-Gavras Missing (1982).
For his work in television he received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning twice for Outstanding Variety Program for Jack Lemmon in 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gers (1972) and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for playing an elderly man in Tuesdays with Morrie (1999). He was Emmy-nominated for his roles in The Entertainer (1976), The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), 12 Angry Men (1997), and Inherit the Wind (1999). On the Broadway stage, Lemmon played Scottie Templeton in the Bernard Slade play Tribute (1979), and James Tyrone Sr. in the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night (1986) earning nominations for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
Over his career Lemmon has received various honors including a Motion Picture Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1990, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1990, and the Berlin International Film Festival's Honorary Golden Bear in 1996. He was also honored with the Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1996.
Major associations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1956 Best Supporting Actor Mister Roberts Type Jack Lemmon in query box. 1960Best Actor Some Like It Hot 1961 The Apartment 1963 Days of Wine and Roses 1974 Save the Tiger 1980 The China Syndrome 1981 Tribute 1983 Missing
Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result Primetime Emmy Awards 1972 Outstanding Single Program – Variety or Musical Jack Lemmon in 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gers 1976 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series The Entertainer 1988Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special The Murder of Mary Phagan 1998 12 Angry Men 1999 Inherit the Wind 2000 Tuesdays with Morrie
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1956Best Foreign Actor Mister Roberts 1960 Some Like It Hot 1961 The Apartment 1964 Days of Wine and Roses 1966 Good Neighbor Sam How to Murder Your Wife 1980Best Actor in a Leading Role The China Syndrome 1983 Missing
Golden Globe Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1960Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Some Like It Hot 1961 The Apartment 1963 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Days of Wine and Roses 1964Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Under the Yum Yum Tree Irma la Douce 1966 The Great Race 1967 The Odd Couple 1971 The Out-of-Towners 1973 Avanti! 1974Best Actor in a Motion Picture – DramaSave the Tiger 1975 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or ComedyThe Front Page 1980Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama The China Syndrome 1981 Tribute 1983 Missing 1987 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy That's Life! 1988Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV MovieLong Day's Journey into Night 1989 The Murder of Mary Phagan 1990 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Dad 1991Cecil B. DeMille Award 1994 Special Award for Ensemble Cast Short Cuts Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie A Life in the Theatre 1998 12 Angry Men 2000 Tuesdays with Morrie Inherit the Wind
Grammy Award Year Category Nominated work Result 1997 Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album Harry S Truman: A Journey To Independence
Screen Actors Guild Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1990Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award 1997Outstanding Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries 12 Angry Men 1999 Tuesdays with Morrie
Tony Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 1979Best Leading Actor in a Play Tribute 1986 Long Day's Journey into Night
Miscellaneous awards Organizations Year Category Work Result Berlin International Film Festival 1981 Silver Bear for Best Actor Tribute 1996Honorary Golden Bear Cannes Film Festival 1979Best Actor The China Syndrome 1982 Missing Online Film & Television Association 1998Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries 12 Angry Men 2000 Tuesdays with Morrie 2002 OFTA Hall of Fame – Acting Himself Venice Film Festival 1992 Volpi Cup for Best Actor Glengarry Glen Ross 1993 Special Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast Short Cuts
Honorary awards Organization Year Honor Result Berlin International Film Festival 1996Honorary Golden Bear Hollywood Foreign Press Association1991Cecil B. DeMille Award Hollywood Walk of Fame 1960 Motion Picture – 6357 Hollywood Blvd. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 1996 The Kennedy Center Honors Screen Actors Guild Awards 1990Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
See also Jack Lemmon on screen and stage
References