Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Lankford Noel and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. His ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and English. Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to Rivers Country Day School, then located in nearby Brookline. After RCDS, he went to high school at Phillips Andover Academy. Jack was a member of the Harvard class of 1947, where he was in Navy ROTC and 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 Die unglaubliche Geschichte der Gladys Glover (1954). He won Best Supporting Actor as Ensign Pulver in Keine Zeit für Heldentum (1955). He received nominations in comedy (Manche mögen's heiß (1959), Das Appartement (1960)) and drama (Die Tage des Weines und der Rosen (1962), Das China-Syndrom (1979), Ein Sommer in Manhattan (1980) and Vermisst (1982)). He won the Best Actor Oscar for Rettet den Tiger! (1973) and the Cannes Best Actor award for "Syndrome" and "Missing". He made his debut as a director with Opa kann's nicht lassen (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. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <[email protected]>
