Talk:Jack Lemmon

Removed
In a career spanning five decades, Lemmon carved himself a niche as cinema's neurotic everyman, and as one of the most versatile actors of his--or any--generation. Equally at home in comedy and drama, he had a unique combination of intensity and vulnerability that could break your heart one minute, and have you doubled up with laughter the next. Whether he was clearing his sinuses as Felix Unger in The Odd Couple, or clearing his desk as the slumping salesman Shelley Levene in Glengarry Glen Ross, Lemmon committed himself totally to his roles.

The only word that might be able to be used in a NPOV sentence is "neurotic", though I haven't seen enough of his movies to really know... the rest is true and very nice and all, but not encyclopedic. Tokerboy —Preceding undated comment added 05:44, 8 February 2003 (UTC)


 * I liked the ideas expressed in the "Removed" section above and tried to rewrite the paragraph in a more suitable way and then add it back to the end of the Lemmon article. Obviously, if others think it still does not work, they can remove it again.

Andrew Szanton 03:01, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Date of Death?

 * It is stated that he died on the 27 and 28 of 2001.

Which is true? :Alrasheedan —Preceding undated comment added 13:49, 28 June 2004 (UTC)

The Long Way Home
Error to one of the links: The link for his TV movie titled "The Long Way Home" is not correct. The Wikipedia link is to a movie about WWII and Nazi. However, Jack Lemmon's TV movie, under the same name and which was made in 1998, is about a retired cabinet maker(Jack Lemmon), who travels across the USA from Kansas to California to visit his old sweetheart, Veronica (played by Betty Garrett). He travelled by hitchhiking with a young girl named Leanne Bossert (played by Sarah Paulson). I saw this movie on TV a few years ago, but it never returned to the TV screen. However, I managed to buy a copy of the DVD a few days ago, to my surprise and delight. The DVD was produced by Platinum Disc LLC, La Crosse, WI (2005). --64.201.181.86 05:00, 17 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks for pointing this out! The link to The Long Way Home now points to a disambiguation page for the term "Long Way Home". The "dab" (disambiguation) page now has a reference to the 1998 made-for-TV film.  As far as I know, we do not yet have an article on the 1998 film, although I did not do an extensive search. Lini 13:36, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Matriculated or Graduated?
In the article it says that Lemmon graduated from Harvard at seventeen years old. While this is certainly possible, the information seems redundant considering that in the same paragraph, further down, he is mentioned as having gone to Harvard after graduating from Phillips Academy. Because of this, I have a suspicion that he might have matriculated to Harvard at seventeen, not graduated. This has a certain further credibility as information concerning Lemmon's supposed prodigality is not sourced (after a quick Google search I failed to turn up any mention of his graduating age aside from this Wikipedia page, which is hardly a verification!), nor is it ever mentioned again.

I haven't removed the information, but its extraordinary nature requires substantiation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.170.22.246 (talk) 05:01, 4 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I remember an interview with Lemmon in which he said he left Harvard to serve in WWII, then went back, but it was so long ago that I heard this, and memory being what it is....2001:558:6017:3D:2D5A:5B73:60FC:BF6B (talk) 18:34, 8 February 2015 (UTC)

Ten or eleven movies with Walter Matthau?
In Walter Matthau's Wikipedia article it states that they made together 10 movies; is that correct? Where can I find a complete list of their movies together (preferably before christmas 2007)? ;) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.208.155.127 (talk) 09:11, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

You can use the excellent Name Search engine in IMDb. By using it I counted eleven movies (excluding documentaries, award shows and TV movies). However in one of the eleven (Kotch), Lemmon has just a cameo, so I guess some people don't count this one as a true collaboration. --Ferengi 18:10, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

WP:WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers priority assessment
Per debate and discussion re: assessment of the approximate 100 top priority articles of the project, this article has been included as a top priority article. Wildhartlivie (talk) 06:48, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Jack Lemmon's piano and singing talent
I read with great interest this article about Jack Lemmon, but was surprised at the statement at the end of the EARLY LIFE paragraph that after discharge from the Navy “He also became enthused with the piano and learned to play it on his own.”

In 1943 I was in my first year at Phillips Academy Andover and a year behind Jack. Although I didn’t know him well, I did work with him in on two songs he had composed and wanted included in his class play that year. He was at that point already quite accomplished on the piano but played entirely by ear and couldn’t read or write a note. I don’t remember how it happened, but I had done some arranging and was recruited to help and wrote out the songs as he played them and orchestrated them for a small “pit” orchestra which I conducted. I had a brief correspondence with Jack in the 80’s or 90’s about this and sent him the music for one of the songs which I still remembered, but he wrote back that he still couldn’t read music very well.

I had heard that he earned his keep in New York while trying to break into the theater by playing the piano in clubs and bars, so I gather he became even more accomplished after I knew him.

At any rate, I think a more accurate statement about his musical talent might be, “He was enthused with the piano from an early age and learned to play it on his own entirely by ear. “

Ben Brewster 63.246.200.6 (talk) 03:18, 18 June 2010 (UTC) 13 Derby Way Essex, NY 12936 (518)963-4223 annehbrewster@gmail.com


 * Nothing in this Wikipedia about Jack Lemmon as a singer ! In youtube there are some songs...
 * --AXRL (talk) 19:19, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
 * --AXRL (talk) 19:19, 9 October 2019 (UTC)


 * The article did previously have a short section on Lemmon as a singer, but reliable sources proved to be absent online, so I deleted the brief passage. YouTube cannot be used as a source, and assuming Lemmon's singing is no more extensive than the handful I removed, it is not really sufficiently notable. Philip Cross (talk) 19:52, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

Mother's Quote
Did his mother really state that, "We didn't care that much about him and it was cheaper to push him out on the way up."? That doesn't sound like something a mother would say... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.187.128.50 (talk) 18:51, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Inherit the Wind
Please add Inherit the Wind a 1999 film starring Jack LemmonThe Real Stucco (talk) 19:13, 27 July 2011 (UTC) Nevermind, I should have looked under televisionThe Real Stucco (talk) 07:14, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Problem in Personal life section
In the Personal life section, it says: "Lemmon admitted that he was an alcoholic in the late 1960s. (Source: Los Angeles Times Obituary.)" I've tried looking up the actual source and from what I can find it's page 3 of the 29 June 2001 piece "Jack Lemmon, Everyman Star, Dies" by Greg Krikorian. That doesn't say Lemmon admitted to being an alcoholic. What it says is: "He was well-known for enjoying his martinis, though he always insisted that the stories about his drinking were exaggerated." However, in Inside The Actors Studio (season 4, episode 10; 1998-10-25) he does say about himself "I'm an alcoholic." I guess we could replace the current 'source' with a. --82.170.113.123 (talk) 15:13, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Date of Death
He died on June 27, 2001 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.237.34.211 (talk) 03:23, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Excellent Musician
I would like to add to Mr. Brewster's comment above that Lemmon was a great jazz pianist and I think this aspect of his career requires more than a short paragraph buried in his movie career section. In fact, this biography needs a lot of fleshing out. Jack Lemmon deserves more. Dangnad (talk) 01:30, 9 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes this article needs a musical section about Jack Lemmon
 * --AXRL (talk) 19:20, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
 * --AXRL (talk) 19:20, 9 October 2019 (UTC)
 * --AXRL (talk) 19:20, 9 October 2019 (UTC)


 * For the record, I removed a short section on Lemmon's recordings earlier this year which duplicated the discography section which I moved to the newly created article. Both were unsourced passage and I found no further online sources to suggest this element of his life and career was at all notable. It should be noticed that Jack Lemmon filmography and discography contains much the same information which was formally in the main article. It was at least possible to confirm that the issued recordings exist. Philip Cross (talk) 19:38, 9 October 2019 (UTC)

Best Actor at Cannes
He did not win Best Actor for Some Like It Hot at Cannes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.38.189.88 (talk) 14:52, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

filmography
This article needs a list of films the actor was in. For example, in an interview, he mentions "Alex and the Gypsie" (I think that's what he says). Kdammers (talk) 21:41, 2 October 2022 (UTC)
 * See Jack Lemmon on screen and stage. There's too much to include in this article. Schazjmd   (talk)  21:45, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

John Uhler Lemmon II 1893–1962

 * .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 02:12, 22 June 2023 (UTC)
 * .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 02:12, 22 June 2023 (UTC)