Jack Lemmon, 31, won the 28th Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1961
If an actor can win the three major international film festivals in Cannes, Berlin and Venice and the Oscar for Best Actor, and achieve a grand slam of top film awards, then does this actor become a "god of acting"?
In the history of world cinema, two actors have indeed achieved grand slams in film awards, the first being Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) and the second being Sean Penn.
The only difference between the two is that the former won one Best Actor Award and one Best Supporting Actor Award at the Oscars, while the latter won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice.
Stills from the movie It Should Happen to You (1954), Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday
On screen, Jack Lemon is neither a great man nor a celebrity, nor has he even played a rich man or a villain. He was sometimes a man, sometimes a woman; sometimes fat, sometimes thin; sometimes an alcoholic, sometimes a nervous breakdown.
Like his unassuming appearance, under the mercury lamp, he was just a small person with no name, not even a grand elegance.
But his smile and smile affect people's joys and sorrows, and every move of his hand and foot attracts the attention of the audience.
He is jack Lemon, the first comedian to compete in Hollywood for half a century, to include the first person in history to collect the three major film festivals of Cannes, Berlin and Venice and the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Promotional photo for the film Phffft (1954), from left to right: Judy Holliday, Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon and Kim Novak
Jack Lemon was born in Boston, USA on February 8, 1925, and because he was born prematurely, he was frail and sick since childhood, and had undergone five surgeries before the age of 10. A person's childhood hobbies have a crucial impact on their entire life.
Jack Lemon has been inextricably linked to the arts since childhood: he studied piano as a child and began performing in amateur theater companies at the age of 4, but his favorite is film.
After graduating from Andover College, Jack Lemon entered Harvard University at the behest of his parents, because what he studied was not his favorite performance, and Jack Lemon was not concerned about his studies.
Soon, the Pacific War broke out, and Jack Lemon, who wanted to act after graduation, had to enlist in the army as a naval soldier.
Stills from the movie Triplet for the Show (1955), Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon and Betty Grable
As soon as he retired from the army, he couldn't wait to enter a theater, no matter how meager the remuneration, no matter how hard life was, he didn't care, his only wish was to act.
In 1947, Jack Lemon came to New York, the capital of theater. He worked as a pianist in a bar, then as an announcer on a radio station, and from time to time participated in some stage plays.
It wasn't until 1953 that Jack Lemon was able to star in the broadway stage comedy "The Broken Boots" for the first time, and his outstanding performance caught the attention of the great Hollywood director George Cook George Cukor (1899-1983).
On George Cook's recommendation, Jack Lemon became a contracted actor for Columbia Pictures and began his long film career with George Cook's film It Should Happen to You (1954).
On the set of the film Mr. Roberts Roberts (1955), from left to right: James Cagney, William Powell William Powell, Henry Fond, Ward Bond and Jack Lemmon
Like many actors who have gone from stage to screen, Jack Lemon was very uncomfortable with the way he performed under the mercury lamp when he first made the film, and his performance was exaggerated and overheated, but under George Cook's rigorous training, he quickly got on track and became a great actor.
In 1955, Jack Lemon, who had only two years of filming experience, easily won the 28th Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his flirtatious role as a second lieutenant in his photogenic fourth film, Mister Roberts (1955).
Although Jack Lemon played for the big stars James Cagney (1899-1986), Henry Fonda (1905-1982), and others, he played the flirtatious and debauched Navy lieutenant in "Mr. Roberts" very successfully.
Stills from the film Mr. Roberts Mister Roberts (1955), Henry Fond (left) and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
"Mr. Roberts" not only made Jack Lemon a shining new star, but also paved the way for his future career in comedy.
After Jack Lemon won the 28th Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Mr. Roberts," he excitedly went to his acting class teacher in New York to tell him that he had won the award.
But the teacher, expressionlessly, pointed to the people who passed by in front of him, and then said to him: Of the people who have just passed by, there may be six of them who will play this role as much as you. The most important difference between you and them is that you get the role and they don't.
Jack Lemmon passes the time by reading a newspaper on the location of the film Cowboy/Grassy Cowboy (1958).
The acting class teacher went on to say: This is not to deny that an actor is not a person who can be, but the actor is not like a world champion, and there are many "virtual" elements in his work skills. Excellent performance may not be able to stand out, the appearance of the country is not an indispensable element, if you look at those who want to have no quality, no talent (all countries have), you may realize that the most important thing for an actor's success is opportunity.
Soon after, Jack Lemon became acquainted with Billy Wilder (1906-2002), Hollywood's preeminent comedy director.
The two saw each other and together made some of the best works in the history of cinema.
Promotional photo for the movie Some Like It Hot (1959), from left to right: Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, marilyn Monroe, and Jack Lemmon
In 1959, in their first collaboration, Some Like It Hot (1959), Jack Lemon starred as a cellist who had slipped into a women's band to avoid underworld pursuits, and his exquisite female movements caused a burst of laughter from the audience.
Jack Lemon recalls that "Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) shot a simple scene 28 times," but told reporters in 1998 that he had never been unhappy with her because of it, "not that she was incompetent, she would suddenly shout cards because she didn't feel right".
Joe E. Brown Joe E. Brown (left) and Jack Lemmon in the film Some Like It Hot (1959).
The following year, Jack Lemon and Billy Wilder collaborated on the prestigious film "The Apartment Spring/Peach Apartment The Apartment" (1960).
When Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay for Apartment Spring, it was basically based on the image of Jack Lemon.
Jack Lemon said billy Wilder was very good at talking on set and generally didn't manipulate the actors too much. Jack Lemon would come to Billy Wilder whenever he thought of anything, and many times Billy Wilder would patiently listen to Jack Lemon's advice.
In Billy Wilder's opinion, Jack Lemon is a humble actor who communicates everything in a timely manner and has a great time working with him.
On the set of the film Spring In the Apartment/Peach Apartment (1960), directors Billy Wilder (left) and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
In "Apartment Spring", Jack Lemon starred as a company employee who was full of ideas.
In order to please his superiors, he bid to lend his apartment to his boss to find flowers and ask for willows, so that he often had nowhere to live, until he found that his crush was being played by his superiors, and then he resigned in anger.
This ridiculously weak little man, who has finally regained his dignity, makes people laugh and feel deep sympathy for him.
Jack Lemon was credited with winning five awards at the 33rd Academy Awards in 1961 for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Art Direction for a Black and White Film.
Images by Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine in the film Apartment Spring/Peach Apartment (1960).
In early 1962, Jack Lemon took over another influential film, The Days of Wine and Roses (1962).
In order to experience the psychology of the characters in the film, Jack Lemon often hangs out in the tavern with people who are drunk due to frustration and drunk himself. Fortunately, the film was successfully completed in a short period of time, otherwise Hollywood would have had one more drunkard.
For his outstanding acting skills in the above three films, Jack Lemon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times.
Although all were returned, Jack Lemon became Hollywood's brightest comedy star in the 1960s.
Stills from the movie "It's Hard to Say Goodbye to Each Other/Drunken Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), by Lee Remick and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
For the next 8 years, Jack Lemon continued to make great plays. At the end of 1962, he collaborated for the third time with Billy Wilder on another highly received comedy, Flower Street Goddess/Emma Girl Irma la Douce (1963).
This time, Jack Lemon's role is more difficult — he plays two characters with the same face but very different personalities and circumstances.
In 1966, Jack Lemon and Billy Wilder reunited on the crew of Twisted Fortune Cookie (1966), and Jack Lemon had a good partner, Walter Matthau (1920-2000).
On the set of the film Flower Street Goddess/Emma Girl Irma la Douce (1963), director Billy Wilder (right) shows Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine how to bathe a dog
Jack Lemon plays a TELEVISION cinematographer who is accidentally injured and exploited by a greedy lawyer. This is Jack Lemon's first collaboration with Walter Matthew.
Although "Twist Master" is not one of Billy Wilder's best films, and the rhythm is not very good, the lines are still classic humor and charming.
Although Jack Lemon performed average, the first cooperation between the two was quite tacit.
Walter Matthew played the poisonous tongue lawyer who felt that everything could be poisoned under his mouth, and he also won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 39th Academy Awards in 1967 for this role.
Stills from the movie Twister/Flyford The Fortune Cookie (1966), Walter Matthew Matthau (right) and Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemon founded a hollywood studio called Jalem, and the most famous film the company shot was "Behind Bars/Cold Hand Luke" (1967).
The film, starring Paul Newman (1925-2008), became a very iconic role in Paul Newman's acting career.
To thank Jack Lemon for his help and appreciation, Paul Newman also invited Jack Lemon to his film Pick Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), but Jack Lemon declined Paul Newman's offer because he thought he had played too many of these roles.
Stills from the movie Singles Apartment/The Odd Couple (1968), Walter Matthew Matthau (right) and Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemon and Walter Matthew are fun and entertaining with their amazing performances. Jack Lemon, Walter Matthew and Billy Wilder are thus hailed as the invincible "Iron Triangle".
In 1968, Jack Lemon and Walter Matthew released another masterpiece, The Odd Couple (1968). The chemistry of Jack Lemon and Walter Matthew in this film produces a lot of laughs.
Jack Lemon plays this obsessive-compulsive person with cleanliness. The film's amusing jokes take Jack Lemon's acting skills to a new level.
On the set of The Front Page (1974), walter Matthew Matthau, Billy Wilder, Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon and Susan Sarandon Susan Sarandon
In 1974, the "Iron Triangle" "gathered" again to launch "The Front Page" (1974), this time, Jack Lemon played a mean and cute, lively and rogue but intelligent newspaper reporter.
Although it is a remake, it is a perfect collaboration between Jack Lemon, Walter Matthew and Billy Wilder, with a smooth rhythm and a playful satire.
The excitement of the two male protagonists after encountering the big news and the state of hooking up shoulders and shoulders, can the heroine still see it, live and get rid of the light bulb, and the ending is even more naughty and reversed.
In addition, his representative works include "Good Neighbor Sam of the East Wall" (1964), "How to Murder Your Wife" (1965) and "The Adventure of the Bridge" (1967). In the 1960s, Jack Lemon was seven times elected to Hollywood's Top 10 High-Grossing Stars.
Stills from the movie The Bridge Encounter Luv (1967), by Elaine May and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
The biggest difference between Jack Lemon and other laughers in their comedic image is that he rarely uses exaggerated performances to make people laugh, but most of them use realistic performances to achieve the effect of laughter and tears.
Unlike most comedians, Jack Caimon plays most of the characters of sad, weak personality, and forced helplessness and desperate "little people".
In expressing the raw words and moods and sorrows of these characters, he rarely uses witty and exaggerated methods to make people laugh, but mostly uses realistic performances of life ratio, achieving the effect of laughter and tears, which is in stark contrast to Walter Matthew's deep habit of drilling and sophistication.
As a result, it was said that jack Lemon was still a good actor when he wasn't acting in comedy, as evidenced by the 1970s.
Stills from the movie Save the Tiger (1973), Jack Gilford Jack Gilford and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
In 1972, Jack Lemon made a dull and boring film, Save the Tiger (1973), in which he played the costume manufacturer Harry Stoner, who lost faith in life due to career failure and disillusionment of ideals.
In order to play this tragic character, Jack Caimon once again became a stranger. He often laughed so much that he was hysterical, so much so that every morning he went to the set, he was in a bit of a bad spirit.
Although the film was not outstanding and the selling rate was not ideal, Jack Lemon's superb acting skills made the Oscar judges sympathize with this little person who was worried about this and completely desperate life, and Jack Caimon was successfully crowned the 46th Oscar emperor in 1974.
Stills from the movie The China Syndrome (1979), from left to right: Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, and Jane Fonda
Since then, Jack Simon has also acted in two other serious plays, "The China Syndrome" (1979), which reflects the realities of American society, and "The Great Missing" (1982), which depicts the Chilean coup d'état.
In "China Syndrome," Jack Caimeng's character is an engineer with a clear conscience in the nuclear power plant leak. With his refined acting skills, Jack Caimon properly expressed the character's qualities of fortitude, integrity and bravery, and won the Best Actor Award at the 32nd Cannes Film Festival in 1979.
In "The Great Missing", the American father played by Jack Caimon who went to Chile to find his missing son is also remarkable, and won the Best Actor Award at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in 1982 with this film.
Stills from the movie The Great Missing (1982), Jack Lemmon Jack Lemmon
There are only a few good actors in Hollywood who grasp comedy on one hand and tragedy on the other, and who are equally outstanding, and Jack Caimon is one of them. However, the most and brilliant performance in his artistic career is comedy.
After the 1970s, Jack Caimon starred in Tribute (1980), Friends of Tribute (1980), Friends of Tribulation/A Pair of Buddy Buddy (1981), Appeal to Mass Appeal (1984), Beat's Life! (1986), Long Day's Journey Into Night (1987), And My Father Dad (1987). 1989), Gold Worship/Tycoon Game Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and other films.
His superb acting skills have created countless unforgettable images for the audience, and at the same time won countless honors for themselves.
Stills from the film Dedication Tribute (1980), jack Lemmon and Robbie Benson (left)
"Dedication" brought Jack Caimon a best actor award at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival; the last supper of the "Iron Triangle" "Turn of Troubles" Although it is not as sensational as the 1960s, it is Billy Wilder's curtain call, but the actors are quite vivid, and some of the comedy scenes have a hilarious effect.
For his outstanding portrayal of the distress of an old businessman in "The Gold Worshippers", Jack Caimon won a Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor. In 1988, jack Lemon received his third Oscar, the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his outstanding contributions to American cinema.
Stills from the movie Gold-Worship/Tycoon Game Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemon Jack Lemmon
In the 1990s, Jack Lemon co-starred with his old partner Walter Matthew in three films: Grummpy Old Men (1993), Fighting Old Boy 2/Happy Old Wrongdoer 2 Grumpier Old Men (1995), and Out to Sea (1997).
In his later years, Jack Lemon played the president of the United States in the comedy film "The President Shoots/Three Presidents A Mess" (1996), which seems to be the first time in decades that he has played such a "tall" image, but like the small person he plays, the president is not clever and stingy.
Stills from the movie "The President Makes a Mess of Three Presidents" (1996), jack Lemmon and James Garner (right)
Lauren Bacall (1924-2014), who even stayed in a hotel, wanted to steal the wine from the fridge, and Lauren Bacall (1924-2014), who played his wife, teased: "Honey, do you want me to take the shampoo with you?" ”
In 1998, Jack Lemon also starred in the sequel to Singles Apartment 2/ The Odd Couple II, which was a sequel after 30 years, and the screenwriter was still Neil Simon Simon (1927-2018), turning from indoor to outdoor into a happy road movie.
It was also the last collaboration between the two. However, the achievements of this film are not as good as before.
A photo of Jack Lemmon and his second wife, Felicia Farr, when their marriage was registered
Although he has a pivotal position in Hollywood, Jack Caimon, who is known for playing small people, does not like to show off in his life. His wife, Felicia Farr, met him while playing The Bachelorette.
He had just broken out of the siege of his first marriage. After marrying Jack Caimon, Felicia retreated behind the scenes, focusing on becoming a woman behind successful men, and has always been a supporter and loyal fan of Jack Caimon.
On June 27, 2001, a year after the death of his old partner Walter Matthew, Jack Caimon also accompanied him to heaven to perform another life.
Poster for the American edition of the documentary Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman (1996).
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