Jack Lemmon's Real Name: John Uhler Lemmon III

Quick answer: The actor was known professionally as Jack Lemmon. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists him as also known as John Uhler Lemmon III, born February 8, 1925, in Newton, Massachusetts, and records his death on June 27, 2001, in Los Angeles. An Associated Press report published the next day in the Deseret News independently records the same full name and birth date and says he died Wednesday night, at age 76.

Real name and early life

Britannica lists him as also known as John Uhler Lemmon III, born February 8, 1925, in Newton, Massachusetts. The AP report independently gives the same full name and date and says he was born in an elevator at a Newton hospital. Britannica says he attended Harvard University, was president of the Hasty Pudding Club, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and graduated in 1947 before moving to New York City, where he worked as a piano player and actor. The AP report independently says he attended Harvard and, after Navy service as an ensign, told his father he intended to become an actor.

Career highlights

Britannica says his first films included It Should Happen to You (1954), and that his Academy Award-winning performance as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts (1955) established him as a comic actor. The AP report independently records that supporting-actor Oscar. Both discuss later work with Billy Wilder in Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960), and both say he received Oscar nominations for those films and for Days of Wine and Roses (1962). Both record a second Oscar, for best actor, for Save the Tiger (1973). Both also discuss his partnership with Walter Matthau, including The Fortune Cookie (1966) and The Odd Couple (1968). Britannica says he made his directorial debut with Kotch, starring Matthau, in 1970; the AP report dates that sole directing credit to 1971. Britannica names later nominations for The China Syndrome (1979), Tribute (1980), and Missing (1982), and honors including an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 1988. Both also discuss a late role in Tuesdays with Morrie, for which both say he won an Emmy; Britannica dates the film to 1999, while the AP report calls it a 2000 television adaptation.

Death

Britannica records his death on June 27, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. The AP report, published June 28, 2001, independently says he died Wednesday night from complications related to cancer at the USC/Norris Cancer Center, age 76.

Name notes for searchers

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