John Uhler

John Uhler
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was born in a hospital elevator on February 8, 1925 in Newton, Massachusetts, United States. His parents were Mildred Burgess LaRue and John Ulher Lemmon Jr., the president of a doughnut company. He was enrolled to Phillips Academy and completed his graduation in 1943 and then joined the Harvard Universityand studiend there till 1947. Here, he was a member of a few drama clubs the Delphic Club for Gentlemen and the Hasty Pudding Club. After leaving university, he immediately joined the Navy, where he worked as an ensign. After leaving the navy, he started work with acting for radio, television and Broadway. During this period he studied acting under Uta Hagen and learned to play the piano and a few other instruments. He began his film career with a small role in the 1949 movie ‘The Lady Takes a Sailor’. In the 50s, he built a formidable resume working in radio, Broadway productions, television series, which led him a contract with Columbia. He played his first major role in the film, "It Should Happen To You" in 1954, in which he was cast with Judy Holliday. He earned recognition from this film. After that he performed a series of films including ‘Mister Roberts’ and ‘Some Like It Hot’, which established him as a bankable star in Hollywood. In the next decade he gave box office hit ‘The Apartment’, a comedy drama film, released in 1960, produced and directed by Billy Wilder. One of his most critically acclaimed films, ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ was released in 1962, in which he played as Joe Clay, a recovering alcoholic. After that, he signed a number of projects giving one hit after another while delivering superb comic and romantic performances including ‘The Odd Couple’, released in 1968. In 1969, ‘The April Fools’ was released starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve, which became a great commercial success. In the next decade, he gave critically acclaimed performances in ‘The Out-of-Towners’, ‘Avanti’ and ‘Save the Tiger’. ‘The China Syndrome’, a series of films worldwide on nuclear power safety was released in 1979. The 1980s opened with several honourable nominations for movies including ‘Tribute’, ‘Missing’, ‘That’s Life’ and ‘Dad’. His famous television performances through the 1980s include ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’ and ‘The Murder of Mary Phagan’. In the last decade of his acting career, he delivered performances in movies like ‘Short Cuts’ and ‘Grumpy Old Men’, both of which were released in 1993. In 1998, he starred in ‘The Odd Couple II’, a sequel to the film ‘The Odd Couple’ released in 1968. However, the film failed to gain any commercial or critical success. His final movie with Hollywood was ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’, released in 2000, in which he worked alongwith Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. He passed away at the age of 76 on June 27, 2001 in Los Angeles, California, U.S, after suffering from colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder.