What Was Jack Lemmon's Net Worth and Salary?
Jack Lemmon was an American actor, musician, director, and producer who had a net worth equal to $25 million at the time of his death in 2001 (adjusted for inflation). Jack Lemmon had 100 acting credits to his name and starred in films such as "It Should Happen to You" (1954), "Some Like It Hot" (1959), "The Apartment" (1960), "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), "Irma la Douce" (1963), "Under the Yum Yum Tree" (1963), "The Odd Couple" (1968), "The Out-of-Towners" (1970), "The China Syndrome" (1979), "JFK" (1991), "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), "Short Cuts" (1993), and "Grumpy Old Men" (1993). Jack also directed the 1971 film "Kotch" and produced the films "The War Between Men and Women" (1972), "Avanti!" (1972), and "Save the Tiger" (1973) and the TV movie "A Weekend in the Country" (1996). Lemmon won more than 50 awards, including two Academy Awards and two Primetime Emmys. Jack also performed in Broadway productions of "Room Service" (1953), "Face of a Hero" (1960), "Tribute" (1978), and "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1986), earning Tony nominations for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for "Tribute" and "Long Day's Journey into Night." Sadly, Lemmon passed away from cancer in June 2001 at the age of 76.
Early Life
Jack Lemmon was born John Uhler Lemmon III on February 8, 1925, in Newton, Massachusetts. Jack's mother, Mildred, gave birth to him at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, in an elevator. His father, John, was the president of the Doughnut Corporation of America. Lemmon's parents split up when he was 18 years old, but they never officially divorced. Jack studied at John Ward Elementary School and the Rivers School, and he was often ill during his childhood. By the time Lemmon was 10, he had undergone three operations on his ears, and by the age of 12, he had spent nearly two years in the hospital. He became interested in acting when he was 8 years old, and he began performing in school plays. Jack attended Rivers Country Day School and graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1943, then he enrolled at Harvard. While attending Harvard, he served as president of the Hasty Pudding Club, and since he was not allowed to act in stage productions due to academic probation, he sometimes acted onstage using pseudonyms like Timothy Orange. Lemmon joined the V-12 Navy College Training Program and briefly served as an ensign on the USS Lake Champlain during World War II, then he returned to Harvard and earned a War Service Sciences degree in 1947. He then studied acting with Uta Hagen at New York City's HB Studio. Jack learned to play piano as a teenager, and after moving to NYC, he played at the Old Knick bar.
Career
Lemmon's professional acting career began on the radio and on Broadway, and he made his television debut in 1949 when he appeared on "The Philco Television Playhouse," "Suspense," "Studio One," and "That Wonderful Guy." That year he also had an uncredited role in the film "The Lady Takes a Sailor," and his first credited film role was Pete Sheppard in 1954's "It Should Happen to You." In 1952, Jack starred as Pete Bell on the CBS sitcom "Heaven for Betsy," then he appeared in films such as "Phffft" (1954), "Three for the Show" (1955), "Mister Roberts" (1955), "My Sister Eileen" (1955), "You Can't Run Away from It" (1956), "Fire Down Below" (1957), and "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958). Jack received his first Academy Award nomination for "Mister Roberts," and he took home the prize for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1959, he co-starred with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot," and he would go on to work with Wilder again in "The Apartment" (1960), "Irma la Douce" (1963), "The Fortune Cookie" (1966), "Avanti!" (1972), "The Front Page" (1974), and "Buddy Buddy" (1981). In the '60s, Lemmon appeared in "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" (1960), "The Notorious Landlady" (1962), "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), "Under the Yum Yum Tree" (1963), "Good Neighbor Sam" (1965), "How to Murder Your Wife" (1965), "The Great Race" (1965), "Luv" (1966), and "The April Fools" (1969), and he starred as Felix Ungar in 1968's "The Odd Couple" alongside Walter Matthau. Lemmon and Matthau had previously co-starred in "The Fortune Cookie," and they appeared together in numerous films, including "The Front Page," "Buddy Buddy," and the '90s comedies "Grumpy Old Men" and "Grumpier Old Men."
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Jack won his second Academy Award for 1973's "Save the Tiger," and around this time, he starred in "The Out-of-Towners" (1970), "The War Between Men and Women" (1972), "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975), and "Airport '77" (1977). He earned several awards for his performance as Jack Godell in 1979's "The China Syndrome," and he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for playing Archie Rice in the 1975 TV movie "The Entertainer." In the '80s, Lemmon appeared in the films "Tribute" (1980), "Missing" (1982), "Mass Appeal" (1984), "Macaroni" (1985), "That's Life!" (1986), and "Dad" (1989), earning Academy Award nominations for "The China Syndrome," "Tribute," and "Missing." He portrayed Jack Martin in Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991), then he appeared in "The Player" (1992), "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1993), "Short Cuts" (1993), "The Grass Harp" (1995), "Getting Away with Murder" (1996), "My Fellow Americans" (1996), "Hamlet" (1996), and "Out to Sea" (1997). In 1996, Jack received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Or Nonmusical Album for narrating "Harry S Truman: A Journey To Independence," and in 1997, he lent his voice to the "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" episode of "The Simpsons" and played Juror #8 in the TV movie "12 Angry Men." In the final years of his life, Lemmon starred in the TV movies "The Long Way Home" (1998), "Inherit the Wind" (1999), and "Tuesdays with Morrie" (1999), and he had an uncredited role as the narrator in the 2000 Robert Redford-directed film "The Legend of Bagger Vance." He won a Golden Globe for "Inherit the Wind" and a Primetime Emmy for "Tuesdays with Morrie."
Personal Life
Jack married actress Cynthia Stone on May 7, 1950, and they welcomed son Chris (born 1954) before divorcing in 1956. Lemmon wed actress Felicia Farr on August 17, 1962, and they had a daughter, Courtney, in 1966. Jack was also stepfather to Felicia's daughter Denise. The couple remained married until Lemmon's death in 2001. Jack was Catholic, a registered Democrat, and a member of the National Student Film Institute advisory board. He loved golf and often played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at California's Pebble Beach Golf Links. In the '70s, Lemmon turned to alcohol to cope with stress, and in 1976, he was fined for DUI; he gave up alcohol in the early '80s.
Death
On June 27, 2001, Jack passed away at the age of 76. According to his spokesman, the cause of death was "complications related to cancer." Lemmon was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, and his former co-stars Marilyn Monroe and Walter Matthau are also buried there, as is director Billy Wilder. Jack's funeral was a private ceremony, and stars such as Shirley MacLaine, Sidney Poitier, Gregory Peck, and Kirk Douglas attended.
(Photo by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Awards and Nominations
Lemmon earned eight Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "Mister Roberts" in 1956 and Best Actor in a Leading Role for "Save the Tiger" in 1974. His other nominations were for "Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment," "Days of Wine and Roses," "The China Syndrome," "Tribute," and "Missing." Jack received six Primetime Emmy nominations, taking home the prize for Outstanding Single Program – Variety or Musical – Variety and Popular Music for "'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gershwin" in 1972 and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for "Tuesdays with Morrie" in 2000. He was also nominated for "The Entertainer," "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "12 Angry Men," and "Inherit the Wind." Lemmon earned more than 20 Golden Globe nominations, winning Best Actor – Comedy or Musical for "Some Like It Hot" (1960) and "The Apartment" (1961), Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for "Avanti!" (1973), the Cecil B. DeMille Award (1991), the Special Award for Ensemble Cast for "Short Cuts" (1994), and Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for "Inherit the Wind" (2000).
Jack won BAFTA Awards for Best Foreign Actor for "Some Like It Hot" and "The Apartment" and Best Actor for "The China Syndrome." He also earned awards from the 20/20 Awards ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), Berlin International Film Festival ("Tribute"), Cannes Film Festival ("The China Syndrome" and "Missing"), David di Donatello Awards ("The Front Page" and "The China Syndrome"), Genie Awards ("Tribute"), National Board of Review ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), Online Film & Television Association Awards ("Tuesdays with Morrie"), San Sebastián International Film Festival ("Days of Wine and Roses"), Sant Jordi Awards ("Days of Wine and Roses"), Screen Actors Guild Awards ("Tuesdays with Morrie"), and Venice Film Festival ("Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Short Cuts") as well as seven Laurel Awards. Lemmon received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Comedy Awards (1991), American Film Institute (1988), Chicago International Film Festival (1992), Hollywood Film Awards (1999), Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (2000), National Board of Review (1986), Screen Actors Guild Awards (1990), and ShoWest Convention (1993). He was posthumously inducted into the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame in 2002, and he received Kennedy Center Honors in 1996 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
