Jack Lemmon's Centennial

My new computer won't arrive until Monday, but I wanted to acknowledge it today, so I am making this post on my phone. You see, it was 100 years ago today that Jack Lemmon was born in Newton  Massachusetts.

Jack Lemmon has been one of my favourite actors since I was a child. Not only was he still making movies when I was growing up, but some of his best-known movies were made in my lifetime. I cannot remember what was the first Jack Lemmon movie I saw. Indeed, his more recent films were being shown on the television network's movie anthologies.

As many of my readers may know, my second favourite movie of all time is The Apartment (1960). C.C. Baxter is always the first character who comes to my mind when I think of Jack Lemmon. C.C. Baxter was one of the many everymen Mr. Lemmon played throughout his career. He was the timid Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts (1955). He was the hard-working but unlucky Sam Bissell in Good Neighbor Sam (1964). He was the fussy Felix Unger in The Odd Couple (1968). Jack Lemmon had a definite talent for playing average Joes.

Of course, Jack Lemmon could play much more than the average guy. In fact, some of the characters he played weren't very nice. He was the lecherous, somewhat dishonest landlord Hogan in Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963). He played the villainous Professor Fate in The Great Race (1965). He was a hit man for the mob in Buddy Buddy (1981). And while Jack Lemmon may be best known for his roles in comedies, he was impressive in dramas as well. He played alcoholic PR exec Joe Clay in Days of Wine and Roses (1962). In Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) he played a real estate salesman whose career was in decline. In The China Syndome (1979) Jack Lemmon played nuclear power plant shift supervisor Jack Godell.

Ultimately Jack Lemmon appeared in so many great films and played so many great roles that to cover them all it would take a book. From Bell, Book and Candle (1958) to Some Like It Hot (1959) to The Fortune Cookie (1966) to Grumpy Old Men (1993), Jack Lemmon always gave great performances.