Summary
- Jack Lemmon's commitment to vulnerable everyman characters made him one of the greatest actors of his generation.
- His performances in iconic movies like Glengarry Glen Ross showcased his range and skill as an actor.
- Lemmon's comedic chemistry with Walter Matthau in films like Grumpy Old Men proved his enduring comedic talent.
As acclaimed in comedy as he was in drama, Jack Lemmon was truly one of the greatest actors of the 20th century who imbued every role he played with a powerful sense of humanity. As a two-time Academy Award winner, and the first actor to win both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Lemmon made Hollywood history over the course his more than 50-year career. Strongly associated with playing vulnerable everyman characters, Lemmon showcased a determinated commitment to every role he played in more than 60 movies.
With a long-standing comedic partnership with Walter Matthau, iconic collaborations with director Billy Wilder, and acclaimed performances in intense drama films, Lemmon starred in some of the greatest movies ever made. From Some Like It Hot to Glengarry Glen Ross, Lemmon’s range and skill cemented his reputation as one of the finest performers of his generation. While the genre and styles of his movies varied over the years, the best Lemmon movies were always solidly entertaining films backed up with an extraordinary performance.
10 JFK (1991)
Jack Lemmon as Jack Martin
JFK
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- Director
- Oliver Stone
- Release Date
- December 20, 1991
- Cast
- Sally Kirkland , Anthony Ramirez , Ray LePere , Steve Reed , Jodie Farber , Columbia Dubose
- Runtime
- 189 minutes
After an already extraordinary career of more than 40 years in show business, Jack Lemmon gave one of his most memorable late-career performances with a brief appearance as Jack Martin in Oliver Stone’s JFK. With a star-studded cast that also included Lemmon’s frequent co-star Walter Matthau, Lemmon as Martin, the man who helped kick off Jim Garrison’s investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. With a truly impressive ensemble cast, Lemmon added to the extraordinary appeal of this paranoia-laced political thriller.
Despite the controversial nature of JFK, which fully embraced conspiracy theories about the truth behind the assassination of Kennedy, the movie was a tense and effective political thriller that Stone described as a “counter myth” (via Rolling Stone) to explain the death of the 35th United States president. While many of its claims should be taken with a pinch of salt, this did not take away from the impressive achievement that was JFK. The first of three movies Stone made about presidents, he later followed JFK with Nixon and W.
9 Missing (1982)
Jack Lemmon as Ed Horman
Full of political intrigue and a mysterious missing person, Missing starred Jack Lemmon as Ed Horman in a movie inspired by a true story set against the backdrop of the United States-backed Chilean coup of 1973. Lemmon played a father who arrived in Chile in search of his son, an American journalist, who disappeared during a military coup. As Ed desperately searched for his son the conspiracy surrounding him grew ever larger as it appeared everyone, including the Government, was keeping dark and untold secrets from him.
Lemmon expertly played a loving father who was in over his head trying to get answers as the stark realities of his son’s disappearance slowly crept to the surface. With a strong supporting cast that included Sissy Spacek as Ed’s strong-willed daughter-in-law, Missing was a tense and effective drama that too aimed directly at the American government and their deposition of democratically elected political figures. A smart and intelligent biographical thriller, Missing showcased that Lemmon was just as effective an actor in dramas as he was in comedy.