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CNN Live At Daybreak
Jack Lemmon Remembered Upon Death
Aired June 28, 2001 - 07:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: An actor loved for his work in comedy and drama for half a century died last night. He died at a Los Angeles hospital -- Jack Lemmon we are talking about.
CNN's Paul Vercammen now on the life and career of the man.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early in his career, Jack Lemmon worked in live theater, live radio, and perhaps most importantly, live television.
JACK LEMMON, ACTOR: It was as if they had put cameras in the theater and were photographing you because you have to keep going from the beginning and sustain it. That is the way you learn to act.
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon took that impromptu edge to movie roles, winning a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, opposite Henry Fonda, in "Mr. Roberts".
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HENRY FONDA, ACTOR: And you're scared of the captain.
LEMMON: I am not scared of the captain.
FONDA: Then why do you hide in the passageway every time you see him coming? You're scared of him.
LEMMON: I am not. I'm scared of myself. I'm scared of what I might do to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon won the Best Actor Oscar as a businessman racked by guilt in "Save the Tiger".
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JACK LEMMON: I am not going to donate or let it rule my life, paying 200 percent to any mob. Now, do you understand that?
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VERCAMMEN: And received Academy Award nominations for his portrayal of an alcoholic in "Days of Wine and Roses".
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LEMMON: I'm an alcoholic.
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VERCAMMEN: As a father whose son disappeared, in "Missing."
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LEMMON: They're going to find him.
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VERCAMMEN: As a shallow Broadway publicist in "Tribute".
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LEMMON: This may come as a surprise to you, kid, but I am loaded with self-respect.
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VERCAMMEN: And as a nuclear power plant operator in "The China Syndrome".
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LEMMON: How can you say all the wells were fine. The plant may not be safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon sought out scripts that pushed his buttons.
LEMMON: If you can get material that has a point of view, like a "Missing" or a "China Syndrome" or "Wine and Roses" -- whatever it might be -- "Save the Tiger" -- you don't have to agree with what the point of view is that the author had, but if it makes you think, then it has moved you and made you do something you wouldn't do if you had not seen it.
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon easily shifted from drama to comedy, receiving more Oscar nominations for "Some Like It Hot," with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARILYN MONROE, ACTOR: You look like the face in Saks.
LEMMON: A toast -- and embarrass me. This is Joe, of England.
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VERCAMMEN: And "The Apartment," with Shirley MacLaine. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMMON: One more.
SHIRLEY MACLAINE: Oh, I shouldn't drink while I'm driving.
LEMMON: You're so right. By the power vested in me, I hearwith declare this elevator out of order. Shall we join the natives?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon paired in more than a dozen projects with his good pal, the late Walter Matthau, from the "Grumpy Old Men" movies...
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LEMMON: All right, we did the horizontal mambo.
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VERCAMMEN: To "The Odd Couple".
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LEMMON: Well, I guess I'll just be running along.
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VERCAMMEN: And as brothers-in-law, in "The Fortune Cookie."
Lemmon was often comical off screen, especially on the golf course, one of his favorite places.
LEMMON: I think my biorhythms are off. I line up. I see it exactly where it's supposed to go. I putt it, and I say I didn't put it over there, but it went over there. Why is that?
VERCAMMEN: For Lemmon, golf was fickle, acting fruitful. In 1988, the American Film Institute honored Lemmon with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a wonderful performer, a generous human being.
VERCAMMEN: Lemmon's other honors included an Emmy for his performance as an aging mentor in "Tuesdays With Morrie"; five Golden Globes, won in television's "Inherit the Wind"; and a vote-a statute from Globe winner Bing Rames.
BING RAMES, ACTOR: And I'd like to give this to you, Mr. Jack Lemmon.
VERCAMMEN: Perhaps no American actor stood larger in the eyes of his peers than Jack Lemmon.
LEMMON: I think that whatever you do, if you're going to do it well, or even if you don't do it well, you've got to have a passion for it, and I am passionate about it. I love it. I respect it, and it gets me. I get off on acting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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