Jack Lemmon Jack Lemmon John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor and musician. Lemmon was an eight-time Academy Award nominee, with two wins. He starred in over 60 films, such as "Some Like It Hot", "The Apartment", "Mister Roberts" (for which he won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), "Days of Wine and Roses", "The Great Race", "Irma la Douce", "The Odd Couple" and its sequel "The Odd Couple II" (and other frequent collaborations with "Odd Couple" co-star Walter Matthau), "Save the Tiger" (for which he won the 1973 Academy Award
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (film) ship and the Army, puzzling some viewers. (The later TV series spelled out the link.) The director and writer of the film was Richard Murphy, who had written the script for the 1951 film "You're in the Navy Now". The film was originally developed for Ernie Kovacs in the lead role, with Lemmon as the ensign. But at production time Kovacs was unavailable, and Lemmon was considered too old-looking for an ensign. So Lemmon got the lead role and popular actor/singer Ricky Nelson the supporting role. Though acquired before "Operation Petticoat", this film was not released until after that film.