Jack Lemmon on Days of Wine and Roses

Nowadays, Jack Lemmon is mostly remembered as a comedic actor. The actor won his first Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Ensign Pulver in “Mister Roberts” (1955). The film had its comic and dramatic moments, and the Pulver character provided some of both. Here is a hilarious segment:

In Days of Wine and Roses (1962), Lemmon had a far more serious role as Joe Clay, a NYC ad man whose liquid lunches take him on a downward spiral. He takes Kirsty, his wife (portrayed by Lee Remick), with him on the way down. Here is a promo for the film in which Lemmon urged folks to see the movie. Pretty ironic. He’s talking about one addiction while indulging in another! However, the lit cigarette wouldn’t have merited a second thought back in the 60s

Jack was nominated for 7 Best Actor Oscars: “Days of Wine and Roses” was his third. The others were: “Some Like It Hot” (1959), “The Apartment” (1960), “Save the Tiger” (1973), “The China Syndrome” (1979), “Tribute” (1980) and “Missing” (1982). He became the first actor with both a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and and Best Actor when he won for “Save the Tiger” in 1974. Since then five actors have matched that accomplishment:

Robert DeNiro — Supporting: The Godfather: Part II (1974); Best Actor: “Raging Bull” (1980)
Jack Nicholson — Supporting: “Terms of Endearment” (1983); Best Actor: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “As Good As It Gets” (1997)
Gene Hackman — Supporting: “Unforgiven” (1992); Best Actor: “The French Connection” (1971)
Kevin Spacey — Supporting: “The Usual Suspects” (1995); Best Actor: “American Beauty” (1999)
Denzel Washington — Supporting: “Glory” (1989); Best Actor: Training Day (2001)

The only Oscar “Days of Wine & Roses” picked up was for Best Original Song, the theme song of the same name by Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). The song was a Jeopardy! clue in 2014 and 2009, both times with Henry Mancini as the correct response.

The last time a clue about a Jack Lemmon movie came up on the quiz show Jeopardy! was during the Battle of the Decades (3/31/2014) in the category “Big-Screen Gender Benders ($800): Josephine & Daphne in “Some Like It Hot”. Some of his other movies that have come up in clues over the last 5 years are: The Odd Couple”, “Mr. Roberts”, “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Out-of-Towners.”