One of the most consistently acclaimed actors in motion pictures, Jack Lemmon was the first man to win Academy Awards as both Best Supporting Actor ("Mister Roberts" 1955) and Best Actor ("Save the Tiger" 1973). After graduating from Harvard where he served as president of the prestigious Hasty Pudding Club, he moved to NYC and broke into show business in the late 1940s with running parts in several radio soap operas and some 500 performances in the great live television dramas of the medium's Golden Age. His Broadway debut in "Room Service" (1953) led to a contract with Columbia, and he
Made stage debut at age four with his father in an amateur production of "Gold in Them Thar Hills" (date approximate)
A sickly child, he underwent three painful ear surgeries before age 10; took up cross-country running with such determination that he eventually broke the New England record for the two-mile
1945
Served as communications officer (ensign) with the US Naval Reserve
1947
Played piano at Old Nick Saloon in New York City
Performed with New England stock company on radio and in Off-Broadway productions; produced and acted in three short-lived TV series with first wife Cynthia Stone ("That Wonderful Guy" ABC, 1950; "Ad Libbers" CBS, 1951; "Heaven for Betsy" CBS, 1952)
