Return Of A Hero

Because he was "always on probation or some damned thing," Jack Lemmon '47 used to play in Harvard productions under the name of John Orange. He has been acting ever since, although his eminently respectable Boston background pre-supposed a more solid career. "I starved for the first couple years out of college," he recalls. "That's why I haven't been back to Boston for fourteen years ... while all my friends were making money, I was making nothing, just waiting."

Lemmon's return to Boston for the pre-Broadway run of his play, "Face Of A Hero," has been a triumphant one. Between rehearsals and interviews, he is plagued by old friends who "know him when" and who want to shake his hand. "It's more frantic here than other places," he explains sheepishly. "After all, it's my home."

"Face Of A Hero," his second major part on the stage and one of the few serious roles he has ever played, deals with the moral problems of an attorney. "Why did I come back to Broadway? To act. Acting to a live audience is much different from films because you don't have the out-of-sequence scenes and because you have a chance to perfect your scenes with each successive performance ... it's good not to stay in one medium. I had developed some bad, bad personal habits--acting habits--in the films, which I've been able to correct during the last few weeks. Now don't think I'm running down the movies, and I'm not. I also sound like I'm taking myself very seriously; and I do."

Lemmon has appeared in some twelve movies, two of which earned him Academy Awards. Although he has made his reputation as a comedian, he says he couldn't care less whether he plays comedy or serious drama. He chooses on the basis of the part and the people involved in a production. Of Marilyn Monroe, with whom he co-starred in "Some Like It Hot," he says, "I like her very much. She is a terribly unusual and unique person, not just because of her looks but because she has a fascinating obtuse quality."

Before attending Harvard, Lemmon went to Andover, and he hopes that his six-year-old son Chris will end up at both schools, "that is if they're still half as good in six years as they are right now." At college he was president of the Hasty Pudding, vice-president of the Delphic Club, and vice-president of the HDC.

Jack Lemmon might pass for a businessman, except that he moves too quickly and talks too volubly. He has close-cropped dark hair and large expressive eyes which grow increasingly intense as he warms to a particular subject. "Almost everybody I know is crazy about this guy," said the producer of a rival play, sitting in on the interview. "Success hasn't changed him a bit, not a bit. Look at him. He doesn't even know how good he is. No use asking him what makes him funny. He won't tell you. He'll say it's the part. It isn't the part, it's talent, sheer talent. Talent's sticking out all over this guy." Everyone at the table nodded, and Jack Lemmon darted away to take another phone call.