Jack Lemmon Discusses His Acting Career

Actor Jack Lemmon '47 discussed his acting experience from Harvard to Hollywood with a crowd of about 60 undergraduates in the Eliot House Library yesterday.

Lemmon is in town for ArtsFirst weekend to receive the first annual Harvard Arts medal, an award for an alumnus "who has gone on into the creative arts after life as a Harvard undergraduate," said actor and Chair of the Harvard Board of Overseers' Committee on the Arts John Lithgow '67, who moderated the discussion. The discussion was part of the "Learning From Performers" series sponsored by the Office for the Arts.

"When I was here there was nothing in the arts," Lemmon said. "If you had told any of us that did care about acting, writing, directing, film, painting or whatever at that time, that Bobby Brustein and Loeb ,Theatre were going to be here one day, we wouldhave said, 'You're crazy, not here, not at thisplace, because they don't care. They are notinterested.' It was totally different than it istoday as far as attitude and any concentration inthe arts, creative or interpretive."

Lemmon spoke of his love for the stage, saying:"The feeling of working in front of an audience,there is nothing like that in the world...I havealways preferred theater to film. That contactbetween you and an audience...you can feel whenit's not right. There is no feeling like that."

Far from glorifying the life of the actor,however, both Lemmon and Lithgow commented on thedifficulties of breaking into the acting scene.

As Lemmon bluntly put it, "the only thing I cansay about it to any of you who are interested inacting, as [Lithgow] will second I'm sure, is thatit is one high-risk profession. Extremelyhigh-risk; you may never make it. You can stay inthe minor leagues forever or until you decide todrop out. Or you might get lucky."

Lemmon, a two-time Oscar winner who is mostfamous for his roles in movies such as "Some LikeIt Hot," admitted it was difficult going fromHarvard to New York after graduating.

"I went to New York and started like everyoneelse, beating the pavement, trying to see agentsand seeing if I could get an agent or getsomething," he said.

This difficulty is something inherent to themediun of acting, Lemmon said, because "a writercan write, a painter can paint, but an actorcannot act unless there is an audience."

Lithgow desribed similar difficulties, which helinked to his academic background. "You go toHarvard, and you are among the brightest, thebest, and you know you are [among them]...[Butthen] you're on the streets, you are auditioningfor Drano commercials, and soap operas, anythingyou can get, anything. And I think it may be avery specific difficulty for people who come froman environment like [Harvard]," he said.

But Lithgow said Harvard was still an excellentplace for acting today. "I have seen a lot ofHarvard student actors in a lot of productions. Isaw a lot of them last night in a wonderful playat the Loeb, "The Living.'

"It was the best acting I'd seen any of them dobecause they were so well directed. It was themost extraordinary case study of what a littleteaching in the form of directing can do," hesaid.

But Lemmon's introduction to acting wasinauspicous indeed, he said.

"I was about eight years old," he said. "Isubstituted for a guy who was sick, and I couldn'tlearn the lines. So the teacher was in thewings...and he said, 'Whenever you forget a linejust come over to stage right, and just sort oflisten, and I'll feed you the line.' Well, I blewit from the first line on. Every time I'd walkover there and come back they'd start laughing.And instead of saying 'Oh my God this isterrible,' I liked it. That's when it started."

Lemmon advised would-be artists, "any of youthat are going on to continue in the arts inwhatever capacity...the main ingredient ispassion. You have got to just love it enough toreally just say 'screw everything. This is it, I'mgoing to do it.' And I do love it. With every partyou just play it with all the passion you've got.

Lemmon spoke of his love for the stage, saying:"The feeling of working in front of an audience,there is nothing like that in the world...I havealways preferred theater to film. That contactbetween you and an audience...you can feel whenit's not right. There is no feeling like that."

Far from glorifying the life of the actor,however, both Lemmon and Lithgow commented on thedifficulties of breaking into the acting scene.

As Lemmon bluntly put it, "the only thing I cansay about it to any of you who are interested inacting, as [Lithgow] will second I'm sure, is thatit is one high-risk profession. Extremelyhigh-risk; you may never make it. You can stay inthe minor leagues forever or until you decide todrop out. Or you might get lucky."

Lemmon, a two-time Oscar winner who is mostfamous for his roles in movies such as "Some LikeIt Hot," admitted it was difficult going fromHarvard to New York after graduating.

"I went to New York and started like everyoneelse, beating the pavement, trying to see agentsand seeing if I could get an agent or getsomething," he said.

This difficulty is something inherent to themediun of acting, Lemmon said, because "a writercan write, a painter can paint, but an actorcannot act unless there is an audience."

Lithgow desribed similar difficulties, which helinked to his academic background. "You go toHarvard, and you are among the brightest, thebest, and you know you are [among them]...[Butthen] you're on the streets, you are auditioningfor Drano commercials, and soap operas, anythingyou can get, anything. And I think it may be avery specific difficulty for people who come froman environment like [Harvard]," he said.

But Lithgow said Harvard was still an excellentplace for acting today. "I have seen a lot ofHarvard student actors in a lot of productions. Isaw a lot of them last night in a wonderful playat the Loeb, "The Living.'

"It was the best acting I'd seen any of them dobecause they were so well directed. It was themost extraordinary case study of what a littleteaching in the form of directing can do," hesaid.

But Lemmon's introduction to acting wasinauspicous indeed, he said.

"I was about eight years old," he said. "Isubstituted for a guy who was sick, and I couldn'tlearn the lines. So the teacher was in thewings...and he said, 'Whenever you forget a linejust come over to stage right, and just sort oflisten, and I'll feed you the line.' Well, I blewit from the first line on. Every time I'd walkover there and come back they'd start laughing.And instead of saying 'Oh my God this isterrible,' I liked it. That's when it started."

Lemmon advised would-be artists, "any of youthat are going on to continue in the arts inwhatever capacity...the main ingredient ispassion. You have got to just love it enough toreally just say 'screw everything. This is it, I'mgoing to do it.' And I do love it. With every partyou just play it with all the passion you've got.