Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Twice Oscar-winning Hollywood actor known for comic roles in Some Like It Hot and The Odd Couple, and serious ones in The China Syndrome and Missing.
On the island
Eight records
I adored the way that man played and it would be important to me to have one of his recordings.
I picked one of my favorite songs that he wrote, Someone to Watch Over Me, with George playing it. And I haven't heard it for years, and I truly don't remember it.
I put it on and this cornet riff came out with him playing the coronet that absolutely knocked me out. And I then from then on started to search out for Dixie Land and jazz in general.
When the Saints Go Marching In
I picked one the Saints Go Marching In because that was one of the all time ... There wasn't a Dixieland band that ever lived that hasn't played When the Saints Go Marching In, and probably more than any other single song.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Artur Rubinstein, Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner
Archer Rubenstein was a friend of Felicia and one of the most charming men I have ever known. So in picking something classical and and with the piano, I would I would think of him immediately.
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
I picked the world is waiting for the sunrise, not only for the Benny Goodman sextette, but because of Mel Powell playing the piano. And Mel is a friend of mine.
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta
Itzak and Isaac Stern b again, um I know both of them and uh and treasure the fact that I do know them and have such immense respect for their their talents are incredible.
Rhapsody in BlueFavourite
if the reason I picked uh Hezu Maria Sanroma, there are so many, many recordings and many of them uh possibly superior to this, but that was the one that I was listening to. Way, way back then, and that's why I picked it.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:54With a name like Lemmon, did you get used to being laughed at from a very early age?
That's very true, and I'll tell you what's worse. My middle name ... actually my name is John when I was called Jack all my life, as was my dad. And his name was John Euler Lemon Jr. I am John Euler Lemon III. I don't know where this Euler came from, but it's U-H-L-E-R. So it was Jack U. Lemon. And all I heard for about 10 years at school was. It was Jack Eulemon. I could have killed my father.
Presenter asks
1:41Did you never consider changing [your name]?
No, I didn't, but uh I'm really still known as Jack Lemmon over uh Harry Cohen's dead body, really, uh, who was when I first went into films ... He wanted to change it ... because he said, My God, the critics will use it like a baseball bat. They'll be saying Cohen has a lemon, Columbia's got a lemon, lemon is a lemon, and so forth, and I would have none of it.
Presenter asks
3:02Do you relish the idea of the splendid isolation of [a desert island]?
Yeah. In some ways, yes. I think that after a while I probably would get terribly lonely. I'm not th that self-stimulating, I guess.
The keepsakes
The book
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Peter Matthiessen
I think it's affected me as much as any piece of fiction I ever read. It gets closer to the heart of man. to the real pulse the soul of human beings as anything I've read.
The luxury
Presenter asks
18:52Was [Some Like It Hot] as much fun to make as it was to watch?
Oh, God, it was it's very funny. Billy Wilder, who He produced and wrote and directed it ... came over to a table one night ... and he said, Look, I've got this thing here, a crazy film ... you'll be in drag for about ninety percent of the film. Do you want to do it? And without even thinking, I said yes.
Presenter asks
27:38Do you believe that actors should use their popularity to put across a political message?
I think it's up to the individual and how strongly he feels, and if he really does feel that he knows enough about what he is talking about to influence somebody else. That's the key thing to me.
Presenter asks
31:27Do you still fear failure?
No, I don't fear failure. What I learned, and very, very fortunately a long time ago, was that failure doesn't do you one bit of harm. Almost always. It doesn't hurt you a bit. The fear of failure is a killer, because it will keep you from trying and you will never know. You will not develop.
“Something made me realize that instead of being totally embarrassed, which could happen, I don't know, a little bulb went off in the bag and said, I think I like this, because I realized I could keep doing it. And they would keep laughing.”
“The fear of failure is a killer, because it will keep you from trying and you will never know. You will not develop. It's sort of like going into a strange city and going down Main Street, you know, the one big main thoroughfare, and you feel kind of secure. And you keep looking down the side streets, the little mews and the alleys and so forth, and saying, Oh, I better not go down there, I don't know what it's like. And if you went down, you might discover something glorious, you know.”
“The thing that still pleases me most Is someone coming up and not necessarily saying, Can I have your autograph? But someone saying, Excuse me, I don't want to bother you, I just wanted to thank you. For all the enjoyment that you have brought to me and my family. Well, I tell you, that knocks me out, and I am I'm really serious about it. I cannot imagine anything nicer. Because that's what it's all about. We are not up on the stage for ourselves.”