LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jack Lemmon, the two-time Oscar winner whose acting talents ranged from adroit comedies ``The Apartment'' and ``Some Like It Hot'' to the dramatic intensity of ``Days of Wine and Roses'' and ``Tuesdays with Morrie,'' has died. He was 76.
Lemmon died Wednesday night from complications related to cancer, said his spokesman Warren Cowan. His wife Felicia, his two children and a stepdaughter were at his bedside at USC/Norris Cancer Center, Cowan said.
"To say one word about him would be to say he's a beautiful person,'' Cowan told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The Harvard-educated actor began in films with two stylish comedies and a musical with Betty Grable. Then in 1955, his unique comedy style shined through as the hapless Ensign Pulver in ``Mister Roberts,'' a role that won Lemmon a supporting actor Oscar.
Throughout his career, and especially in films with Walter Matthau, Lemmon was often cast as the well-meaning fellow, a trifle square, who is taken advantage of.
In ``The Fortune Cookie,'' he is browbeaten into filing a false insurance claim by his brother-in-law. ``The Odd Couple'' portrayed Lemmon as the fastidious Felix Unger, who suffers from the slobbish habits of his roommate, Oscar Madison (Matthau). In ``The Front Page,'' city editor Matthau tricks his star reporter, Lemmon.
In 1962, Lemmon switched from lighthearted comedies to intense drama. In ``Days of Wine and Roses,'' he played an alcoholic who induces his new wife (Lee Remick) to join him in drinking sprees. His performance earned his first Academy nomination as lead actor.
Of his seven Oscar nominations for lead actor, two were for comedies and five for dramas.
Picked by Sally Ragdoll.