Cancer claims actor at 76

Jack Lemmon has died of at the age of 76.

The star of movie classics Some Like It Hot and The Odd Couple died of complications from cancer in Los Angeles last night.

His wife Felicia, his two children and a stepdaughter were at his bedside.

Lemmon's spokesman Warren Cowan said: "He is one of the greatest actors in the history of the business."

He recently underwent gall bladder surgery, and had pneumonia earlier in the year.

The Harvard-educated actor forged his Hollywood comedy career as a bungling, but well-meaning Everyman.

But later he switched from light comedies to heavy drama, earning him more respect.

He won two Oscars - as best supporting actor for his fourth movie Mister Roberts in 1955 and for best actor in 1973's Save The Tiger

And he was nominated for the comedies Some Like It Hot in 1959 and The Apartment in 1960 - and the dramas Days of Wine and Roses, The China Syndrome, Tribute and Missing.

In 1988 he received the Life Achievement Award of the American Film Institute.

He was born in February 1925 in a hospital lift in Massachusettes. Appropriately enough, given his surname, he had jaundice.

Published: 28 Jun 2001