Jack Lemmon

 On this date in 1956, at the 28th Academy Awards, Jack Lemmon was awarded Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Mister Roberts" (1955).

Lemmon started a long-time friendship with James Cagney which lasted until Cagney's death in 1986. Prior to his appearance in his first film, years before, he started in live television. In one particular performance, Lemmon decided to play his character differently. He decided to play the character left-handed, which is opposite to his own way of movement. With much practice, he pulled off the performance without anyone noticing the change. This change even fooled Lemmon's wife at the time. A few years went by and Jack met Cagney on their way to Midway Island to film this movie. They introduced themselves, and Cagney chimed in, "Are you still fooling people into believing you're left handed?" They had a great laugh and a strong friendship was born.

Before shooting the scene where Pulver meets Capt. Morton (Cagney) apparently for the first time and identifies himself and tells the captain that he's been on the ship for "14 months, sir," Cagney realized that he would have to rehearse the moment with Lemmon again and again so he wouldn't burst out laughing during the actual filming. Lemmon agreed, and when the scene was filmed Cagney claimed he was just barely able to hang on with a straight face, even after all the rehearsal time.

Director John Ford encouraged Cagney and Lemmon to ad-lib, much to Henry Fonda's chagrin. Fonda and Lemmon actually served in the Navy during World War II. Each man also held the same rank as their on-screen characters, lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign respectively, upon discharge.