Syndicated television reporter Nancy Collins met with Jack Lemmon in the presidential suite of the Westwood Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles. Lemmon had just spent three days hyping and interviewing for his movie Tribute, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Collins tells us: "It was perhaps one o'clock in the afternoon and Lemmon was sipping a martini and smoking a cigar. He was relaxed and extraordinarily warm. He really likes questions about his wife, Felicia Farr. He is noticeably very much in love with her after 18 years of marriage."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: There are those who would argue that the roles you played in Days of Wine and Roses, Save the Tiger and now Tribute are very similar to one another. What is a Jack Lemmon character?

Jack Lemmon: I have busted my ass to make sure that I don't know. The biggest problem I've had is not being pigeon-holed. I pick material that you can't put a label on. Tribute is a marvelous blend of comedy and drama, which is very difficult. The last role I had that really worked as well was in The Apartment.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: You play men who have a lot of miles on them; men having mid-life crises--whether they're 20 or 30 or 40. Since you have obviously studied him a lot in order to play him over the years, who is the American male today in terms of how the movies see him?

Jack Lemmon: Damned if I know. I just identify when I'm reading a character. A lot of the scripts I get now are heavier, which reflects the increasing pressure on us. It's just the worst goddamned time in history. The world is no longer just a small town. Ten minutes after something happens, we all know about it. A kid on the street has no naiveté; by the time he's ten, because of the tube. We're affected by everybody else's problems. It's impossible to be an isolationist and survive. Those pressures are affecting us on every damned level. The divorce rate keeps increasing. American men are confused about the family and how to treat it, about marriage and its value. Middle-aged men are confronting the younger generation's morality. It's enticing to them, but they don't know how to handle it. I have seen it affect a lot of people I know. It was hysterical: guys in their late 50s or 60s growing their hair long and opening three buttons on their shirts. They had 18 pounds of gold hanging around their necks and they looked totally fucking ludicrous. But what they were trying to do was not let the parade pass.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: What kept you from getting involved in all that?

Jack Lemmon: I don't know. I just didn't, thank God, but maybe I'm not old enough yet. I'm 56. Maybe I've got to wait until I'm 60 or 65 and suddenly try to be a youth again. Fortunately, my marriage has worked; I haven't had that enticement to go roaring off.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Why has your marriage been so successful?

Jack Lemmon: It's a combination of things. My wife has great appeal as a woman. The excitement that dissipates in a marriage is a direct parallel to the release of a film. A movie can be a great hit. But how long is it going to be a hit? Usually, it begins to dwindle and slowly fade. So it's a matter of how long it stays a hit. Well, we stayed a hit. The attraction is there. The physical thing is absolutely as strong. My wife is very, very bright. A good sense of humor. A lot of laughing, I think, is vital. Plus, she's not afraid to criticize me--she's the most honest woman I've ever known--which can be infuriating, because I have my own ego and vanity, but, oh, I listen. She's one of the handful of people I really go to for advice. Her taste is on a very high level. I have done a few pieces of shit about which she said, "Guess what's going to happen?" and she's been right.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: Did you meet her in Hollywood?

Jack Lemmon: Yeah; she was under contract to Columbia when I was. It was, God's truth, a love-at-first-sight thing. I was absolutely knocked on my ass when I met her. There was a chemistry, an electric thing that happened.