Chris is set to launch the UK premiere of his play, A Twist Of Lemmon, an autobiography of his famous dad’s career, life, loves, highs and lows.
As he worked on it, of course, it brought back countless memories of his late father, who passed away in 2001.
From having Marilyn Monroe live next door, to Jimmy Cagney waking him as a child and bringing him downstairs to a celebrity-packed party — Jack entertaining on piano — almost every memory was a fond one.
“I miss my father every day, and one of the things I admired about him most was how good a pianist he was, self-taught and spectacular!” says Chris.
“He loved to play, mostly jazz, blues, the Gershwin brothers, and music was the thing that brought us together again after various things forced us apart at one point.
“You have divorce, a second marriage, resentment, and it is a potent mixture, but I really try to show that we are all human.
“I play piano, too, and music gave us the chance to rekindle things and jam together. That’s what this show is all about, the parent-child relationship.
“What would Pop think of the show? Gosh, I hope he would be proud of it. I hope you guys in Britain like it, and my father did a lot of work in the UK and adored it there.”
Along with their shared love of music, Chris had his father’s love of the stage and the acting world, and even got to appear in several films with Jack.
Airport ’77, That’s Life! and Dad all have the distinction of featuring both Jack and Chris Lemmon, even if Chris is modest about his roles!
“Don’t blink!” he laughs.
“Actually, the first one was a bit of a fluke. I was just a kid, fresh out of college, and still convinced I was going to become the next Franz Liszt.
“I was on the set of Airport ’77, and for some reason, a guy who was supposed to play a radio- control man didn’t show up that day.
“I could see my father in the corner, speaking to the director.
“Next thing I know, they’ve hoodwinked me into Wardrobe and stuck me in these radio- control man clothes!
“I had an oscilloscope to do the radar and I had a lot of lines like: ‘Captain, we have fuselage longitude of two degrees, 77 latitude.’
“But I couldn’t remember them because I was so damn nervous!
“Someone shouted: ‘Action!’ and I’d just see all these people staring at me. So for my very first job, which my father hoodwinked me into, I forgot all my lines and had to have them pasted inside my oscilloscope!
“I was sitting there sweating bullets and shaking like a leaf, but Pop and everyone else got a kick out of it.
“Working together on Dad was great fun, too. I was the young son in the flashback scenes.
“We were also both in That’s Life!, and I do wish we’d had the chance to do something meatier together.
“That’s Life! was unusual, , as everyone wrote their own material as it was an improvised piece.
“This meant, of course, the two Lemmon boys wrote themselves big nine-page monologues! There is one cute scene where Pop and I are together, with Julie Andrews, and I love seeing it again.”
If he occasionally felt overawed in the presence of his father’s famous showbiz pals, Chris admits it was great to have such household names literally in his own house!
“I remember after my mother and father were divorced, he had a little bachelor pad up in the hills,” Chris recalls. “I was just a little kid, so I’d be tucked in and then he’d call all his buddies to get the party started!
“Jimmy Cagney saw me sticking my head out, and grabbed me, pulling me out at the age of six, wide-eyed, into this party.
“All these incredible characters filling our living-room, while Pop played his wonderful piano! He had a great singing voice, too, which I do my best to emulate in the show.”
For anyone who loves Jack Lemmon, the name Walter Matthau almost goes hand-in-hand. The pair starred together in 11 hit movies, creating the kind of chemistry you don’t often find in cinema.
And Chris can reveal that the pair were incredibly close buddies off screen, too.
“Walter was my father’s very best friend,” Chris reveals. “Pop adored him, and it was almost a year to the day after Walter passed away that my father died.
“I can’t help but think that a big part of that was because of a broken heart. That chemistry they had doesn’t happen often. You’ve got Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and Lemmon and Matthau.
“When it happens, it’s magical. They had the time of their lives. I do two or three stories from The Odd Couple era, and as individuals they were unique on camera and off it.
“Billy Wilder saw this chemistry, and he worked with them on Fortune Cookie and other big movies.
“He once said: ‘Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon,’ and when he got Matthau as part of the deal, too, it was great!
“So I do think The Odd Couple epitomises them, although I must remind you of another.
“Recently, I worked in Australia, where they asked me to introduce a showing of Grumpy Old Men.
“I’d forgotten what a terrific film that was. Pop and Walter were just so comfortable in each other’s bones, because of their friendship. It was a privilege to hang out with them both.”
Chris Lemmon’s show, A Twist Of Lemmon, is at London’s St James Studio, June 1-18. Box Office number is 0844-264-2140, or email boxoffice@stjamestheatre.co.uk
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