Hollywood, CA -- June 22, 1999 -- The 3rd Annual Hollywood Film Festival has announced that two-time Academy Award winning actor Jack Lemmon, who is a strong contender for this year's Emmy Award for his performance in "Inherit the Wind," and who has thrilled audiences and critics alike for the past 45 years with his great comic and dramatic ability, will receive its Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award(TM).

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival, who states that "Mr. Lemmon is one of Hollywood's most distinguished and highly regarded actors. His greatness as an actor, and his achievements as a performer, make him nothing less than an American icon, a legend."

The Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award(TM) will be bestowed upon Mr. Lemmon during the Hollywood Film Awards(TM) Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, August 9, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Mr. Lemmon has received a total of eight Academy Award nominations, with Jack Nicholson, Spencer Tracy and Sir Laurence Olivier being the only actors with more nominations. Mr. Lemmon is the first man ever to win Oscars as both Best Actor ("Save the Tiger," 1973) and Best Supporting Actor ("Mister Roberts," 1955), the only Best Actor winner who has directed another performer to a nomination for that award (Walter Matthau in "Kotch," 1971), and the only actor to have been presented with the Best Actor Award twice at the Cannes Film Festival (for "Missing" and "The China Syndrome.")

Mr. Lemmon's movie career began with two Judy Holliday pictures, "It Should Happen to You" and "Phffft!" He became an Oscar winner with his fifth movie, as Ensign Pulver in "Mister Roberts," and was nominated for Best Actor three times in four years for "Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment," and "Days of Wine and Roses." Director Billy Wilder, a good friend of Mr. Lemmon, directed six of his most memorable films: "Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment," "Irma La Douce," "The Fortune Cookie," "Avanti!" and "The Front Page."

Recent comic hits of Mr. Lemmon's include his collaborations with long-time friend Walter Matthau in "Grumpy Old Men," "Grumpier Old Men," "Out to Sea," and the sequel to "The Odd Couple." Some of his other films are "The Odd Couple," "The Great Race," "The Out-of-Towners," "JFK," "Glengarry Glen Ross," and "Hamlet," to name a few.

Mr. Lemmon's work also includes many critically acclaimed and successful performances on stage. He has also worked on television, from the early days of live TV until today, and he won an Emmy for his performance in the 1972 presentation of "'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, 'S Gershwin," and last year he was part of the ensemble cast of Showtime's highly praised "12 Angry Men."

The Hollywood Film Festival was founded by Carlos de Abreu and Janice Pennington, and its co-founders, chairs, and co-chairs include John Briley, James Cameron, Martha Coolidge, Richard Donner, Gene Hackman, Peter Hyams, Norman Jewison, Ted Kotcheff, Martin Landau, Mimi Leder, George Litto, Penny Marshall, Paul Mazursky, James Orr, David Permut, Fred Roos, Mark Rydell, Quentin Tarantino, and actor James Woods, among many other Hollywood notables.

For Mr. Jack Lemmon contact:
Warren Cowan & Associates
Jeff Sanderson
310.275.0777

For Hollywood Film Festival contact:
310.288.1882
awards@hollywoodawards.com