Hello I'm Krestey Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1989,

and the presenter was Sue Lolly. My castaway this week is a Hollywood star with an unusual reputation. You can't find anyone to say a bad word about

him. His versatility has earned him a career that's lasted 40 years. He's twice won an Oscar and been nominated eight times.

He gained recognition as a comic actor in films like Some Like It Hot and The Odd Couple, and

as a serious one in the China Syndrome and Missing, and he's a fine stage actor too. Now 64 he can look back on a series of

enviable achievements and say the worst part about being me is when people

want me to make them laugh. He is of course Jack Lemon. being laughed at

at from very age.

That's very true.

I'll tell you what's worse. My middle name, God I don't know why my father stuck me with this. My middle name, actually my name is John, when I was called Jack all my life, as was my dad. And his name was John Euler Lemon Jr. I am John Euler

Lemon the third I don't know where this Euler came from but it's UH L-E-R So it was Jack U. Lemon and all I heard for about 10 years

of school was Jack you Lemon. I could have killed my father.

Did you never consider changing it?

No, I didn't, but I'm really still known as Jack Lemon over Harry Cohen's dead body,

really, who was when I first went into films 53 I think when I signed with

Columbia and did my first film he wanted to change it now by then I had oh God I

I'd done hundreds of live TV shows back in the old days, late 40s and early 50s,

and I had played a lead on Broadway and so forth and all with my name.

He wanted to change it because he said, my God, the critics will use it like a baseball bat.

They'll be saying Cohen has a lemon.

...