Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) was a two-time Academy Award-winning actor and comedian who starred in such varied films as Mister Roberts, Save the Tiger, The Great Race, and Glengarry Glen Ross, and was often teamed with Walter Matthau (The Odd Couple, The Fortune Cookie, 1974's The Front Page, Grumpy Old Men, etc.)
In 1990, he appeared in The Earth Day Special as Coach Stewart, becoming part of the all-star cast along with Kermit the Frog. Lemmon was later spoofed in Muppet Parodies 1998 Calendar, with Statler and Waldorf as Matthau and Lemmon from Grumpier Old Men.
After Lemmon tells a joke in The Funniest Joke I Ever Heard, Kermit appears to comment that he doesn't get it. Miss Piggy commented that "it was because it was told so well."
Trivia[]
- Lemmon, along with Walter Matthau, was on the short list of actors that Jim Henson considered for the role of Mike Tarkanian in The Great Muppet Caper.[1]