Kevin Spacey has said that Jack Lemmon was a huge influence on his career and helped to mould him as a person.

The House Of Cards star runs The Kevin Spacey Foundation which helps aspiring actors to get into the industry and told TV Times that sort of support had been very important to him when he was starting out in his own career.

He said: "Jack (Lemmon) was my teacher and my father figure. He saw me in a play when I was 13 years old. He said, 'You are very good, you should go and study acting in New York.' So I did.

"I was able to work with him for a long time and he was an exceptional teacher. That was an example of how you need a certain amount of luck in life.

"Jack took me under his wing and helped mould me into a better person, and pushed me and inspired me to achieve everything I could hope to become as an actor. Everyone needs that kind of help at some point."

Kevin said of his own foundation: "I started it because I'd always wanted to create a framework to help inspire other actors the way I was helped and nurtured to become an actor.

"The culture of theatre and acting training should not be a luxury."