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| Television was the medium that conferred stardom on the actor Jack Klugman, who has died aged 90. In a long, distinguished career in theatre, film and television, he was principally identified with two characters: Oscar Madison, the slovenly, down-to-earth, cigar-smoking flatmate of the neurotically neat Felix Unger (Tony Randall) in the long-running comedy series The Odd Couple (1970-75), and Quincy in Quincy, ME (1976-83), a crime-solving medical examiner. | |
| Born in a poor neighbourhood of Philadelphia, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Klugman had a tough childhood. His father, a house painter, died young, forcing his mother to make hats in her kitchen to buy food and clothing for her six children. Young Jack, who worked as a street peddler, later observed: "Poverty can teach lessons that privilege cannot." This background may have contributed to many of his impassioned and gritty performances. | Born in a poor neighbourhood of Philadelphia, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Klugman had a tough childhood. His father, a house painter, died young, forcing his mother to make hats in her kitchen to buy food and clothing for her six children. Young Jack, who worked as a street peddler, later observed: "Poverty can teach lessons that privilege cannot." This background may have contributed to many of his impassioned and gritty performances. |
| After serving in the army in the second world war, Klugman was able, under the GI bill, to enter Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he studied drama. But after his first audition, his teacher told him: "You're not suited to be an actor. You're more suited, Mr Klugman, to be a truck driver. Not that there's anything wrong with truck drivers, but you're really not ready for this." | After serving in the army in the second world war, Klugman was able, under the GI bill, to enter Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he studied drama. But after his first audition, his teacher told him: "You're not suited to be an actor. You're more suited, Mr Klugman, to be a truck driver. Not that there's anything wrong with truck drivers, but you're really not ready for this." |
| However, he persevered, and in 1949 made his stage debut at the Equity Liberty Theatre, New York, in a play called Stevedore, with Rod Steiger. Yet, even though he was on stage, Klugman and his roommate Charles Buchinsky (later Charles Bronson) had to take menial jobs to pay the rent. At one point, Klugman was even selling his blood for $85 a pint. | However, he persevered, and in 1949 made his stage debut at the Equity Liberty Theatre, New York, in a play called Stevedore, with Rod Steiger. Yet, even though he was on stage, Klugman and his roommate Charles Buchinsky (later Charles Bronson) had to take menial jobs to pay the rent. At one point, Klugman was even selling his blood for $85 a pint. |
| He made his Broadway debut in the 1952 revival of Clifford Odets's Golden Boy with Lee J Cobb and John Garfield. In the same year, he made his first film appearance, as a heavy in a cheapie black-and-white western, Apache Gold (1952). He gradually got his big break in television, much of it live, with character roles in Kraft Television Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Naked City. | He made his Broadway debut in the 1952 revival of Clifford Odets's Golden Boy with Lee J Cobb and John Garfield. In the same year, he made his first film appearance, as a heavy in a cheapie black-and-white western, Apache Gold (1952). He gradually got his big break in television, much of it live, with character roles in Kraft Television Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Naked City. |
| There were also a few films, such as Timetable (1956), an effective film noir with Klugman as a phony ambulance driver with bank robbery loot in the back. More memorable was his Juror No 5 in Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men (1957). The character (and Klugman), coming from a similarly rough neighbourhood as the Puerto Rican youth on trial for murder, argues, with passion, that it would be very unlikely for the knife to have been thrust downwards when the boy was apparently expert with knives. (Klugman was the last surviving member of the 12-juror cast.) | There were also a few films, such as Timetable (1956), an effective film noir with Klugman as a phony ambulance driver with bank robbery loot in the back. More memorable was his Juror No 5 in Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men (1957). The character (and Klugman), coming from a similarly rough neighbourhood as the Puerto Rican youth on trial for murder, argues, with passion, that it would be very unlikely for the knife to have been thrust downwards when the boy was apparently expert with knives. (Klugman was the last surviving member of the 12-juror cast.) |
| On Broadway, he played Herbie opposite Ethel Merman in the hit Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne musical Gypsy (1959). Although Klugman was a major presence in the story, he had only a couple of duets, You'll Never Get Away from Me and Together Wherever We Go, since his singing voice was little more than a croak. | On Broadway, he played Herbie opposite Ethel Merman in the hit Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne musical Gypsy (1959). Although Klugman was a major presence in the story, he had only a couple of duets, You'll Never Get Away from Me and Together Wherever We Go, since his singing voice was little more than a croak. |
| Simultaneously busy working on television, he won an Emmy for his performance in the celebrated Blacklist episode (1964) from The Defenders. Klugman's sporadic film roles included a thug in the thriller Cry Terror! (1958); a sympathetic former alcoholic trying to persuade Jack Lemmon to join an organisation to help deal with his drinking problem in Days of Wine and Roses (1962); Judy Garland's frustrated manager in I Could Go On Singing (1963); and a police colleague of Frank Sinatra in The Detective (1968). | Simultaneously busy working on television, he won an Emmy for his performance in the celebrated Blacklist episode (1964) from The Defenders. Klugman's sporadic film roles included a thug in the thriller Cry Terror! (1958); a sympathetic former alcoholic trying to persuade Jack Lemmon to join an organisation to help deal with his drinking problem in Days of Wine and Roses (1962); Judy Garland's frustrated manager in I Could Go On Singing (1963); and a police colleague of Frank Sinatra in The Detective (1968). |
| Then came The Odd Couple, the TV series based on Neil Simon's play: on Broadway in 1965, Klugman had taken over the role from Walter Matthau, and its small-screen version brought him two further Emmys. His hit teaming with Randall – a great friend outside the studio – was resumed long after the show had ended with a feeble 1993 TV movie, The Odd Couple: Together Again, and on Broadway in The Sunshine Boys, another personality-clash comedy by Neil Simon. | Then came The Odd Couple, the TV series based on Neil Simon's play: on Broadway in 1965, Klugman had taken over the role from Walter Matthau, and its small-screen version brought him two further Emmys. His hit teaming with Randall – a great friend outside the studio – was resumed long after the show had ended with a feeble 1993 TV movie, The Odd Couple: Together Again, and on Broadway in The Sunshine Boys, another personality-clash comedy by Neil Simon. |
| Quincy, ME, inspired by the well-known Los Angeles county coroner Thomas Noguchi, immediately followed the long run of The Odd Couple, with Klugman as the gruff medical examiner whose first name was never revealed. The actor appreciated the series' scope for what he saw as "muckraking" on social issues. | Quincy, ME, inspired by the well-known Los Angeles county coroner Thomas Noguchi, immediately followed the long run of The Odd Couple, with Klugman as the gruff medical examiner whose first name was never revealed. The actor appreciated the series' scope for what he saw as "muckraking" on social issues. |
| In 1974, Klugman was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. Like Oscar, his most notable character, he always had a cigarette in his mouth. "I saw John Garfield smoke. He was my idol, so I smoked. I even smoked like him," Klugman explained. With surgery and some treatment, he was able to continue acting, though he refused to give up smoking. In 1989, he underwent surgery again to remove the cancer, but this time his right vocal chord had to be removed, which left him without the ability to speak. Eventually, he regained it, though in a small, raspy voice. | In 1974, Klugman was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. Like Oscar, his most notable character, he always had a cigarette in his mouth. "I saw John Garfield smoke. He was my idol, so I smoked. I even smoked like him," Klugman explained. With surgery and some treatment, he was able to continue acting, though he refused to give up smoking. In 1989, he underwent surgery again to remove the cancer, but this time his right vocal chord had to be removed, which left him without the ability to speak. Eventually, he regained it, though in a small, raspy voice. |
| Remarkably, he was able to continue with stage acting. In 1996, he and Randall revived The Odd Couple in London. (Klugman had already played Oscar opposite a miscast Victor Spinetti in the West End in 1966.) He also gave a two-hour, one-man show, An Evening with Jack Klugman in 2003, during which he told anecdotes of his five decades in show business. | Remarkably, he was able to continue with stage acting. In 1996, he and Randall revived The Odd Couple in London. (Klugman had already played Oscar opposite a miscast Victor Spinetti in the West End in 1966.) He also gave a two-hour, one-man show, An Evening with Jack Klugman in 2003, during which he told anecdotes of his five decades in show business. |
| In 1953, Klugman married Brett Somers, who went on to play his ex-wife in The Odd Couple. They separated in 1974, and she died in 2007. A long relationship with Barbara Neugass resulted in her losing a palimony claim in 1997. By that time, he was living with Peggy Crosby, the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son Phillip. They married in 2008, and she survives him, as do two sons from his first marriage. | In 1953, Klugman married Brett Somers, who went on to play his ex-wife in The Odd Couple. They separated in 1974, and she died in 2007. A long relationship with Barbara Neugass resulted in her losing a palimony claim in 1997. By that time, he was living with Peggy Crosby, the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son Phillip. They married in 2008, and she survives him, as do two sons from his first marriage. |
| Jack (Jacob Joachim) Klugman, actor, born 27 April 1922; died 24 December 2012 | Jack (Jacob Joachim) Klugman, actor, born 27 April 1922; died 24 December 2012 |