Odd Couple, Quincy M.E. star Jack Klugman passes @ 90

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For many, Jack Klugman will always be the messy one...

'Odd Couple' star Jack Klugman dies in LA at 90
24 Dec.`12 — His portrayal of sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison on TV's "The Odd Couple" left viewers laughing but it also gave Klugman the leverage to create a more serious character, the gruff medical examiner in "Quincy M.E." His everyman ethos and comic timing endeared him to audiences and led to a prolific, six-decade acting career that spanned stage, screen and television.

Klugman died Monday at age 90 in suburban Northridge with his wife at his side. His sons called on his fans to embrace their father's tenacious and positive spirit. "He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it, and he would encourage others to do the same," son Adam Klugman said. The cause of Klugman's death was not immediately known. Adam Klugman said his father had been slowing down in recent years, but wasn't battling cancer, which robbed him of his voice in the 1980s. Klugman taught himself to speak again, and kept working.

He remained popular for decades simply by playing the type of man you could imagine running into at a bar or riding on a subway with — gruff, but down-to-earth, his tie stained and a little loose, a racing form under his arm, a cigar in hand during the days when smoking was permitted. Off-screen, Klugman owned racehorses and enjoyed gambling, although acting remained his passion. Despite his on-screen wars with Tony Randall's neat-freak character Felix Unger on "Odd Couple," the show created a friendship between the men that endured after the series ended.

When Randall died in 2004 at age 84, Klugman told CNN: "A world without Tony Randall is a world that I cannot recognize." The "Odd Couple," which ran from 1970 to 1975, was based on Neil Simon's play about mismatched roommates — divorced New Yorkers who end up living together. The comedy came from their opposite personalities — Klugman playing a writer whose sloppiness consistently irritated the Randall's fussy photographer character. The pairing was so good, the show didn't need constant help from the writers. "There's nobody better to improvise with than Tony," Klugman said. "A script might say, 'Oscar teaches Felix football.' There would be four blank pages. He would provoke me into reacting to what he did. Mine was the easy part."

More 'Odd Couple' star Jack Klugman dies in LA at 90 - Yahoo! News

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Reaction to the death of actor Jack Klugman
24 Dec.`12 - Celebrities on Monday reacted to the death of "Odd Couple" star Jack Klugman, who died Monday at age 90. Here are samples of sentiments expressed on Twitter:

"R.I.P. Jack Klugman, Oscar, Quincy a man whose career spanned almost 50 years. I first saw him on the Twilight Zone. Cool guy wonderful actor." — Whoopi Goldberg.

"You made my whole family laugh together." — Actor Jon Favreau, of "Swingers," ''Iron Man" and other films.

"I worked with Jack Klugman several years ago. He was a wonderful man and supremely talented actor. He will be missed" — Actor Max Greenfield, of the "New Girl" on Fox.

"So sorry to hear that Jack Klugman passed away. I learned a lot, watching him on television" — Dan Schneider, creator of Nickelodeon TV shows "iCarly," ''Drake and Josh" ''Good Burger," ''Drake & Josh."

Reaction to the death of actor Jack Klugman - Yahoo! News