Jack Klugman

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Jack Klugman
in August 2005
Born	Jacob Joachim Klugman April 27, 1922 (1922-04-27) (age 87) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950 – present
Spouse(s)	Brett Somers (1953–2007) Peggy Crosby (2008–present)

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman (born April 27, 1922) is an American television and film actor, known primarily for his roles in sitcoms, movies and television. He is best-known for his role as Tony Randall's sloppy roommate, Oscar Madison, in The Odd Couple shown on American television during the 1970s, and for his starring role in Quincy, M.E., in the 1970s and 1980s. He attended Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1948. In 1957, he appeared in the film 12 Angry Men as juror number 5 and is the last surviving actor who played a juror in that movie.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Acting career 3 Quiz show appearances 4 Quincy M.E. -- Klugman's dispute with NBC over profits 5 Writing 6 Personal life 6.1 Health issues 6.2 Thoroughbred horse racing 7 Filmography 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life

Born in Philadelphia, Jack Klugman began acting after serving in the United States Army during World War II. A struggling actor in New York City, Klugman was a roommate of another actor, Charles Bronson, before either man became successful.

[edit] Acting career

Klugman starred in several classic films including 12 Angry Men in 1957 (which he says is his favorite film), Days of Wine and Roses in 1962, and Goodbye, Columbus in 1969. He had also won an Emmy Award for his work on the television series The Defenders and appeared in four episodes of the acclaimed series The Twilight Zone (Klugman tied with Burgess Meredith for the most starring appearances by any actor on the series). Klugman says his greatest thrill was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in a 1954 live television broadcast of The Petrified Forest.

He is best known for his starring roles in two popular television series of the 1970s and early 1980s: The Odd Couple (1970–1975) and Quincy, M.E. (1976–1983). Jack also starred in the original Broadway production of The Odd Couple, after replacing Walter Matthau.^[1] He won two Emmy Awards for the T.V. version of The Odd Couple.

Klugman won a Tony Award in 1960 for Best Supporting Actor (Musical) for his role in Gypsy.^[2] During the pre-Broadway tryout tour in 1959, several songs were cut, including a song for the character 'Herbie' (played by Klugman) called "Nice, She Ain't" cut because Klugman had a terrible singing voice.

[edit] Quiz show appearances

In 1993, Klugman appeared on a special 'celebrity versus regulars' version of the United Kingdom quiz show Going for Gold. The special episode was mostly made up of actors and actresses that appeared in programmes that were on around the same time slot as Going for Gold competing against past series winners. Klugman was invited to participate as the show Quincy, M.E., in which he starred, was often on afterwards. Klugman won this special airing and then actually went on to win the entire 1993 series.

Klugman also appeared on the very first week of the 1970s revival of Match Game and then from time to time filled in for his then-wife, Brett Somers when she became a regular on the program a few weeks later.^[3]

[edit] Quincy M.E. -- Klugman's dispute with NBC over profits

It was reported early in 2008 that Klugman was suing NBC Television concerning missing profits from his show Quincy M.E.^[4] The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court and Klugman requesting NBC to show him the original contract.^[4] It was stated that his production company Sweater Productions should have received twenty five percent of the show's net profits.^[4] As of the filing date, only an accounting statement has been submitted by NBC.^[4]

[edit] Writing

In 2005, Klugman published Tony And Me: A Story of Friendship, a book about his long friendship with his Odd Couple co-star Tony Randall. Included with the book was a DVD featuring outtakes from the show.

[edit] Personal life

Klugman is the father of two children: Adam (who had a cameo as Oscar Madison as a child in a flashback on The Odd Couple) and David, both from his marriage to Match Game regular Brett Somers. Klugman and Somers were married in 1953, however, they had legally separated in 1974, although technically they never divorced, and remained married until her death in 2007 at the age of 83.^[5] They only lived together as husband and wife for 21 years of their 54 year marriage. Klugman later joked that he never divorced Somers so that he would not make the mistake of marrying again.^{[citation needed]} It was Klugman, who appeared on the first week of Match Game in 1973, who asked the show's production company, as a stipulation to his appearance, that they give Somers a guest slot on the panel. She fit in so well with the panelists (particularly Charles Nelson Reilly), that she stayed with the show for its entire nine-year run (ending in 1982). Klugman continued to appear on other episodes of Match Game until he and Somers separated, although he would make guest appearances infrequently. Klugman has lived with Peggy Crosby (the ex-wife of Bing Crosby's son, Phillip Crosby) since 1988; however, it was not until February 2008, after Somers's death, that Klugman and Crosby finally married.^[6][7]

Klugman was close friends with Odd Couple co-star Tony Randall and gave the eulogy at Randall's memorial service.

[edit] Health issues

In 1989 Klugman lost a vocal cord to cancer, but he continued to act on stage and on television. He survived the cancer, though the lost vocal cord has left Klugman with a raspy, scratchy voice. During the 1990s his television credits included a guest starring role in Diagnosis Murder. His cancer was written into his character, where Klugman played a detective who had previously been shot in the throat and had to solve an outstanding case before he died of cancer in 'Voices Carry'. He also appeared in a second episode, where he was the murderer. He would also have his cancer written into the story line of The Odd Couple: Together Again, a reunion TV movie he performed with Tony Randall. The movie opened with Oscar in the hospital after his surgery and Felix finding out that Oscar didn't tell him about it in order to keep him from driving him 'nuts' during the recovery.

[edit] Thoroughbred horse racing

Klugman's character on the Odd Couple television show, a fan of thoroughbred horse racing, was mirrored in his real life. One of his horses, Jaklin Klugman, was voted the 1980 California Horse of the Year after winning several races, including the 1980 California Derby and Jerome Handicap, finishing third in the Kentucky Derby. The horse was once featured in a commercial for Aksarben race track.^[8]

[edit] Filmography

• Grubstake (1952)
• Time Table (1956)

mail order prophet Hitchcock presents (1957)

• 12 Angry Men (1957)
• Cry Terror! (1958)
• The Velvet Alley (Playhouse 90) (1959)
• A Passage for Trumpet episode of The Twilight Zone (1960)
• A Game of Pool episode of The Twilight Zone (1961)
• Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
• The Yellow Canary (1963)
• I Could Go On Singing (1963)
• Act One (1963)
• Death Ship episode of The Twilight Zone (1963)
• In Praise of Pip episode of The Twilight Zone (1963)
• Hail, Mafia (1965)
• The Detective (1968)
• The Split (1968)
• Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
• The Odd Couple (1970-1975)
• Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow? (1971)
• Two-Minute Warning (1976)
• Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983)
• Challenge of the Tiger (1980)
• You Again? (1986)
• The Odd Couple: Together Again (1993)
• Dear God (1996)
• Brothers Keeper (1999)
• Diagnosis Murder (1990s)
• Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (2001) (documentary)
• Crossing Jordan (2002)
• When Do We Eat? (2005)
• America's Top Sleuths (2006)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jack Klugman at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Klugman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jack Klugman at the Internet off-Broadway Database
• Jack Klugman profile
• The Quincy Examiner - Online Home to Fans of Quincy M.E.
• Jack Klugman's Blog
• Jack Klugman - Quincy - German Infosite
• Jack Klugman - Jack Klugman Informationscenter Europe

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series Alan Young (1950) · Sid Caesar (1951) · Jimmy Durante (1952) · Donald O'Connor (1953) · Danny Thomas (1954) · Phil Silvers (1955) · Sid Caesar (1956) · Jack Benny (1957) · Jack Benny (1959) · Dick Van Dyke (1964) · Dick Van Dyke (1965) · Dick Van Dyke (1966) · Don Adams (1967) · Don Adams (1968) · Don Adams (1969) · William Windom (1970) · Jack Klugman (1971) · Carroll O'Connor (1972) · Jack Klugman (1973) · Alan Alda (1974) · Tony Randall (1975) Complete list: (1950–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present)

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie Thomas Mitchell (1952) · Robert Cummings (1954) · Lloyd Nolan (1955) · Jack Palance (1956) · Peter Ustinov (1957) · Fred Astaire (1959) · Laurence Olivier (1960) · Maurice Evans (1961) · Peter Falk (1962) · Trevor Howard (1963) · Jack Klugman (1964) · Alfred Lunt (1965) · Cliff Robertson (1966) · Peter Ustinov (1967) · Melvyn Douglas (1968) · Paul Scofield (1969) · Peter Ustinov (1970) · George C. Scott (1971) · Keith Michell (1972) · Laurence Olivier (1973) · Anthony Murphy (1973) · Hal Holbrook (1974) · William Holden (1974) · Laurence Olivier (1975) · Peter Falk (1975) Complete list: (1952-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)