R.I.P. Jack Klugman

Emmy-winning actor Jack Klugman died today in Los Angeles. The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E. star was 90. Klugman’s wife Nancy told a local TV station that the actor died at his home in Northridge.  Born in Philadelphia on April 27, 1922, Klugman was a  staple of American television since the mid-1950s. On 1964 he won his first Emmy for his guest role on The Defenders. Klugman also appeared in various films over his career, including 1957’s 12 Angry Men. The actor became well known for playing the grumpy sports writer Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple. The ABC series, which also starred Tony Randall as the fastidious Felix Unger, ran from 1970 to 1975. Winning two Emmys for his role on the show, Klugman had actually played Madison before on Broadway back in the Sixties. The actor had taken over the role in the Neil Simon play, stepping in for Walter Matthau. After The Odd Couple ended, Klugman went solo with his own leading man role on Quincy M.E. in 1976.  The NBC series featured Klugman as an idealistic L.A. County medical examiner who investigated cases that others had written off or put down to natural causes. In 2008, Klugman sued the network over profits from the series that he claimed were due to him. NBC and Klugman came to an out of court settlement in 2010. Klugman appeared on various series and on the stage after Quincy M.E. ended and returned to Broadway in 1993 for a revival of Three Men On A Horse.