Jack Klugman, best known as the messy, cigar-chomping New York sportswriter Oscar Madison in TV’s “The Odd Couple,’’ died yesterday at age 90.
The actor had been ailing but was looking forward to spending the holidays with his family when he died, his two sons said.
“He had a great life, and he enjoyed every moment of it, and he would encourage others to do the same,” said the actor’s son Adam.
Klugman’s other son, David, with whom he had been staying in LA, added, “[We] loved him very much. We’ll carry on in his spirit.”
A native of Philadelphia’s South Side, Klugman first gained fame in the 1957 film “12 Angry Men,’’ in which he played a coarse juror who grew up in the slums.
But his most recognizable role was as Oscar, the slob roommate of neatnik fellow divorcé Felix Unger, played by Tony Randall. The show ran from 1970 to 1975.
Randall had lobbied for Mickey Rooney to play the part, but that didn’t stop him and Klugman from becoming best pals.
After Randall died in 2004, Klugman said, “A world without Tony Randall is a world that I cannot recognize.”
After “The Odd Couple,” Klugman went on to play a quirky medical examiner in TV’s “Quincy, M.E.’’
The lifelong smoker battled throat cancer in the ’80s. He lost his voice and had to relearn how to speak.
In addition to his two sons with late first wife, Brett Somers, he is also survived by his second wife, Peggy Crosby, who was at his side when he died.
Somers played Oscar’s ex-wife in “The Odd Couple.”