Celebrity Biographies
Jack klugman
Jack Klugman became famous, especially in the United States, for the television series “The Odd Couple.” Klugman passed away on Christmas Eve 2012 at the age of 90 in Los Angeles. The actor was the last surviving member of the jury of the film “12 Angry Men.”
Born in Philadelphia, on April 27, 1922, into a family of Russian emigrants, Jacob Joachim Klugman studied Dramatic Art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. After fighting at the front during World War II, he participated as a secondary in numerous theatrical productions and television series.
His first major film role was jury number 5, in 12 Angry Men , Sidney Lumet ‘s legendary feature debut . His character had grown up in a neighborhood similar to that of the defendant, and ends up being one of the first to be convinced by Henry Fonda to change his vote from guilty to not guilty. Shortly thereafter he starred with Jack Lemmon in Blake Edwards ‘s Days of Wine and Roses , where he played the leader of a group of alcoholics anonymous who strives to get the protagonist out of drinking hell.
Two years after Lemmon’s film success with The Odd Couple , based on a play by Neil Simon , Klugman inherited the role played by Walter Matthau in the film , the messy Oscar Madison, in the television version, for which he won two Emmy Awards. Tony Randall was his partner in the series, which ran from 1970 to 1975, with great success.
Klugman also participated in films such as Panic in the stadium or The detective . In the mid-80s, he returned to success on the small screen with the intrigue series Quincy ME , where he played a doctor who solved crimes.
A chain smoker, Jack Klugman had survived throat cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1974. His once powerful voice dropped to a whisper.