Tony and Me: An Interview with Jack Klugman

Jack Klugman is best known for the television series, "The Odd Couple," in which he co-starred with Tony Randal. But, his career has spanned the stage ("Gypsy") and movies ("12 Angry Men") with success and critical acclaim for over half a century. Time, age, and a bout with throat cancer have not diminished Jack Klugman's love and enthusiasm for the theatre. All that, and some strong opinions, came across clearly in a recent telephone interview. His voice is improving daily; he is still on stage, still looking for good roles. Life is good.


John Formy-Duval: What has been the reaction of your friends in the industry to Tony and Me?

Jack Klugman: It's been very positive. Everyone has been very positive, particularly people in the business. When I've gone on the road, I went on a 19-city tour and it was just wonderful people, saying I grew up with you. I remember sitting on the couch with my mother and father and we laughed at your show. And you know when you do a show you just go for the ratings and the Neilsons and suddenly you add identity and faces. It was a wonderful experience.

JFD: Was there a central theme you wanted people to understand when they read this marvelous book?

Jack Klugman: Well, I wanted them to appreciate friendship and know just how important it is. If you're very, very lucky - and I was - to have a friend like Tony Randall who brought me back into the business. He taught me to let people into my life. He taught me that vulnerability was not a terrible thing. He handled my vulnerability with kid gloves. He never made a promise to me that he didn't keep. I want to just say if you have a friend, don't take it for granted, appreciate it, know what it is, talk about it, tell them how important it is to you.

JFD: Did you and Tony have habits that annoyed one another?

Jack Klugman: Do we have habits? Well, I smoked at the beginning, and he didn't like that. Ah, no. We got along very well; he was a person who liked to be in charge of things, but the very first day of rehearsal we settled that, so he never daunted me. He would make suggestions for our mutual good. We kinda knew when we had gone just far enough. We didn't always agree on what's funny, but I knew if he said "that's funny" and he said it in a certain tone, I knew I couldn't push any longer. He and I were very sensitive to each other's limits, and we got along very well. Except for the first couple days we never had an argument within 50 years.

JFD: I remember the story in the limos about smoking, so I understand that point.

Jack Klugman: Yeah, well. (laughs) What Garry (Marshall, director) said is that I didn't realize the solution was so simple. We'll get two limos. But, you know at that point Tony didn't want to work with me and I didn't want to work with him. We realized it was not because of artistic integrity, but because of bad habits. I should have listened to him.

JFD: How do you compare the creative process of writing a book and preparing for a performance?

Jack Klugman: Well, I think that's a very interesting question. What I did with the book was I told the truth. I gathered all the facts, all the things I remembered that were true. When I'm preparing for a part, I let my imagination go and whatever is interesting and whatever sets that character, no matter how out of context it is with what people think it is because we never know what our reactions will be. I allow it to happen, but when writing a book and preparing, I only dealt with facts and the truth.

JFD: Burton Rocks is best known for sports biographies - Bob Feller, Clyde King (who's from here in North Carolina), and others. Why choose him?

Jack Klugman: Well, he chose me, really. He wanted to do my biography and I didn't want to do that. But, when Tony died he came to me and we talked about it and he said why don't you write a book in tribute to Tony and that's how we got together.

JFD: Having gone through this, when will you tell your story?

Jack Klugman: Never!! No, I don't think I will ever write another book. This was it. I mean I'm 83 ½ years old and I can't keep, I will stick to acting, which I love. Writing is too difficult and I don't mind revealing because I have nothing to hide anymore. All my closets are open. I have nothing to hide, but I have no real desire to write a book. I had written a couple of television shows that were put on by Kraft on live television, but that was in the fifties and I don't do it anymore.