If you know Klugman at all, it's likely from the TV series The Odd Couple. Or maybe his four appearances on The Twilight Zone. Or Quincy M.E. Or the movie Twelve Angry Men. Or a bunch of other stuff. My favorite performance by him is opposite Jonathan Winters in the amazing TW episode "A Game of Pool", which you can watch inthreeparts on YouTube.
Rest well, Mr. Klugman, and thanks for all the drama, and all the laughs.
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The first thing I remember seeing him in was The Odd Couple. Then I saw him in A Game Of Pool, wonderful episode. I do remember him in Quincy but I didn't watch that show too often. I know that I have seen the classic Twelve Angry Men but don't remember him in it (then again, I don't think that I can remember any of the twelve actors who were in it). He will definately be missed.
Been a huge Odd Couple fan since I was a kid. And was therefore a fan of the grumpy, sloppy, destined-to-heartburn sportswriter in the crooked Mets cap and the man who played him.
RIP, Mr. Klugman. I raise a plate of lasagna and french fries in your honor.
"A Game of Pool" was wonderful, but my favorite TZ of his was "In Praise of Pip" with Billy Mumy. (That episode may be one of the first TV mentions of the Vietnam War.)
His comedic chemistry with Tony Randall was spot-on - "Odd Couple" was one of the funniest sitcoms to come out of the 70s (in a very competitive decade for such a genre).
A Game of Pool is probably my second-favorite episode (after Time Enough at Last), and In Praise of Pip is my third - two of Klugman's four TZ episodes...
I remember him best as Oscar Madison. He was by all reporta a mensch.
My favorite of his Twilight Zone episodes is "A Passage for Trumpet"; "A Game of Pool" is also excellent (how could it fail to be, with those two?)
I kind of wish there was a complete video of him onstage on Broadway in the original production of Gypsy.
ETA: Sadly, Charles Durning, too. Tootsie may have been his most memorable performance, but he was pretty awesome in everything he did. I'll vote for The Muppet Movie as my favorite of his roles.
One of my favorite memories of him is a guest appearance he did on Match Game; as Gene came around to do introductions, he informed the audience "Brett said I didn't have to pay alimony this month if I covered for her."
There is definitely a Twilight Zone Scenario in his passing on Christmas Eve, isn't there, with a dash of "It's A Wonderful Life." I feel a fanfic coming on.
"A Game of Pool" is great, and while Klugman is great in it, getting to see Winters in a serious role is also a relatively rare treat. But let's give some credit also to the creative mind behind that story, who is still with us - George Clayton Johnson. He also wrote several other TZ episodes, the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap" (salt vampire!), and the story on which "Ocean's Eleven" was based. In addition to co-writing the novel Logan's Run with William Nolan.
