Jack Klugman

Birthday: 27 April 1922, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Birth Name: Jacob Joachim Klugman

Height: 175 cm

As a film character actor, Klugman was the epitome of the everyman. He was one of the pioneers of television acting in the 1950s, and is best remembered for his 1970s TV work as Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple (1970) and as the medical examiner on Quincy M.E. (1976).

[on his show Quincy M.E. (1976)]: We were the first CSI [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)]. All...Show more »

[on his show Quincy M.E. (1976)]: We were the first CSI [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)]. All these other shows just took what we did and made it bloodier and sexier. Our show was actually about something, we had a message and a moral. You can't compare gold to tin foil. I was a one-man "CSI". Show less «

[on smoking] I saw John Garfield smoke. He was my idol, so I smoked. I even smoked like him . . . Th...Show more »

[on smoking] I saw John Garfield smoke. He was my idol, so I smoked. I even smoked like him . . . The only really stupid thing I ever did in my life was to start smoking. Show less «

[on people comparing him to "Oscar Madison" from The Odd Couple (1970)] People think I'm like Oscar....Show more »

[on people comparing him to "Oscar Madison" from The Odd Couple (1970)] People think I'm like Oscar. When they find out I'm not, they seem disappointed. Show less «

[on what made Quincy M.E. (1976) a hit] Quincy was a muckraker, like Upton Sinclair, who wrote about...Show more »

[on what made Quincy M.E. (1976) a hit] Quincy was a muckraker, like Upton Sinclair, who wrote about injustices. He was my ideal as a youngster, my author, my hero. Everybody said, "Quincy' will never be a hit.". I said, "You guys are wrong. He's two heroes in one, a cop and a doctor". A coroner has power. He can tell the police commissioner to investigate a murder. I saw the opportunity to do what I'd gotten into the theater to do--give a message. They were going to do cops and robbers with "Quincy". I said, "You promised me I could do causes". They said, "Nobody wants to see that" I said, "Look at the success of 60 Minutes (1968). They want to see it if you present it as entertainment". Show less «

[on working with Tony Randall] There's nobody better to improvise with than Tony. A script might say...Show more »

[on working with Tony Randall] There's nobody better to improvise with than Tony. A script might say,"Oscar teaches Felix football". There would be four blank pages. He would provoke me into reacting to what he did. Mine was the easy part. Show less «

[on the hardships of his life] Poverty can teach lessons that privilege cannot.

[on his great friend Tony Randall] The best friend a man could ever have. I loved him dearly. He was...Show more »

[on his great friend Tony Randall] The best friend a man could ever have. I loved him dearly. He was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. I will miss him for the rest of my days. Show less «

[on former roommate Charles Bronson] You remembered him. He had an amazing presence.

[on attending rival and decades-old enemy Norman Fell's funeral]: Best funeral I've ever been to. I'...Show more »

[on attending rival and decades-old enemy Norman Fell's funeral]: Best funeral I've ever been to. I've never laughed so hard in years. I had the time of my life. NOTE: As it turned out, their "feud" was just a friendly rivalry that got blown out of proportion, and they just mischievously encouraged the perception of a feud. In reality, they were friends. Show less «