Jack Klugman passed away today, age 90. He's a film icon, but I remember him best in the original Sidney Lumet 1957 production of "Twelve Angry Men". That movie holds me rapt every time, a plot predictable as a Grisham paperback, but not the jurors. Klugman was the last one alive that made that movie; everybody else, the other jurors, director Sidney Lumet, the producer, the cinematographer, the music director, the uncredited other actors, judge, clerk, guard and defendant, had already all passed away. Well, 1957 was 55 years ago. It's sad, the whole crew of such a cinematic masterpiece every one departed. But the film's immortality is far from sad; its story timeless as the continents, told in a manner impossible to tire of, as riveting now as when it was made. Klugman and the others who shared that stage with him in 1957 made it immortal, and its immortality made them, too, in a way, immortal. RIP Jack Klugman, the last juror.
Growing up in NYC I and many others enjoyed the Odd Couple reruns most every evening. Jack played Oscar Madison the sloppy divorced sports writer whose heart was as big as his comedic genius. RIP Jack and Godspeed.
Great Movie! ....and to think they did it on a budget of less than half a million bucks... Mr. Klugman. Thank You, Sir! RIP...
I won't forget Jack Klugman's performance in 12 Angry Men, I played his character in a school play. I won't forget Charle Durning either. Besides being a great actor, he also had an interesting military career and was a survivor of the Malmedy massacre.
