The Odd Couple - Message Board Archive

The posts are in order from earliest to latest - so the top of the page includes the first posts made after the announcement of Tony's death. Threads are separated by a horizontal rule. I've tried as best as I can to recreate the message board on a single page, so that no clicking is necessary to see the posts.

Many people on the board use the subject line for their entire post, with nothing in the body. These posts have "(NT)" in the subject (meaning "no text"). For threads in which the majority of posts have no body, I've used this format: All of the subjects are shown, and the few posts that do have text in the body are boldface, with the body shown after all the subjects.

Date Posted: 09:29:46 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Tokyo Nose
Subject: Re: We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News.
In reply to: reetsie's message, "We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News." on 09:19:58 05/18/04 Tue

Goodbye, old friend. We will miss you. (By the way, who ever thought Jack would outlive him?)

Date Posted: 10:22:29 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: The board's gonna be jammed today so let me put in this suggestion.....maybe we can all attend his funeral if there is one?
In reply to: Stix M 's message, "The board's gonna be jammed today so let me put in this suggestion.....maybe we can all attend his funeral if there is one?" on 09:33:51 05/18/04 Tue

I would love to attend some memorial. I live in Wisconsin and am just devistated for Jack - just seeing all those clips and hearing all those memories on Saturday brought me to tears this morning after hearing the news. I wonder if Jack will still perform this weekend, but if it were up to Tony, he'd say "the show must go on!" Please let me know if you hear anything in regards to services. Thanks!

Date Posted: 10:51:07 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Bolivian Chicken
Subject: Re: The board's gonna be jammed today so let me put in this suggestion.....maybe we can all attend his funeral if there is one?
In reply to: Stix M 's message, "The board's gonna be jammed today so let me put in this suggestion.....maybe we can all attend his funeral if there is one?" on 09:33:51 05/18/04 Tue

If anyone finds out where & when the funeral is, please post it. Or at least, any memorial services in NYC? It's sad that we only honor the giants after they are gone.

"...Felix Unger, a bon vivant, who had more faith in me than I had in myself." You're a rock, Unger. We will miss you dearly.

Date Posted: 09:38:09 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Felixfan
Subject: Re: We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News.
In reply to: reetsie's message, "We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News." on 09:19:58 05/18/04 Tue

I'm just devastated. His work is such a part of my life. My prayers go out to his wife and children.

Date Posted: 10:14:46 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Pop Belkin
Subject: "I'll tell you frankly... I've never considered the possibility of Felix Unger dying."
In reply to: reetsie's message, "We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News." on 09:19:58 05/18/04 Tue

You've brought smiles to the faces of so many...
and for that, you shall always be remembered.

Date Posted: 10:18:16 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Roger
Subject: Here's the AP write-up for Tony Randall
In reply to: reetsie's message, "We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News." on 09:19:58 05/18/04 Tue

NEW YORK -- Tony Randall, the comic actor best known for playing fastidious photographer Felix Unger on "The Odd Couple," has died. He was 84.

Randall died in his sleep Monday night at NYU Medical Center of complications from a long illness, according to his publicity firm, Springer Associates.

He is survived by his wife, Heather Harlan Randall, who made him a father for the first time at age 77, and their two children, 7-year-old Julia Laurette and 5-year-old Jefferson Salvini.

Randall won an Emmy for playing Unger on the sitcom based on Neil Simon's play and movie. The show ran from 1970-75, but Randall won after it had been canceled, prompting him to quip at the awards ceremony: "I'm so happy I won. Now if I only had a job."

The show's charm sprang from Randall's chemistry and conflict with Jack Klugman as sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison, with whom he's forced to share an apartment after both men get divorced.

Before that, Randall was best known as the fastidious "best friend" figure in several Rock Hudson-Doris Day movies, including 1959's "Pillow Talk" and 1961's "Lover Come Back."

The actor became a fixture on David Letterman's late-night talk shows, appearing a record 70 times on the "Late Show" alone. He made fun of his own prim image by taking part in Letterman's wacky antics, including allowing himself to be covered in mud.

And in 1993, when Conan O'Brien took over the time slot at NBC that Letterman had vacated for a new show at CBS, Randall was a guest on O'Brien's debut episode.

After "The Odd Couple," Randall had two short-lived sitcoms, one of which was "The Tony Randall Show," in which he played a stuffy Philadelphia judge, from 1976-78.

From 1981-83, he played the title role in the sitcom "Love, Sidney," as a single, middle-aged commercial artist helping a female friend care for her young daughter.

The show was based on a TV movie in which Sidney was gay; in the TV show, the character's sexual orientation was implied, but never specified. This occurred more than a decade before the much-hyped coming-out on "Ellen" in 1997, which made Ellen DeGeneres' character the first openly gay central figure on a network series.

For his television work, Randall got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998.

In an effort to bring classic theater back to Broadway, Randall founded and was artistic director of the non-profit National Actors Theatre in 1991, using $1 million of his own money and $2 million from corporations and foundations. The company's first production was a revival of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," starring Martin Sheen and Michael York, which hadn't been staged on Broadway in 40 years.

The next year, Randall's production of Ibsen's "The Master Builder" didn't exactly draw raves. AP Drama Critic Michael Kuchwara called it "deadly earnest -- and dull."

Subsequent performances included "Night Must Fall," "The Gin Game" and "The Sunshine Boys," in which Randall reunited with Klugman, in 1998. Randall also starred in his company's Tony Award-winning staging of "M. Butterfly."

The actor also was socially active, lobbying against smoking in public places, marching in Washington against apartheid in the '80s, and helping raise money for AIDS research in the '90s.

Born Leonard Rosenberg on Feb. 26, 1920, Randall was drawn as a teenager to roadshows that came through his hometown of Tulsa, Okla.

"One night, the entire town turned out to see the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform Swan Lake and Sheherezade," he wrote. "I -- and most of the audience -- had never seen a ballet before. We stood and cheered, thinking it was a 'once in a lifetime' event."

Randall attended Northwestern University before heading to New York at 19, where he made his stage debut in 1941 in "The Circle of Chalk."

After Army service during World War II from 1942-46, he returned to New York, where he appeared on radio and early television. He got his start in movies in 1957.

He was married to his college sweetheart, Florence Randall, for 54 years until she died of cancer in 1992.

"I saw her in a bank -- I never saw another girl in my life. She was gorgeous, the most beautiful girl I ever saw," Randall said in a TV interview in 1995.

Later that year, he married Harlan, who was 50 years his junior. Randall met her through his National Actors Theatre; former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani performed the ceremony.

Harlan gave birth to their first child, Julia Laurette Randall, in April 1997. Their second child, Jefferson Salvini Randall, was born in June 1998.

Date Posted: 12:57:54 05/18/04 Tue
Author: CHB
Subject: I think I'll stop walking now...he's grown wings
In reply to: reetsie's message, "We lost our Felix. Tony Randall died according to Fox News." on 09:19:58 05/18/04 Tue

OHHHHHH. "You bet my eternal resting place on a sweaty animal".
Good, clean comedy. We shall not look upon his like again.

Date Posted: 10:48:24 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Cool Heavy Bull
Subject: So Long Sport...from West Coast Fans

Date Posted: 11:13:20 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Jo-Ann George
Subject: Adieu Dear Felix

You will be missed but your legacy lives on. Thank you Mr. Randall for all the laughs.There have been millions. My best to your precious family.

Date Posted: 12:21:35 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Pop Belkin
Subject: Plot 101 by the Babbling Brook

Date Posted: 12:33:00 05/18/04 Tue
Author: pb
Subject: "A regimental flag draped across my coffin, drown by a team of white horses while the band plays The Grand March from Aida. I’d like to go round and round the cemetery 3 times."

Date Posted: 12:43:14 05/18/04 Tue
Author: CHB
Subject: ...I'd like to be there
In reply to: pb's message, ""A regimental flag draped across my coffin, drown by a team of white horses while the band plays The Grand March from Aida. I’d like to go round and round the cemetery 3 times."" on 12:33:00 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 12:35:56 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Vinnie
Subject: I actually got a bit choked up and teary eyed listening to the tv show's theme just now....

Wow, this is unreal. I am on balance not a very emotional guy and hold up pretty well during deaths in the family, friends, etc.

I have TOC episodes runnng in the background all day on my tv as I work in my home office. Just now the theme came on and I got more emotional than I have probably in the last 10 years combined. Literally tears welling in my eyes.

Date Posted: 13:12:48 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: I actually got a bit choked up and teary eyed listening to the tv show's theme just now....
In reply to: Vinnie's message, "I actually got a bit choked up and teary eyed listening to the tv show's theme just now...." on 12:35:56 05/18/04 Tue

As did I...infact, I came home for the day to morn as all I'm doing is looking up information on this sad event.

Date Posted: 12:44:41 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Loretta Spoon
Subject: Larry King Live

Tuesday, May 18
Exclusive: Tony Randall's wife, Heather, and "Odd Couple" co-star Jack Klugman and others join Larry to remember the TV icon. 9:00 pm EST
****

I suppose we should be on the look out at TV Land for a marathon and maybe Channel 11 in NYC.

Date Posted: 12:53:00 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Vinnie
Subject: Re: "I'm gunna cry"
In reply to: Loretta Spoon's message, "Larry King Live" on 12:44:41 05/18/04 Tue

Read my post just before yours. I did cry, and I'm a 36 year old guy who has been described as being 'dead inside,' and that was by a close friend!

Date Posted: 12:57:49 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Loretta Spoon
Subject: Re: "I'm gunna cry"
In reply to: Vinnie's message, "Re: "I'm gunna cry"" on 12:53:00 05/18/04 Tue

Nothing to be ashamed of, IMO. It's weird how close you can feel to people you don't even know. TR and JK have been a part of my life for so long and I'm only 35....I grew up watching the reruns. And to know that they remained such good friends makes it all the more emotional. I'm kind of surprised JK is going to be there, but I'm sure it will be wonderful!

Date Posted: 13:19:48 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: "I'm gunna cry"
In reply to: Loretta Spoon's message, "Re: "I'm gunna cry"" on 12:57:49 05/18/04 Tue

Loretta, I loved seeing your post saying you were only 35 and a big fan - that's awesome! I'm 45 and I feel the same way! Seeing Jack last weekend and hearing him talk, I felt like I really got to know the real human being, not just the actor. He truly is a brilliant man. I only wish I could've had the same opportunity with Mr. Randall.

Date Posted: 13:22:52 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Messy Jesse
Subject: Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, "It might have been." ..... See inside

That line may have applied to Felix Unger, but not to Tony Randall. He made his mark in the world by doing what he loved to do, which was to entertain others. He used his fame and goodwill for good causes. And he used his good fortune for society by spending $1 million of his own money to start his theatre company. He lived his life not waiting for tomorrow. How many of us can say that? The only sad part is that only now will people say about him what they should have said for him to hear.

One of those that will probably have something nice to say is David Letterman on his show tonight. Like most of you I plan to watch Larry King tonight too.

Although I won't see it, heaven will be a little neater. I'll be down with Adolf eating salami and jelly sandwiches and goop melange.

Some day soon I'll open up my Odd Couple trivia book and turn to the page where Tony signed it for me. But not today.

Date Posted: 14:01:24 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Messy Jesse
Subject: New link for tributes to Tony
In reply to: Messy Jesse's message, "Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, "It might have been." ..... See inside" on 13:22:52 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 13:29:45 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Verve and Panache
Subject: Poem

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market --
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories
packed in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.

ok, I don't think that Tony's perfection was "wasted" since he brought so much joy to millions and will continue to do so long into the future - but I love this poem b/c it captures the terrible sense of irreplaceable loss.

Date Posted: 15:09:15 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Paul W.
Subject: Re: Poem
In reply to: Verve and Panache's message, "Poem" on 13:29:45 05/18/04 Tue

yes it dos. Tont of course would be very appy to see us turning to the literary greats at this time. but although it is sad he never wanted eeath to be sorrow but celebration. its hard but true!

Date Posted: 13:56:29 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: New York Times

Go to nytimes.com for a wonderful 3-page article, including Tony recently learning how to rollerblade!!

Date Posted: 15:03:00 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Paul W.
Subject: "Warm and Wavery'

Date Posted: 15:28:35 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Vinnie
Subject: TV Land Tony Randall Tribute - 5/20/2004, 9PM EST

I emailed TV Land earlier, politely asking if they had a Tony Randall tribute planned? I was pleased and surprised when I got this email just 3 hours after I emailed them, with some wonderful news:

Thank you for writing. We are all saddened by the loss of Mr. Randall. To celebrate his contribution to classic TV, TV Land has planned an on-air tribute to the man who illuminated Felix Unger, on Thursday May 20th beginning at 9pm (et/pt).

Also, please come back to tvland.com later today to learn more about the career of Tony Randall. Click on the link from our homepage for the Tony Randall Remembrance page.

Date Posted: 16:10:16 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Owen
Subject: Tony's passing...

It's very strange to feel sadder at the death of one celebrity over the death of another, when you know that you didn't actually KNOW either of them. But in this case, you think you knew him, or at least had a connection, even if HE didn't know about it. We hear the news of celebrity deaths all the time, and we say, oh, that's a shame, and then we move on. Not this time. This was one of OUR GUYS.

I think that we didn't know it, but we had it especially good, so good that we took it for granted. Most of the classic shows of the 60's and 70's have seen their adult actors pass on, but our favorite show had its stars live on into their 80's. It was almost like Felix and Oscar just continued to exist.

Unfortunately, maybe this will be what it takes to spark awareness about their talent to a new generation, at least for a while. I'm sure there will be tributes and marathons for a short time. I hope Jack can get through this.

It seems like we're a team, and one of the captains is now gone. For the next few weeks, people will be saying how great he was, and we can take some satisfaction that we knew it all along.

Date Posted: 16:18:56 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: Does anyone think it's a good idea, or have the time, to possibly copy and save all the comments written today on this board, to ask Jaclyn or someone else who knows how to do it, to create a Tony Randall tribute page to link to this site? Or am I being too maudlin? I just ask now before all the posts get deleted. If not, that's fine.
In reply to: Owen 's message, "Re: Does anyone think it's a good idea, or have the time, to possibly copy and save all the comments written today on this board, to ask Jaclyn or someone else who knows how to do it, to create a Tony Randall tribute page to link to this site? Or am I being too maudlin? I just ask now before all the posts get deleted. If not, that's fine." on 16:13:30 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 16:17:23 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: Tony's passing...
In reply to: Owen's message, "Tony's passing..." on 16:10:16 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 17:59:49 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Jack
Subject: Re: Tony's passing...
In reply to: Lori's message, "Re: Tony's passing..." on 16:17:23 05/18/04 Tue

This is to acknowledge the passing of a man who gave us generations of laughter, hope, and optimism for our future and our loved-ones. Tony gave us hope for better today's and brighter tomorrows. The fact that The Odd Couple continues to entertain over three decades of people from all walks of life is one of many tributes to a great man and humanitarian.

Date Posted: 16:35:51 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Jaclyn
Subject: Just heard the news...

I don't even know how long it's been since I've posted here. I know that I've badly neglected the message board, due to work and graduate school. Fortunately, the semester ended last week and I received my master's degree. I've been trying to catch up on all the things that I didn't do this semester - job hunting, cleaning out my closet and my car, etc. Updating the web site and participating in the message board again were part of that list. And if you have contributed a bio, rest assured that I have it and that it will go up one of these days. I also have to work on the "lyrics" page, with words to all the songs and poems from the show.

I just saw a blurb on the news about Tony's passing, and I don't know what to say. It's always sad when someone dies, but I think we all agree that Tony had a full life in which he accomplished a lot. As Shakespeare said in one of his poems: "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." So, as long as The Odd Couple lives on in reruns, so does Tony. :)

Date Posted: 17:37:07 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Lori
Subject: Re: I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank Jaclyn for creating this site. For the past 7 years, (wow, has it been that long?) this site has been a big part of my leisure time enjoyment, and has allowed to to get back into a show that was a major source of laughter and nostalgia. Thanks, Jaclyn. (my head is tilted to the side, and I'm going to weave you a wicker basket.
In reply to: Owen 's message, "Re: I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank Jaclyn for creating this site. For the past 7 years, (wow, has it been that long?) this site has been a big part of my leisure time enjoyment, and has allowed to to get back into a show that was a major source of laughter and nostalgia. Thanks, Jaclyn. (my head is tilted to the side, and I'm going to weave you a wicker basket." on 16:55:17 05/18/04 Tue

I just discovered this site this past Saturday! I've been a huge fan since I was 15 - I'm now 45! After today, somehow I think this was meant to be. Thanks to all the OC fans for being there!

Date Posted: 18:56:17 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Myrna
Subject: Re: Yes, Lori, we owe all this to Jaclyn, who started it. She's too modest to take much credit though. P.S. You need to come up with an Odd Couple related screen name ! (Unless you took the name Lori from Oscar's almost-step-daughter)
In reply to: 52nd Street Tom 's message, "Yes, Lori, we owe all this to Jaclyn, who started it. She's too modest to take much credit though. P.S. You need to come up with an Odd Couple related screen name ! (Unless you took the name Lori from Oscar's almost-step-daughter)" on 17:46:05 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 17:51:29 05/18/04 Tue
Author: John Ervin
Author Host/IP: 1Cust253.tnt1.minneapolis3.mn.da.uu.net / 67.250.209.253
Subject: Guess now I can finally play Felix in a revival!

Not that I, or Art Carney, or Tim Conway or even the incredible Jack Lemmon would come close to defining the role like Tony did. But, now that the number one contender (and, alas, a couple of his formidable opponents) is gone I can fulfill my dream of playing the great neat-nick in a stage revival. Now all I need is an Oscar and about $50, 000 ...

Aside from Felix, of course, there were Tony's awesome turns in "Rock Hunter", "Dr. Lao" and the Rock-and-Doris flicks. And, let's not forget, he was the greatest talk show guest of all time!

Date Posted: 17:56:11 05/18/04 Tue
Author: pb
Subject: Dan Rather and CBS News just did a nice piece on Tony...

They showed some clips from the OC and his plays. Even a clip from Letterman.
Thanks for all the info. I was stuck in an office but kept getting phone calls and emails throughout the day. Just to recap a lot of the stuff below, tonight Larry King is having a tribute to Tony. Tony's wife Heather and Jack Klugman are suppose to be on hand. Klugman cancelled his one man show for the week. Not sure if there were any other dates after the week scheduled. Also Thursday, TV Land is having a tribute to Tony, but no schedule has been posted yet.
Really a sad day though. Feels like a piece of the board is gone.

Date Posted: 17:59:58 05/18/04 Tue
Author: pb
Subject: And now ABC news also. Nice to see him getting his due....
In reply to: pb 's message, "Dan Rather and CBS News just did a nice piece on Tony..." on 17:56:11 05/18/04 Tue

ABC also showed him getting his Emmy and the speech about him now needing a job. Also included clips of him with his wife and kids in a park.

Date Posted: 18:50:58 05/18/04 Tue
Author: eddiejames
Subject: Re: OK, amidst the mourning, how about some favorite Felix lines:
In reply to: Owen 's message, "OK, amidst the mourning, how about some favorite Felix lines:" on 18:14:02 05/18/04 Tue

You should never assume, because when you "assume" you make an "ass" of "u" and "me". - Felix Unger in the scalpers episode of the Odd Couple

Date Posted: 19:18:40 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Roger
Subject: The whole world thinks I'm a neurotic madman and I'm going to kill you for that!
In reply to: Owen 's message, "OK, amidst the mourning, how about some favorite Felix lines:" on 18:14:02 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 18:35:36 05/18/04 Tue
Author: pb
Subject: TV Land OC schedule for Thursday....

9 p.m. The Jury Story
Felix tells the story of how he and Oscar first met while on jury duty. Upon learning that the man they helped send to jail has been released, Felix recalls the trouble he had when the jury was locked up. Guest stars Barney Martin.

9:30 p.m. The Odd Couple Meet Their Host
Oscar and Felix both appear on a popular talk show hosted by David Steinberg

10 p.m. Password
Allen Ludden invites Oscar to be a celebrity contestant on his ABC show and eager Felix persuades him to accept the offer and to take him along as his partner. Guest stars Allen Ludden and Betty White, as themselves.

10:30 p.m. My Strife In Court
Oscar receives four tickets to a hit Broadway show and invites Felix and Miriam to be his guests, planning to get a date for himself. But when he is unable to find a girl, he gives Felix the extra ticket to dispose of. This episode contains the classic blackboard scene with "assume." Guest stars Elinor Donahue.

11pm Lets Make A Deal
After burning a hole in Felix's bed, Oscar despairs of raising the money for a new one. But a poker session with his old college friend, Monty Hall, leads to an idea. Guest stars Monty Hall

1130 The Flying Felix
Oscar tires to cure Felix of his fear of flying so he can cover a photo assignment in Houston

Date Posted: 03:27:57 05/19/04 Wed
Author: Miss Olam
Subject: Tributes on CNN and TCM
In reply to: pb's message, "TV Land OC schedule for Thursday...." on 18:35:36 05/18/04 Tue

On Sunday, Larry King Live will air a repeat of the Jack and Tony interview from a few years ago - I believe that's at 9PM Eastern.

Turner Classic Movies is setting aside most of Monday for a Tony Randall tribute:

In Memory of Tony Randall, Turner Classic Movies will showcase a special festival of his films on Monday, May 24, replacing our previously scheduled programming.

Here is the new schedule:
6:00 AM The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
8:00 AM The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
10:00 AM The Alphabet Murders (1965)
12:00 PM The Mating Game (1959)
2:00 PM Boys' Night Out (1962)
4:00 PM Pillow Talk (1959)
6:00 PM Send Me No Flowers (1964)

Date Posted: 18:37:14 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Messy Jesse
Subject: "A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman

Date Posted: 18:49:53 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Myrna
Subject: Re: "A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman
In reply to: Messy Jesse 's message, ""A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman" on 18:37:14 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 18:56:40 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Fran from Long Beach
Subject: Re: "A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman
In reply to: Messy Jesse 's message, ""A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman" on 18:37:14 05/18/04 Tue

Jack Klugman & Tony Randall's widow will be on Larry King Live tonight @ 9PM EST. To all the regulars that are on this sight - God Bless You ALL, everyone!

Date Posted: 19:09:18 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Mike
Subject: Re: "A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman
In reply to: Myrna 's message, "Re: "A world without Tony Randall is a world I can't accept and won't recognize." ---- Jack Klugman" on 18:49:53 05/18/04 Tue

I just heard the sad news of Tony Randall's passing, and would like to extend my condolences to his family. Tony was fantastic in his teaming up with Jack Klugman on the TV's Odd Couple Series that I grew up watching and still do to this day, as it is my favorite all time TV show. Tony will be greatly missed.

Date Posted: 21:05:20 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Mike
Subject: Re: Associated Press online has the video clip of Tony winning his Odd Couple EMMY from 1975. I had no idea that footage still existed. Too bad it took his death for me to finally see it.
In reply to: 52nd Street Tom's message, "Associated Press online has the video clip of Tony winning his Odd Couple EMMY from 1975. I had no idea that footage still existed. Too bad it took his death for me to finally see it." on 19:22:09 05/18/04 Tue

It's so sad to see him gone. I was fortunate to see the day-long marathon that WB-11 aired last November (and he hosted it). No doubt the lights of Broadway will be a little dimmer now.

Tony Randall, we all love you as Felix Unger on TV, and you will be truly missed.

Date Posted: 19:41:35 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Steve Baratta
Subject: Randall joked in September about how he envisioned his funeral: President Bush and Vice President Cheney would show up to pay their respects but they'd be turned away, because his family knows he didn't like them. During a speech to the National Funeral Directors Association, he said funerals should be planned as a celebration of life and "a touch of humor doesn't hurt a bit."

I was saddenned when I read the news, but when I thought of some of funniest moments of Tony as Felix I could only smile.
Nice job on this board by all.

Date Posted: 19:52:53 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Steve B
Subject: In case you didn't see Fran's post below, Jack and Tony's wife are in Larry King Live in 10 minutes.

Date Posted: 21:23:40 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Myrna
Subject: Re: I'm sobbing like a baby...it's finally hitting me, like my own father past
In reply to: Stix 's message, "I'm sobbing like a baby...it's finally hitting me, like my own father past" on 20:23:23 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 21:26:59 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Myrna
Subject: Re: I've been watching with a tear all along
In reply to: Stix M 's message, "I've been watching with a tear all along" on 20:53:32 05/18/04 Tue

Date Posted: 20:37:34 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Walter Franklin
Subject: A Few Words....

I will write this whilst you all watch the tribute to Tony on CNN. I don't get CNN, so I will have to wait for the online transcript.

For 22 years, nowhere near as long as some of you, I have been dazzled by the brilliance of Tony Randalls performances - not just as Felix, but also as Judge Walter Franklin and (although it is just a dim memory) Sidney Shorr. Personally, I could take or leave his earlier film work (apart from "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter") but in every episode of every sitcom that I saw him in - he did something unique. I was lucky enough to have a few brief conversations with him when he and Jack performed the OC in London in the summer of 96 and he was a gentleman. It was obvious that he and Heather were besotted by each other and the subsequent birth of their two children obviously made his final years very happy ones.

I hope that Tony's passion for the stage will be honoured, with perhaps The National Actors Theater being renamed The Tony Randall Theater.

The comments on this board have been deeply moving today. Thank you all for posting your thoughts for others to read.

Date Posted: 23:35:08 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Steve B
Subject: What show was Jack doing in Milwaukee?
In reply to: Myrna 's message, "Re: Two things: One, I loved Jack's analogy regarding the end of "Password" and two, I was THRILLED to hear Jack say that Tony loved to tell dirty jokes! :-)" on 21:33:24 05/18/04 Tue

Last year I saw him in "On Golden Pond" in Carbondale,IL, and was thrilled to meet him. This morning I put on the same shirt I wore that day, then at lunch heard about Tony.

Date Posted: 21:15:03 05/18/04 Tue
Author: richdawsonfeh! Subject: NY Times Obit

May 18, 2004
Tony Randall, Half of the 'Odd Couple,' Dies at 84
By RICHARD SEVERO

Tony Randall, the sardonic actor with the commanding voice and precise diction whose career in light-comic parts in Hollywood and on the New York stage seemed the perfect preparation for his signature role as the fussbudget Felix Unger in the classic television series "The Odd Couple," died Monday. He was 84.

Mr. Randall died in his sleep at N.Y.U. Medical Center in Manhattan with his wife, Heather, by his side, Joe Trentacosta of Springer Associates, Mr. Randall's publicity firm, said today. Mr. Trentacosta said Mr. Randall had been hospitalized since December, when he underwent a triple heart bypass and later contracted pneumonia.

Mr. Randall felt at home in Shakespeare and Shaw as well as in expounding the virtues of Verdi and other operatic composers, which he did on many occasions on public broadcasting and during intermission programs of Saturday broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera.

But he was best known for comedy, for which the public was eager to accept him, even when the material was flimsy.

He had so many frothy parts in the movies and on television that John Leonard wrote in The New York Times in 1976 that Mr. Randall "slips into sitcoms ... as if into a warm bath, to play with the rubber ducks the writers have provided. Dignity is his washrag. He is so talented that one wouldn't blame him for a hint of disdain, even of contempt, for many of the lines he has had to speak, the predicaments to be endured. There has never been any such hint. He somehow civilizes the material." Suave, urbane, his rich baritone voice the vehicle for the clipped diction of the demanding elocution professor that Mr. Randall easily could have been, Mr. Randall said he had been pleased to play Felix Unger, whose roommate and temperamental opposite was Oscar Madison, the slovenly, unkempt, cigar-smoking sportswriter played by Jack Klugman. These two New Yorkers were thrown together by the vicissitudes of life (mostly their wives) and made the worst of it, to the delight of television viewers.

But Mr. Randall, who won an Emmy Award for his portrayal, made clear that he didn't want to be always or only thought of as Felix Unger, because he could do so many other things.

He had a great love of repertory theater and in 1991 founded, with a million dollars of his own money and much more from the moneyed sources who backed his commercial acting, the National Actors Theater in New York. Its purpose was to keep the works playwrights like Ibsen, Chekhov and Arthur Miller before the public, and at a reasonable prices.

Mr. Randall was performing as recently as December. He starred in the National Actors Theater's production of Luigi Pirandello's "Right You Are," playing the role of Lamberto Laudisi.

In a review in the Times, Ben Brantley said that Mr. Randall "is certainly a trouper. Scampering playfully about the set while dispensing tantalizing bits of wisdom, his Laudisi brings to mind a Mr. Rogers in an existentialist neighborhood."

But the critics were not especially kind to the works by Mr. Randall's theater company,, and he said more than once that he was especially disappointed in the reviews his company got from The New York Times. Still, he stuck with it, saying he refused "to be brushed aside" by The Times or any other newspaper.

He made clear, whenever he was asked, that his favorite role in more than 50 years of acting was that of a middle-aged American diplomat in the Broadway stage production of "M. Butterfly," David Henry Hwang's 1988 Tony winner. In it, Mr. Randall falls in love with a gorgeous Japanese woman who turns out to be a male spy in disguise.

"It was the closest I ever came to being the kind of actor I believe in," he informed reporters on more than one occasion.

Tony Randall was born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Okla., on Feb. 26, 1920. He was the son of Mogscha Rosenberg, a dealer in artworks and antiques, and the former Julia Finston.

He was drawn to acting as a child. He had a most expressive, elastic face and used it in class when he was not expected to, with the result that one of his grade school teachers sent a note home, asking his parents to order him to stop making funny faces. He appeared in his first production in grade school and liked it so much that he decided acting was what he would do with the rest of his life.

But when he went to Tulsa's Central High School, he was unsuccessful when he tried out for parts in school plays, perhaps because he then had a childhood stammer he was in the process of overcoming.

As a teenager, he went to see plays whenever he could and on one occasion, the renowned Katharine Cornell came to town in a touring company production of "Romeo and Juliet." Mr. Randall went backstage to get her autograph, for which he was asked to pay 25 cents (Miss Cornell informed him that such money went to charity). She borrowed the boy's pen to write her name.

After high school Mr. Randall enrolled as a speech and drama major at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., but dropped out after a year and moved to New York, where he began to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. His teachers there included Sanford Meisner, a stern taskmaster, and Martha Graham, the dancer, who gave him lessons on how to move about the stage gracefully.

He found work in radio in the early 1940's. One of his first parts was on a weekly show called "I Love a Mystery," which revolved around three adventurers named Jack, Doc and Reggie. Mr. Randall was Reggie. His voice was also heard on radio soap operas like "Portia Faces Life," "When a Girl Marries" and "Life's True Story."

In 1941 he made his New York stage debut in an adaptation of the 13th-century Chinese fantasy "A Circle of Chalk," and later that year appeared in Shaw's "Candida." He was in rehearsal for a part in Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" in 1942 when he was drafted into the Army. He quickly rose from private to first lieutenant but saw no combat action overseas. His last job with the Army was delivering classified documents to various offices in Washington.

After his discharge in 1946 he returned to New York and made appearances on a radio show then presided over by the satirist Henry Morgan. Over the next two years he renewed his acquaintance with Cornell, with parts in a touring production of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and on Broadway in "Antony and Cleopatra."

Eva Wolas wrote what was then described as a "sex comedy" in 1948, called "To Tell the Truth," and Mr. Randall got a part in it. He was noticed by Brooks Atkinson of The Times, who wrote that Mr. Randall moved about the stage "with the grace of a dancer." That led to his appearance in 1950 in "Caesar and Cleopatra," which starred Lilli Palmer and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

Two years later he won a role on television that in a sense would presage his Felix Unger portrayal in that people began to feel that Mr. Randall and this character — a schoolteacher named Harvey Weskit — were really the same. The show was called "Mr. Peepers." Produced by Fred Coe for NBC, it starred Wally Cox as Peepers, a sweet, shy, somewhat befuddled teacher. As Weskit, Mr. Randall was cast as Peepers's posturing, swaggering sidekick. It earned Mr. Randall an Emmy nomination. The role made both Mr. Cox and Mr. Randall stars.

By the late 1950's Mr. Randall was swamped with work, appearing in some of Max Liebman's television spectaculars and briefly substituting for Steve Allen on the Tonight Show and for Arthur Godfrey, who then had a popular daytime show. There were also a great many television plays.

Throughout all of this he maintained his connection to the legitimate theater. In 1954 he played the part of a boozing movie star in "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!" and he also got the role of E. K. Hornbeck, the iconoclastic reporter in "Inherit the Wind," a dramatization of the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial" about the teaching of evolution in Tennessee. Walter Kerr, writing in The New York Herald Tribune, said Mr. Randall played the role well, "uttering juicy sarcasms with great finesse."

He started to make Hollywood pictures, too. He appeared in the film version of "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!" and he was an advertising man in "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" That same year, 1957, 20th Century Fox asked him to appear as an alcoholic car salesman in Jerry Wald's "No Down Payment," a melodrama about young marrieds.

In the early 1960's he appeared prominently in three Doris Day-Rock Hudson movies, "Lover Come Back," "Pillow Talk" and "Send Me No Flowers." He was cast as the foil to Mr. Hudson's romantic lead. He had roles of a similar vein in movies like "Let's Make Love" (with Marilyn Monroe), and "Boys Night Out" (with Kim Novak). Among his other television credits are "The Tony Randall Show" (1977-78), in which he played a judge and "Love, Sidney" (1981-83), in which he played a middle-aged man who took in an unwed mother and offered to help raise her child.

The Sidney character is often said to be the first homosexual lead character on television. The character was portrayed as gay in a television-movie version that preceded the series; the issue of homosexuality was played down in the television series.

As he gained fame as an actor, Mr. Randall became active in a number of causes, including a futile effort to save the old Metropolitan Opera building. After the new opera house was finally built, Mr. Randall became a frequent visitor, showing up at the stage door for rehearsals and happily sitting through them when he wasn't working himself.

He had a fine baritone voice but disparaged it, explaining, "I have a nice, healthy tone, but it's not terribly musical. Musicality is something that can't be taught." Mr. Randall, who studied voice for 32 years, added, "If beautiful voices are golden, mine is aluminum."

During this same period he became national chairman of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, a post he occupied for some 30 years. Myasthenia gravis is an incurable neuromuscular disease. Mr. Randall disliked maudlin pronouncements, and so when he was asked why he became involved with the foundation, he replied, "My agent told me I needed a disease."

Mr. Randall married Florence Gibbs in 1939. She died of cancer in 1992. They had no children. He married Heather Hanlan, a former intern with the National Actors Theatre, in 1995 when he was 75 and she was 24. They had two children — Julia Laurette Randall, born in April 1997, named after Mr. Randall's mother and Laurette Taylor, a Broadway actress who died in 1946; and Jefferson Salvini Randall, born in June 1998, who was named after Tommaso Salvini, an Italian Shakespearean actor in the 19th century.

Although unfailingly good humored about his television fame, Mr. Randall remained dismayed that most of the television-watching public did not often, if ever, go to stage productions, and many did not recall "M. Butterfly" and the role he had enjoyed so much.

But they certainly remembered Felix. Even 20 years after "The Odd Couple" went off the air, Mr. Randall was often stopped on the streets of New York (he loved to walk and when he did not, he almost always took public transportation) by people who never forgot Felix and were convinced that Unger and Randall were one and the same.

Date Posted: 23:18:20 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Steve B
Subject: after he sat down at the desk
In reply to: pb 's message, "Damn, I missed it then. I guess it was at the very beginning. Was it after he sat down at the desk? When I flipped back he was talking to Rupert about a $1000 tostada or something." on 23:08:15 05/18/04 Tue

He showed a George W. Bush Joke That's Not a Joke, then spoke about Tony. He said he was a professional they could always count on when they needed a laugh, and he was sad about that. Then they showed some clips to Bob Dylan's Forever Young. After the commercial he mentioned the lights being dimmed. Then he put catsup on the $1,000 omelette thing.

Date Posted: 23:07:38 05/18/04 Tue
Author: Tony
Subject: I ACTUALLY WEPT

I know its been like forever since I posted here last, and I know its almost takey to post NOW considering the events, but I hope you will all forgive me but I HAD to post considering.

I got the news from a friend of mine who sent me an email. I was at work when I read that Tony passed away. Immediately I had mixed feelings. I was sad, angry, in disbelieve. A welter of emotion. Then after a while, when it started to sink in, I started to play a couple of my fav. randall moments from the show. I was driving home and stopped at a light and still playing the "randall retrospective" in my head. I actually started to tear up. But what suddenly hit me was it wasnt tears of sadness but JOY at what randall had done and how much I loved the show. HE will CERTAINLY be missed.

Date Posted: 23:42:42 05/18/04 Tue
Author: fran
Subject: Re: I ACTUALLY WEPT
In reply to: Tony 's message, "I ACTUALLY WEPT" on 23:07:38 05/18/04 Tue

To Heather, I'm so sorry you lost Tony, He was such a man that him and Jack together were the best. You must have made him so very happy by giving him his two children. I have seen him talk of them and know he truely found what love really is. Don't you ever let anyone try to make you feel any thing but good for being the one he was with when he died, you gave him his children, who he didn't even know would be the light of his life. What little I saw of the two of you, he seemed so very happy. My best to you and I wish I could help you through this time. God bless you and the children.

Date Posted: 00:04:35 05/19/04 Wed
Author: doug
Subject: When I first heard, ...

I wanted to rush home come here to be with the friends I have on this board. I have noticed that some old visitors have returned and many new ones have appeared. I've spent an hour reading the board, and I share the sentiment (sounds kind of cold, but you all captured so much of the emotion so well). I guess I just wanted to comment on how much effect one man's life can have, and probably many ways he'll never know. Look at the community we have going here, and this just to celebrate a small portion of the work he did.

Date Posted: 00:12:22 05/19/04 Wed
Author: pb
Subject: Some photos ....

Most of the photos posted on the newswires we've seen already, here's 3 you might not have...

Date Posted: 00:23:20 05/19/04 Wed
Author: John
Subject: Here it is 1 am. I've been here reading all the wonderful words you've all said in tribute to Tony Randall. When I heard the news this afternoon, I knew that this was one of those times when I'll remember what I was doing at that moment. RIP, Tony.

Date Posted: 00:32:44 05/19/04 Wed
Author: Mark
Subject: Remembering greatness
In reply to: John 's message, "Here it is 1 am. I've been here reading all the wonderful words you've all said in tribute to Tony Randall. When I heard the news this afternoon, I knew that this was one of those times when I'll remember what I was doing at that moment. RIP, Tony." on 00:23:20 05/19/04 Wed

After hearing the news, I got a little sad. Then, I started to think about some of the classic Odd Couple episodes. At that point, I started to laugh, and laugh hard. Tonight, while watching Larry King, I loved what Jack Klugman said. Larry was complaining that the sound on some of the clips was too loud. Jack said to run the clips and forget the interviews.

The Odd Couple is one of my favorite shows of all time. Some 30 years later, it's still as funny as ever.

Date Posted: 16:37:22 05/19/04 Wed
Author: Messy Jesse
Subject: Link to NY Post stories about Tony Randall inside...

Entertainment Tonight just had a segment on Tony - showing the lights dimming on Broadway; breaking the news to Tom Hanks and his wife; showing clips from alot of the shows last night, but most importantly, they stated that the funeral for friends and family will be this week and a public memorial will be at a later date. If anyone hears anything about this service, please let us know - thanks!

Date Posted: 20:06:06 05/19/04 Wed
Author: Walter Franklin
Subject: TONY ON LETTERMAN

Just watched the tribute to Tony on David Letterman. (A day after you guys, but I am a Brit remember!

I may be in a minority of one here, but does anybody have the impression, that throughout his many appearances Letterman and his audience were laughing AT rather than with - Tony Randall? The dressing in silly costumes...being covered in mud for nights on the trot for example...

Obviously Tony was happy to participate, and, as a viewer, it was a delight to see him on TV etc. However, in retrospect, these "goofy" appearances seemed to trivilise the important work that Tony was still doing at the time.

Date Posted: 20:18:04 05/19/04 Wed
Author: pb
Subject: Re: TONY ON LETTERMAN
In reply to: Walter Franklin 's message, "TONY ON LETTERMAN" on 20:06:06 05/19/04 Wed

Yeah, I didn't like some of those appearances. Tony seemed to be a good spot and would be there to get the laugh. I remember a few times thinking Dave coulda been nicer.

Date Posted: 00:55:17 05/20/04 Thu
Author: pb
Subject: CBS put up a great tribute page....

Check it out if you get a chance. Garry Marshall was on the Early Show this morning talking about Tony. You can watch the whole interview at the website. Apparently the only big fight they had during the 5 years of the show happened over The Subway episode. There's also 3 or 4 other video tributes to Tony on the site. Some articles and a photo album....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/19/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main618339.shtml

Date Posted: 02:01:12 05/20/04 Thu
Author: pb
Subject: Nice article from New Zealand...

Felix and Oscar

Emmy winning actor dies

May 20, 2004
Keith Quinn

An old friend died the other day. He was a friend on mine. We knew each other through another mutual friend.

Actually I knew them because these two blokes lived together. I used to visit them at their place once a week. I got to know them real well.

It was a long time ago but now that I look back the two blokes influenced me to the point where, today, as part of the grieving process I'd like to tell you how much I loved them both. And how one of them in particular influenced my life hugely.

They were middle-aged. They weren't gay or anything. (Well, there was a bit of a hint one might have been, but I, and all their other friends, we never cared or asked.) We just loved the two blokes for being what they were. They were so different from each other that we called them "The Odd Couple."

Their names were Oscar Madison or Felix Unger. The one who died the other day was Felix Unger. Felix was a fastidious little photographer. He always, but always, dressed nattily, was forever tidying the flat the two middle-aged characters shared. And, get this, Felix used to wear an apron when he cooked for his mate, Oscar.

Oscar was different. He was, well, basically a slob. He dressed like a jumble sale. These kids today think they were the first to start the trend of wearing baseball caps around the wrong way. Actually Oscar started that, well at least I reckon he did, and we're talking 30 years ago all this happened.

Oscar was also incredibly untidy about the house. His stuff was always strewn about. And if he ever bothered to go into the kitchen it was either to look for leftovers or to hook another cold one out of the fridge. Then he would retire to his favourite place. Which was of course, the couch. From there he could survey the world, and spend most of his waking hours flicking through all of the sports events which were on the various TV channels.

Forgive me folks; but I talk about Felix and Oscar as if I really knew them. In many ways I did. The reality is they existed only as part of a very popular American TV series of the 1970s. It is a series I remember very fondly. So when I read the other day where actor Tony Randall died (he played the part of Felix) I felt the wrench of losing a dear friend from the good old days.

Apparently Oscar is still alive (Jack Klugman was his off-screen real name). They say he has lost his voice but is still going strong in Hollywood. I'd love to see him around. Tony Randall was 84 when he died; Klugman always looked older. So I guess today is one of those days when one thinks of one's own mortality.

I know I'm feeling sad about Felix Unger's passing but in the comparison we, of the 1970s, used to make of these two guys, it was always Oscar I aligned with. Gee if I'm feeling this bad about Felix dying how am I going to feel when Oscar goes?

You see Oscar, the untidy one, was a sportswriter. Each week the TV series seemed to be about his eternal struggle to find an angle from all of the events he watched on TV and make one of them into a sports column.

And I suppose seeing as I'm bashing the keyboards here in a supposed sports column, I might class myself as being some sort of sportswriter too. After all for the last 39 years every fortnight someone has paid me to talk or write about sport and the people in it.

The tragedy is when I look around my study here, I realise that Oscar Trevor Madison (yep, Trev was his middle name) set the tone for me being the way I live. Oscar's study was like a bombsite. You should see mine! Oscar spent a lot of time on the couch watching sports. That's me too. Oscar usually did his viewing wearing faded tracksuit bottoms and an old training top. Hey, that's what I wear! And my wife thinks I have too fat a face but I love the black baseball cap I wear to keep the sun from shining though the windows and affecting my viewing. To a tee, I am the same as Oscar!

Dammit he shaped me to be the way I am.

And as for going into the kitchen, well, I did that once and was quickly shooed away thank goodness. While it is true I can make an excellent cup of tea I am not like the finicky among you who prefer flat white, latte or cappuccino, I'm just like Oscar. When he called out in a raspy voice to Felix for a coffee he preferred the instant variety. I have to say I am the same. Give me Nescafe or Gregg's Red Ribbon Roast any day.

Oscar was allowed more spillage around the sofa than I'm permitted here. Felix hated spilt coffee and used to berate Oscar regularly. I won't give any personal marital secrets away but spillage around the couch at my place has been known to have a caused an ever-so slightly raised voice to be directed at me by the other one who lives here.

So today I do feel sad about the passing of time. In his prime no doubt Felix was a top photographer. Somehow I don't remember much about that as I savoured the weekly visit to their apartment only to check up on Oscar. It was Oscar who I loved to look at and note how he lived. Back in the '70s I was striving to get a start as a fulltime sports reporter. Oscar showed me the way. And today I am still just like him!

So thanks Oscar Madison old mate wherever you are; and here's a raised instant coffee to you (trying not to spill it of course, from the prone position). And also one raised to dear Felix Unger, our late mutual friend. He, and a certain lady I have lived with these last years, both tried to change us. But I think they sense they have both failed. Nevertheless I guess we should thank them both for at least trying.

Date Posted: 10:58:19 05/20/04 Thu
Author: Myrna
Subject: Hello Down There!
In reply to: Melnitz 's message, "One of my fave T.R. movies (which hasn't been on TV for ages) is "Hello Down There." I'm just curious if anyone else has seen it, and what they thought of it." on 09:48:10 05/20/04 Thu

Yes, I have it taped (though not the best copy)! One that I'd really like to get ahold of is "Fluffy!" Was thinking about that movie this morning!

Date Posted: 13:02:40 05/20/04 Thu
Author: Myrna
Subject: Fluffy - see message for a review!
In reply to: Myrna 's message, "Fluffy had TR living in a hotel with a lion - think the exact title was "My Friend Fluffy!"" on 12:48:23 05/20/04 Thu

To many fans, Tony Randall will only and always be Felix Unger, but in this movie he plays Professor Daniel Potter who much to the concern of everyone around him does experiments with his pet lion, Fluffy. Filled with many of those recognizable faces from the Seventies, such as Edward Andrews, Howard Morris, Jim Backus and Dick Sargent, the movie's most enduring star is the lion who upon sight of him sends many a person irrationally running for their lives. Randall is a hoot as he stands by the lion indifferent to the events and saying, "He's harmless I tell you. Harmless." Shirley Jones is on hand as Randall's lady love unsure of his feelings as she races by his side as Fluffy runs loose and unattended in a hotel freaking out everyone who sees him. "He's harmless. Wouldn't harm a fly !" insists Randall. There is a nonsensical and silly aspect to this movie, but it's charming aspect comes from Fluffy's innocent to the hysteria he unknowingly causes and the confusion that Randall knows he's creating. You have to see it for the man who rides the lion's back.

Date Posted: 20:27:22 05/20/04 Thu
Author: pb
Subject: Great comic strip tribute...

Date Posted: 22:21:55 05/20/04 Thu
Author: DC
Subject: After I thought about it ....

A funny thing about Tony if I may. If someone had asked me who was the funniest actor I have ever seen on TV, I don't think I would have said Tony Randall. But if they asked me who was the funniest character I ever seen on TV, my answer would have been Felix Unger. Tony was always Felix to me. Even seeing him on interviews, he was Felix.

With that being said I have just realized something, Tony Randall was the funniest actor I have ever seen on TV.

Date Posted: 00:39:26 05/21/04 Fri
Author: pb
Subject: From Entertainment Weekly: 5 reasons why we'll remember Tony Randall.

Here are five reasons why we'll remember Tony Randall. There was a lot more to the actor than fussbudget Felix Unger by Gary Susman

The Sidekick
Years before ''The Odd Couple,'' Randall made his name as a prissy pal to the leading man in several movies, notably, the three Rock Hudson-Doris Day romantic comedies -- ''Pillow Talk'' (1959), ''Lover Come Back'' (1961), and ''Send Me No Flowers'' (1964) -- that seem campy now but pushed the boundaries of sexual farce at the time. Sophisticated viewers might have read Randall's characters as gay; even more sophisticated ones might have read them as foils whose job was to make the closeted Hudson seem more butch by contrast. In any case, his comic support was indispensable to those movies, as well as to the persona of fastidious sidekick extraordinaire David Hyde Pierce, whose career is unthinkable without Randall's example. Pierce seemed to recognize as much with his performance in the Randall role in 2003's ''Down With Love,'' a parodic homage to the Hudson-Day movies, which also featured a winking cameo by Randall himself.

The Chameleon
Think Randall lacked range? Check out his multiple transformations in ''The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao'' (1964), aided by fantasy filmmaker George Pal (''The War of the Worlds'') and makeup artist William Tuttle, who won an honorary Oscar for his work. In a feat worthy of Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, or Eddie Murphy, Randall plays eight roles in the movie, a one-of-a-kind fable about a Chinese circus ringmaster (Randall) who transforms the lives of kids and adults in a dreary Old West town. While not a hit at the time, ''Dr. Lao'' has become a cult favorite and still has the power to enchant kids and grownups 40 years later.

The Comic Icon
''On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife.'' You're already hearing Neal Hefti's jaunty theme music in your head and imagining apron-clad neat-freak Randall squabbling with Jack Klugman as slobby Oscar Madison. The roles in Neil Simon's ''The Odd Couple'' had been played before by Art Carney and Walter Matthau on Broadway and by Jack Lemmon and Matthau on film, but after the 1970-1975 run of the ABC sitcom, Felix and Randall were inseparable in viewer's memories. When he finally earned an Emmy, shortly after the show's cancellation, he said: ''I'm so happy I won. Now if I only had a job.'' Actually, he worked seemingly without pause for the rest of his life, but he was still indelibly Felix to fans.

The Raconteur
Randall may have been the best late-night talk show guest ever. He certainly was a favorite of Johnny Carson and David Letterman, and he claimed a record number of appearances on both men's shows (more than 70 on Letterman's ''Late Show'' on CBS, plus more on his previous NBC show). When he appeared on the inaugural episode of ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' a decade ago, it was as if the talk show gods were giving their blessing to the fledgling host. (He even had a cameo as himself, as a talk show guest, in Martin Scorsese's ''King of Comedy.'') Hosts loved him for his skills as a conversationalist (he could talk about his highbrow fondnesses for opera and theater and still be funny), his willingness to do anything (in 1994, he appeared on ''Late Show'' as a mud-drenched correspondent from the Woodstock '94 rock festival), and his convenience. ''I live five minutes away, so they know they can get me,'' he told an Ohio newspaper in 1996, referring to Letterman and O'Brien. ''They need someone they call. I can't say no because they send a car. It works out fine. It's never rehearsed.''

The Inspiration
Randall never slowed down; he kept acting right up until his heart operation last December that led to his final hospitalization and his death at age 84. When he was 71, he used his own money to found the National Actors Theatre, a Broadway company dedicated to performing classic plays. It was there that he met his second wife, Heather Harlan, an actress 50 years his junior. (His first wife, Florence, died in 1992 after 54 years of marriage.) They wed in 1995, and she bore him the first of his two children two years later, when he was 77. As he approached 80, the New York Times reports, he took up rollerblading. Some may have looked askance at the May-December pairing, but it surely gave others comfort. Somewhere out there is an ideal roommate for everyone, even for aging Felix Unger types.

Date Posted: 05:27:58 05/22/04 Sat
Author: pb
Subject: Some photos from yesterdays funeral services.....

Actor Jack Klugman (news), second from left, and his girlfriend, Peggy Crosby, leave the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York after attending a funeral service for actor Tony Randall (news) on Friday, May 21, 2004. Klugman co-starred with Randall in the 1970s television sitcom 'Odd Couple.' Behind Klugman is actor Judd Hirsch and to the right is former New York Mayor David Dinkins.

Date Posted: 05:31:44 05/22/04 Sat
Author: pb
Subject: Few more photos...
In reply to: pb 's message, "Some photos from yesterdays funeral services....." on 05:27:58 05/22/04 Sat

Date Posted: 14:38:46 05/22/04 Sat
Author: pb
Subject: Requiem for Felix, from todays NY Post....

By BRADEN KEIL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Randall
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May 22, 2004 -- Legends of stage, screen and the political arena filled Riverside Memorial Chapel to say goodbye to venerable actor Tony Randall, who died Monday after a long illness at age 84.

Mourners at the private, invitation-only service included his "Odd Couple" co-star Jack Klugman, who served as a eulogist along with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and actor Eli Wallach. Other notables in attendance included former Mayor David Dinkins, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Walter Cronkite, Cliff Robertson, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Judd Hirsch, Joanne Woodward, and "Sopranos" star Steve Buscemi.

"Tony was a great New Yorker because he understood the tremendous value and the importance of the New York City theater and what it meant to the life of the city," Giuliani told The Post.

"I had the privilege of presiding over his marriage to Heather. It was one of the high points to see what a wonderful relationship they had."

For a while, the fastidious actor best-known for his role as sinus-crazed Felix Unger seemingly thumbed his "honking" nose at Father Time, when he married his second wife, 24-year-old theater understudy Heather Harlan, a half-century his junior, in 1995.

Randall once lamented in an interview that he was sorry he would miss their weddings when they came of age.

"He was an actor's friend," said Jerry Stiller. "He got my life back on track when I needed a job. Tony said 'We want you to be in "Three Men on a Horse" with [Klugman] and myself.' And I didn't even read for the part."

Stiller said he was then called by Larry David to join the Seinfeld cast right away. "I said, 'No, I'm doing "Three Men on a Horse." ' So I blew 'Seinfield,' " he said. "I eventually got the part as Frank Costanza, but I couldn't leave a play that Tony launched. Working with him was one of the highlights of my life."

Randall, most mourners agreed, was most like the Felix Unger character he played for five years on television's "The Odd Couple."

In an example of art imitating life, actor Cliff Robertson, who was a half-hour late after catching a bus from the Hamptons, said, "I could almost hear that mellow baritone voice saying, 'Well Cliff, you're a half-hour late. But what else could I expect from a Presbyterian?' " he joked after the ceremony. "He would've forgiven me, however, for taking the bus."

"He was a lovely, lovely man," added Robertson, who first met Randall in the 1950s. "It ended the way he would've liked it. Everyone walked out in reverence, but with a smile."

Date Posted: 16:36:31 05/22/04 Sat
Author: UW
Subject: Re: Requiem for Felix, from todays NY Post....
In reply to: pb 's message, "Requiem for Felix, from todays NY Post...." on 14:38:46 05/22/04 Sat

Imagine getting on the Hampton Jitney and there's Cliff Robertson sitting there.

Date Posted: 16:51:39 05/22/04 Sat
Author: Vicki Boston
Subject: THANKS TONY FOR MAKING FELIX A FUN FOND MEMORY

I loved THE ODD COUPLE when I was a kid-still loved it.
I even was Oscar to a friend's Felix, in a H.S. Drama class
scene.
Tony Randall IS Felix. And will ALWAYS be Felix.
Thanks for your portrayal of one of Neil Simon's most beloved character.We'll miss you.
Now clean those PEARLY GATES with disinfectant, before St.Peter gets angry.

Date Posted: 02:21:48 05/23/04 Sun
Author: Pushover Paige
Subject: The following is a commercial announcement for TONY RANDALL

T - is for THE greatest comedic actor ever
O - is for the ODD Couple being greatest
N - stands for NEATNESS and..
Y - is for the YEARS it made me laugh

R - means REST and I hope he will in peace,
A
N
D - A-N-D may I say one more thing.
A
L
L - We ALL, (tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet,)
thank him exuberantly...

dah, dah, dah, dah...
That's TONY RANDALL, he's Big Daddy... TO US ALLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Odd Couple Message Board Archives - May 18-23, 2004