Ordinarily, when celebrities die, I post links to news stories that elaborate upon their passing. But in this case, with Jack Klugman dying at 90 and Charles Durning at 89, it is sufficient to say they merely passed away. Both men were always old to me, though in truth they were around my current age when I was born. That puts them in their very early 50s when I was old enough to know who they were, and--let's face it--50 in the early 1970s was a different animal than 50 these days.
I was too young to really appreciate The Odd Couple, though we did watch it. Klugman I remember mostly for Quincy, M.E., and the occasional Dean Martin Roast. My memories of Durning are harder to peg, except for his role as the Governor who liked to "dance a little side-step" in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Doc Hopper from The Muppet Movie. But he turned up everywhere in the 1970s, 80s and beyond. They are two of those guys you may have suspected had already passed, because they were so much a part of our pop culture memories from so long ago. But they were a good part. RIP Jack and Charles.
I was too young to really appreciate The Odd Couple, though we did watch it. Klugman I remember mostly for Quincy, M.E., and the occasional Dean Martin Roast. My memories of Durning are harder to peg, except for his role as the Governor who liked to "dance a little side-step" in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Doc Hopper from The Muppet Movie. But he turned up everywhere in the 1970s, 80s and beyond. They are two of those guys you may have suspected had already passed, because they were so much a part of our pop culture memories from so long ago. But they were a good part. RIP Jack and Charles.
