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Post by eilene on May 19, 2004 9:50:06 GMT -5
Just read this in the paper.
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Post by sandi on May 19, 2004 10:01:29 GMT -5
Emmy-award-winning actor Tony Randall, best known for his comic role as the fastidious photographer Felix Unger in US television's The Odd Couple, died in his sleep on Monday at 84.
His wife, Heather, who had made him a father for the first time at 77, was by his side when he died. Randall underwent triple-bypass heart surgery late last year that left him suffering from pneumonia.
In a career starting in the 1940s, Randall worked in radio, on Broadway, in television and film, but he was best known for his role in The Odd Couple, which earned him an Emmy in 1975 and became a perennial favorite in syndication.
On winning his Emmy for the just-cancelled show, Randall gave a memorable acceptance speech, saying, "I sure am glad I won. Now if I only had a job."
The TV series ran on America's ABC network from 1970-1975. The show starred Randall as the opera-loving, neatness freak Felix sharing an apartment with the sports-loving slob Oscar Madison, played by Jack Klugman, after both were divorced.
"There never was another Felix like him, and he was wonderful, but he was more serious and much deeper and a better actor than that," Klugman said of his co-star and friend.
After the show ended, Randall returned to prime-time comedy in 1976 as a judge in The Tony Randall Show.
Randall was also known for the "bedroom comedy" films he made with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, including Pillow Talk (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961). "Tony was so brilliant, funny, sweet and dear, that it was as if God had given him everything," Day said, calling Randall "the funniest man in movies and on television".
Randall and Heather, who was 50 years his junior, had two children - Julia Laurette, seven, and Jefferson, five.
In a 1998 interview, he said he was somewhat perturbed by public debate over a man so old starting a family. "I don't understand why they think it's their business, but that's not to say that they're wrong," he said. "Maybe I'm an old fool, but I can't look at it that way. I'm having the most wonderful experience of my life."
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Post by JaminJim on May 19, 2004 10:16:58 GMT -5
One of my favorite actor's!! Find this and watch it. Great movie  |
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Post by Jen Choquette on May 19, 2004 11:27:41 GMT -5
Bummer. First I've heard of this. Sometimes you think we'll live forever. Not here, I guess. I remember when I was a youngster. It was my folks in front of the tube watching the news, and commenting on their celebrity influences dying. Now it's us, huh.
Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you die.
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Post by Jesse on May 19, 2004 17:13:26 GMT -5
I didn't realize he was that old.  Bummer. |
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Post by nightrocker on May 19, 2004 23:32:19 GMT -5
to bad he was a funny guy!
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Bummer.