Jack Klugman, born Jacob Joachim Klugman on April 22, 1922, is a Broadway, film, and television actor, best remembered for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple, a 1970s American TV show. A hard-working individual coming from a poor background, Jack will also be remembered as a witty comedian, a talented actor, and a great person by those who had the luck to work beside him.
Jack Klugman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father died when Klugman was still a child; the death of his father left his mother with nothing to feed her six children with. Jack himself thinks that this time of his life was what made him "tougher than the rest", as he would have to help earning money for his family via various, often risky "business" moves; the latter actually got him into acting, as he started attending Carnegie Mellon University when he had to leave the city because of a gambling debt to a loan giver.
Although Jack found acting to be difficult at first, he eventually became good at it. His debut came three years after he had left the University with a diploma; he played a role at the Equity Liberty Theater. During his time there, he shared a room with Charles Bronson, a prominent "tough guy" actor, and the both of them had to work in jobs outside of the theater. After a while, Klugman was noticed and then went on to television; his television roles besides the aforementioned The Odd Couple included a guest starring in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, four appearances at The Twilight Zone, and a guest starring in The Defenders, a role that won Klugman an Emmy.
After his beginning years, he played his most recognizable role in The Odd Couple. His iconic performance put him into international flame; he again won two Emmies for his portrayal of Oscar Madison in the T series. In 1976, he got the leading role in Quincy M.E., a House-like show that was actually the first medical forensics drama.
The biggest obstacle Jack had was not struggling to become an actor; the actual test came years later. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974, and lost a vocal cord to cancer in 1989. Klugman did keep on acting, but the cancer left Jack with a scratchy, metallic voice. However, some producers were forthcoming and actually made use of his voice; it was written into the scripts of series such as Diagnosis Murder and The Odd Couple reunion series. Jack was a heavy smoker prior to being diagnosed with cancer.
Although the cancer left him completely voiceless in 1989, Klugman regained some of his voice after a few years; but that is very rare even among people who had less severe forms of throat cancer. Many argue that Klugman shouldn't have smoked in the first place; however, ironically enough, his smoking wasn't a mere addiction, Klugman had only looked up to John Garfield, who always had a cigar in his mouth. Regardless of the devastating consequences that his perhaps only weakness left, Klugman has showed the world that even a killing disease is a mere obstacle to him, and continues acting up to this day.
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