This book is subtitled "A
Story of Friendship," but callitng it that seems a bit of an
understatement. For, in a mere 141 pages, interspersed with numerous
photos, Jack Klugman, with help from Burton Rocks, powerfully conveys
the substance of a deep, enduring relationship with his longtime
sidekick Tony Randall.
Best known for their long-running television sitcom,
"The Odd Couple," Klugman and Randall were far more then
professional colleagues. Actually, they first played together back in
the 1950s, on an unsuccessful TV summer replacement show called
"Appointment With Adventure," which became good for a few
laughs between them in later years.
But their friendship did not really blossom until the
advent of "The Odd Couple" in 1970. They not only played their
role on TV but on the stage as well. And their friendship seemed to grow
and expand with the passing years, especially in times of stress, such
as when Jack contracted throat cancer and had to have delicate
surgery on his larynx, leaving him at least temporarily voiceless. The
story of how he recovered and resumed his acting career, with great
help from his friend Tony, is one of the highlights
of the book. Another bittersweet highlight is the story of Tony's close
relationship with his first wife Florence, whom he cared for with great
love and tenderness for ten years before she died of cancer. And then
Tony remarried and he and Heather - about 50 years younger than he
- became parents of two children.
But the basis of Jack and Tony's close lifelong
relationship was their interaction during the five years that "The
Odd Couple" ran on TV, and Jack recounts some of the episodes that
brought them closer together. They quickly learned to improvise and, as
much as possible, to avoid telling jokes. He writes of the motivations
that went into their partnership, stressing the need for human emotion
in any dramatic situation - their shows always included a "love
scene."
Much of the book's final segment is devoted to Tony's
pet project - the National Actors Theater, which he conceived in 1991
and spent much of the last years of his life (he died in 2004)
bringing to fruition. And Jack, who admitted regarding the idea as
"pie in the sky" at its inception, helped by appearing in
numerous benefit performances.
Finally, the story comes to a sad conclusion with Tony's
death, and Jack's realization of what his close friend and partner
really meant to him - he had truly made him a better human being and
given him the ability to trust other human beings completely.
This partly funny, partly sad memoir is thoroughly
readable - in fact it can be read in a single sitting. Its story of how
two Jewish boys (Tony was born Leonard Rosenberg - in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
no less) found each other and enriched not only themselves, but the
lives of theatergoers and TV viewers for several decades, makes more
than worthwhile reading.
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