LOS ANGELES TIMES, NEW YORK TIMES
News spread over the Christmas holiday that the acting trade had lost two of its most ordinarily recognizable faces, Jack Klugman and Charles Durning.
Klugman, who died at the age of 90 on Monday, broke through with supporting movie roles in Hollywood, but was mostly remembered for his television work. The Los Angeles Times called Klugman’s a “slightly mournful face,” highlighting his two marquee TV roles, as the sloppy roommate in the Odd Couple, and the passionate medical examiner in Quincy.
Durning, who the New York Times noted shared with Klugman a “perfectly ordinary” persona, died late Monday, though the announcement was made on Christmas Day. He was 89, and had memorable appearances in a range of Hollywood blockbusters, from a corrupt police officer in The Sting to a gruff New Yorker smitten by a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.
Here’s some classic Klugman…
…and some durable Durning
