Frazier Moore of The Associated Press has a lovely tribute to two actors who passed away Christmas Eve: Jack Klugman and Charles Durning. Klugman, 90, and Durning, 89, had hundreds of credits and were two of the greatest character actors ever. Read Moore’s column here.
Gene Trindl’s 1971 cover portrait of Klugman (right) with Odd Couple co-star Tony Randal perfectly captured both characters in one shot. Gene later took a series of shots of the actor in his natural setting–Santa Anita racetrack.
You can still catch Klugman at his cranky best opposite ex-wife Brett Somers on reruns of Match Game from the ’70s on GSN.
Durning was a soft-spoken man in person who kept acting well into his eighties in Denis Leary’s Rescue Me. I met him years ago on the set of Evening Shade and was struck by his humility.
The New York native won a Tony and picked up Oscar and Emmy nominations. Less well know is the fact that Durning was a genuine war hero, wounded at both the D-Day Invasion of Normandy as well as the Battle of the Bulge.
TCM already has posted their annual “In memorium” tribute but you know editors are scrambling now to add these two great actors to the mix.
