Memories of 'The Odd Couple': Oscar and Felix Through the Years
If you've ever wondered whether or not two divorced men could share an apartment without driving each other crazy, then you, too, must have memories of The Odd Couple, having laughed at the adventures of mismatched roommates Felix Unger (the neatnik) and Oscar Madison (uber-slob) at some time over the years.
Maybe you go way back and saw the original Neil Simon play starring Art Carney as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar, or the movie with Jack Lemmon's Felix going up against Matthau's Oscar. More than likely it was the television show with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman assuming the roles, or the second television show with Ron Glass and Demond Wilson. Or the third television show with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon. Or the revival of the Broadway show with Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno (the "female version") or the other revival with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane or the countless others.
Whichever it may be, you're here — reading these words — because you likely have memories of The Odd Couple, and what follows is a look back, mostly through images and videos, of some of the most popular Felix Ungers and Oscar Madisons from over the past near 60 years.
Neil 'Doc' Simon
When his brother Danny, also a writer, ran into creative trouble trying to turn the real-life situation he was going through into a play, Neil Simon got the okay to take over and the result was the play The Odd Couple. Considering the number of plays and movie/TV scripts he wrote over a 60+ year career, it's saying a lot to note that The Odd Couple is the one that has stood out above the rest and will likely continue to do so for generations to come.
Art Carney and Walter Matthau on Broadway, 1965
All these years later, many people have probably forgotten that Art Carney and Walter Matthau were Broadway's original Felix Ungar (originally spelled with an "a" rather than with the television series' "e") and Oscar Madison. Carney, of course, is best known for playing Ed Norton on The Honeymooners. Their run debuted in 1965.
A moment between playwright Neil Simon and director Mike Nichols following a performance of The Odd Couple on Broadway in 1965. Two years later, Nichols would direct the movie The Graduate.
Backstage with Art Carney and Walter Matthau in their Broadway dressing room, taken on March 9, 1965.
John Fiedler, Walter Matthau, Nathaniel Frey, Art Carney, Paul Dooley, and Sidney Armus playing poker in a scene from the original stage production The Odd Couple.
Pat Hingle and Eddie Bracken on Broadway, 1966
Pat Hingle, Eddie Bracken, Carole Shelley and Monica Evans in the stage production The Odd Couple, with Hingle and Bracken taking over, respectively, for Matthau and Carney. Carole Shelley and Monica Evans portrayed the Pigeon Sisters, roles they would reprise in the 1968 movie and the first season of the television series.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in The Odd Couple Movie, 1968
Poster for the movie adaptation of The Odd Couple, starring Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar with Walter Matthau reprising his role as Oscar Madison and released in 1968. The film was directed by Gene Saks.
Trying to prove he can be as sloppy as the next guy, Felix prepares to throw a tea cup — right before he pulls out his back, much to the frustration of Oscar.
Thirty years later, in 1998, Neil Simon wrote and produced The Odd Couple II, a sequel to the 1968 film that reunites Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar in which the former's daughter is going to marry to the latter's son!
Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in The Odd Couple television series, 1970 to 1975
Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison and Tony Randall as Felix Unger in what is easily the most popular version of The Odd Couple, the 1970 to 1975 television series that aired on ABC.
Oscar's bedroom may have been a mess in the Broadway show and the movie versions of The Odd Couple, but nothing compared to what they managed to pull off on the television series. Watch the show carefully and you'll hear a rise in the audience's laughter whenever things shift to Oscar's room — that's because they kept the room's set screened off from the studio audience and pulled the screen away as Felix would enter to talk to Oscar, and they'd see that man-made disaster for the the first time.
Tony Randall and Jack Klugman remained friends after The Odd Couple, and, in fact, would reunite to perform the play and others over the years. Here they were in 1982.
Randall and Klugman reunited again in 1991 at New York's Belasco Theater for a benefit performance of The Odd Couple.
In 1993, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were back on camera for the reunion TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again.
In May 2002, The Odd Couple — actually Randall and Klugman — were reunited yet again for the NBC 75th Anniversary Special at Rockefeller Center in New York.
Fleabag and Spiffy in The Oddball Couple, 1975
With the live action series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman ending in the spring of 1975 after five seasons, ABC decided to take one more dip into The Odd Couple pie with this Saturday morning animated series, The Oddball Couple, which debuted in the fall of that year. Oscar is a dog named Fleabag, voiced by Paul Winchell (famously known for bringing Tigger to vocal life), and a cat named Spiffy (voiced by Frank Nelson). Sixteen episodes and 32 segments in all were produced.
Ron Glass and Demond Wilson in The New Odd Couple Television Series, 1982 to 1983
Ron Glass as Felix Unger and Demond Wilson as Oscar Madison were the stars of 1982's The New Odd Couple. Glass was coming off of Barney Miller while Wilson had enjoyed the success of Sanford and Son. The problem with the show was that for the vast majority of it, producers chose to reuse scripts from the Klugman/Randall series, which was a boom in syndication at the time, a major mistake. When they did decide to do original stories, the natural humor of the concept took over and it worked wonderfully. The show only lasted 18 episodes.
Sally Struthers and Rita Moreno in The Female Odd Couple on Broadway, 1985
In 1985, Neil Simon revamped The Odd Couple as the so-called "Female Odd Couple," which reached Broadway with Sally Struthers as Florence Ungar and Rita Moreno as Olive Madison. The show was directed by Gene Saks, who helmed the 1968 film as well.
When Rita Moreno departed the show, actress Brenda Vaccarro (one of the stars of Valerie Harper's Rhoda) stepped in to portray Olive Madison opposite Sally Struthers' Florence Ungar.
Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane Played Felix and Oscar on Broadway in 2005
Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as Oscar and Felix on the cover of Playbill for the revival of The Odd Couple on Broadway, which ran from 2005 to 2006 and 249 performances. The show was, not surprisingly, critically acclaimed. The duo also starred in a revival of Mel Brooks' The Producers.
Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon were Oscar and Felix in the 2015 to 2017 TV Series
From 2015 to 2017, the late Matthew Perry had a dream come true when he had the opportunity to bring back The Odd Couple. In it, he portrayed Oscar while Thomas Lennon took on the role of Felix. The show never quite came together creatively in the way the original series had (though there were flashes of its brilliance), but it did last 38 episodes.
A Bonus Odd Couple Moment from Friends:
And that's where things stand with the history of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple — all of the staged versions over the decades from around the world notwithstanding — and the primary question remains: can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy? The evidence would seem to suggest that the answer is no, and, in terms of laughter, we're all the better off for it.
Enjoy much more classic TV memories with:
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