The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by
Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing but slovenly. In the original play these were male; Simon also made a version for a pair of female roommates, called
The Female Odd Couple.
Sources vary as to the origins of the play. Most sources claim that Simon was inspired to write the play when he saw his brother
Danny SimonDanny Simon was an American television writer and comedy teacher. He was also older brother to acclaimed American playwright Neil Simon....
and theatrical agent Roy Gerber living together after recent divorces. However, in the
Mel BrooksMelvin "Mel" Kaminsky , better known by his stage name Mel Brooks, is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer, best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction...
biography
It's Good to Be the King, author James Robert Parish claims that the play came about after Simon observed Brooks, in a separation from his first wife, living with writer Speed Vogel for three months. Vogel later wrote that Brooks had
insomniaInsomnia is a symptom of any of several sleep disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both"...
, "
a brushstroke of paranoia," and "
a blood-sugar problem that kept us a scintilla away from insanity."
Danny SimonDanny Simon was an American television writer and comedy teacher. He was also older brother to acclaimed American playwright Neil Simon....
, also a writer, took the first crack at the play, but later handed over the idea to Neil. The show, directed by
Mike NicholsMike Nichols is an American television, stage and film director, writer, and producer. Nichols is one of only ten people to have won all the major American entertainment awards: an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award.-Early years:...
, ran for 966 performances and won several Tony Awards, including Best Play.
Felix UngarFelix Unger was one of the principal characters in Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. Felix was portrayed in the play by Art Carney, in the film by Jack Lemmon, and in the television series by Tony Randall.-Character overview:...
, a neurotic, neat freak newswriter (photographer in the television series), is thrown out by his wife, and moves in with his friend
Oscar MadisonOscar Madison is a character in The Odd Couple, which began as a Broadway play, then was a film and then a television series.In The Odd Couple, Oscar Madison is the everyman, and is a sportswriter for the New York Herald...
, a messy sportswriter. In its original Broadway run, Ungar was played by
Art CarneyArthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. Carney portrayed the upstairs neighbor and sewer worker Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners.-Personal life:Carney, youngest of six sons , was...
and Madison by
Walter MatthauWalter John Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
. Matthau was later replaced with
Jack KlugmanJacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor, known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, television and on Broadway. He is best-known for his role as Tony Randall's sloppy roommate, Oscar Madison, in The Odd Couple shown on American television during the 1970s, and for...
.
The play and the film both spell Felix's name "
Ungar", while the television series spells it "
Unger".
Characters
- Oscar Madison: A slovenly, recently divorced sportswriter.
- Felix Ungar: A fastidious, hypochondriac newswriter whose marriage is ending. (In the television series, he is a professional photographer, portraits a specialty.)
- Murray: A fat cop , one of Oscar and Felix's poker buddies. (In the television series, Murray's last name was revealed to be Greshler.)
- Vinnie: One of the poker buddies. Vinnie is mild-mannered and henpecked, making him an easy target for Speed's verbal barbs.
- Speed: One of the poker buddies. Gruff and sarcastic, often picking on Vinnie and Murray.
- Roy: One of the poker buddies. Oscar's accountant. Roy has a dry wit but is less acerbic than Speed.
- Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon: Oscar and Felix's upstairs neighbours, a pair of British sisters. The former is a divorcée
Divorcée, or Divorcee, refers to a person whose marriage has ended in divorce, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse. Until recently, the word referred only to the woman, the term for the man being Divorcé. At one time the term had negative cultural and religious...
, the latter a widowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died. A man whose spouse has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity. The adjective is widowed.-Economic position of widows:...
.
Stage revivals
In 1970, the McMaster Shakespearean Players performed
The Odd Couple with
Martin ShortMartin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, singer and producer. He is best known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
as Felix,
Eugene LevyEugene Levy is a Canadian actor, television director, producer, musician and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies and television movies...
as Oscar, and Dave Thomas as Murray -- before any of these performers were famous.
In 1994 a version of the play moved to
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and toured
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, starring
Gerard KellyGerard Kelly is a Scottish actor, who has appeared in many comedies, most notably in City Lights, Rab C Nesbitt and Scotch and Wry. He has also had more serious roles, including the villainous Callum Finnegan in the soap opera Brookside...
as Felix and
Craig FergusonCraig Ferguson is a Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, director and actor. He is the present host of CBS's The Late Late Show, a role that earned him an Emmy nomination in 2006....
as Oscar and Kate Anthony as Gwendolyn Pidgeon. Kelly reprised the role of Felix at the 2002
Edinburgh FringeThe Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Scotland's capital during three weeks every August alongside several other arts and cultural festivals, collectively known as the...
, opposite
Andy GrayAndy Gray is a Scottish actor and comedy writer. He co-wrote and co-starred in the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show Naked Radio, and its later television counterpart Naked Video, before becoming well known as the appropriately named "Chancer", best friend and source of problems to Willie Melvin in...
.
In a 1997 issue of
Premiere Magazine,
Billy CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian, and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the box office successes When Harry...
and
Robin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian.Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
announced a possible stage revival, in anticipation of success of their film
Fathers' DayFathers' Day is a 1997 comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Nastassja Kinski...
. When that film failed at the box office, the Crystal/Williams revival was quickly forgotten.
A similar announcement was made in
Premiere in 2005 by
Matthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who is best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Nick Tatopoulos in Godzilla and David Lightman in WarGames. He voiced Simba in The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He also voiced Tack the...
and
Nathan LaneNathan Lane is a two-time Tony and Emmy award winning American actor of stage and screen. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in Mousehunt, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and...
, in light of their success on stage and screen as the leads in
The ProducersThe Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics by Brooks and music by Brooks and Glen Kelly. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by overselling interests in a Broadway flop. ...
. Broderick and Lane played Felix and Oscar, respectively. The production opened at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York on October 27, 2005. Lane was replaced for two weeks due to illness by
Brad GarrettBradley "Brad" Garrett is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known for playing Robert Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond and Eddie Stark on Til Death'.-Early life:...
, who had previously played Murray.
In 2004, Neil Simon wrote an updated version of
The Odd Couple, called
Oscar and Felix: A New Look At The Odd Couple. Simon's updated version incorporated updated references and elements into the original storyline.
Female version
In 1985, Neil Simon revised
The Odd Couple for a female cast. It was titled
The Female Odd Couple and was based on the same story line and same lead characters, now called Florence Ungar and Olive Madison. The poker game becoming
Trivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 by Canadian Scott Abbott, a sports editor for The Canadian Press, and Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette...
and the Pigeon sisters becoming the Costazuela brothers, Manolo and Jesus.
On Broadway,
Sally StruthersSally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, known for her roles in sitcoms and television, particularly that of Gloria Bunker Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards...
and
Rita MorenoRita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the first and only Hispanic female and one of ten performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony and at the time the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.-Early years:Moreno was born Rosita Dolores Alverío in...
starred as the couple in the original cast, with
Lewis J. StadlenLewis J. Stadlen is an American character actor.Born in Brooklyn, New York to voice actor Allen Swift, Stadlen studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Stella Adler...
and
Tony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is a Lebanese-American actor, best known for his role as obsessive-compulsive sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk.-Early life:...
(in his Broadway debut) as the Costazuela brothers. The play was directed by
Gene SaksGene Saks is an American Tony Award-winning stage and film director.-Life and career:Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix and Morris J. Saks...
and ran for 295 performances.
A London production of this at the
Apollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
in 2001 starred
Paula WilcoxPaula Wilcox is an English actress.-Early sitcom fame:Wilcox first came to public attention while a member of the National Youth Theatre when she was offered her first starring television role in The Lovers, a Granada produced, ITV sitcom written by Jack Rosenthal and co-starring the equally...
(Florence) and
Jenny SeagroveJennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
(Olive).
1968 film
In 1968
The Odd Couple was made into a highly successful
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
starring
Jack LemmonJohn Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts, Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger, The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Missing, Glengarry Glen...
as Felix and
Walter MatthauWalter John Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
(once more) as Oscar. Most of the script from the play is the same, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's apartment, some scenes take place at various outside locations. The film was also written by Simon (who was nominated for an Academy Award) and was directed by
Gene SaksGene Saks is an American Tony Award-winning stage and film director.-Life and career:Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix and Morris J. Saks...
.
In 1998 Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprised their roles for the film
The Odd Couple IIThe Odd Couple II is the 1998 sequel to 1968's The Odd Couple. It reunites Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in their last film together.- Plot :...
, produced by Neil Simon.
1970-1975 ABC sitcom
The success of the film was the basis for the 1970-75
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
television seriesThe Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to Independence Day, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced...
, starring
Tony RandallTony Randall was an American actor , comic, producer and director.-Early years :Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, who was an art and antiques dealer...
as Felix and
Jack KlugmanJacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor, known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, television and on Broadway. He is best-known for his role as Tony Randall's sloppy roommate, Oscar Madison, in The Odd Couple shown on American television during the 1970s, and for...
as Oscar. Klugman was familiar with the role as he had replaced Walter Matthau in the original Broadway run.
Randall and Klugman also reunited in 1993 for a made-for-TV reunion film based upon the series.
Animated series
DePatie-Freleng's
The Oddball Couple was an animated version. Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison were replaced by a cat named Spiffy (voiced by Frank Nelson) and a dog named Fleabag (voiced by
Paul WinchellPaul Winchell was an American ventriloquist and voice actor, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. During the mid-1960s, he hosted the children's television show Winchell-Mahoney Time...
). Spiffy, as his name implies, was the more orderly of the two, while Fleabag was always a shambles. 32 installments of the series (2 10-minute segments per half-hour show) were produced for the series, which aired on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
Saturday MorningSaturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits is a tribute album of songs from Saturday morning children’s television shows and cartoons from the 1960s and 1970s. The project is a work of love from the producer Ralph Sall, with the songs performed by alternative rock artists...
from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1977.
1982-1983 ABC sitcom
In 1982, ABC aired a new version of the series, entitled
The New Odd Couple, with a predominantly black cast.
Ron GlassRon Glass is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as the witty Detective Ron Harris in the television sitcom Barney Miller , and as the spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book in the science fiction series Firefly and its sequel film Serenity.-Early life:Glass was born in Evansville,...
played Felix and
Demond WilsonGrady Demond Wilson is an American actor, now a minister. He was best known for his role opposite Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford's long-suffering son, Lamont Sanford, in the 1970s NBC-TV sitcom Sanford and Son.-Bio and Career Sketch:...
played Oscar. This new version was not successful and was cancelled after just 13 episodes.