Tony and Me: An Interview with Jack Klugman

JFD: Is there anybody who can replace him in that respect?

Jack Klugman: I don't think so. I don't think it's feasible today, it's so expensive. You know when I want to do a play, (producers) say how many people, how many sets? Well, guys like Sidney Kingsley and Clifford Odets - they'll never beat them. There are no playwrights like that today because there are too many people in the shows, too many sets. It's too expensive. My God, I saw "Death of a Salesman" for a dollar eighty with Lee Cobb. I saw "A Streetcar Named Desire" for four dollars. I saw "All My Sons" for a dollar eighty. I used to walk down Broadway and look up Eighth Avenue and see plays by Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neal and Sidney Kingsley and Clifford Odets for a dollar eighty. Now it's a hundred dollars and there's nobody that has legitimate prices, three hundred and four hundred dollars for premium orchestra seats. That's terrible! I mean it costs you a thousand dollars to go out for dinner and go to the theatre. That's what's killing the theatre.

JFD: It's terribly expensive. You're right.

Jack Klugman: Oh, it's terrible!

JFD: We're very fortunate here to have the Carolina PlayMakers in Chapel Hill that we've been going to, my wife and me, for thirty years and it's wonderful to have that opportunity, but even it is getting expensive.

Jack Klugman: There are very few places like that. I just did "On Golden Pond" and I toured for 10 weeks of one night stands. We played outside Denver, outside New York, outside Chicago because inside (the cities) those theatres are just meant for musicals. Luckily, there were a few of these theatres that were subsidized by investment companies and banks, but it's terrible. Theatre is dying; it really is this time.

JFD: You were in the original "Gypsy" with Ethel Merman. Did you realize then that it was going to be the legend that it's become?

Jack Klugman: Since I can't sing and I couldn't sing even when I had an old voice, my good voice. I knew it was going to be a big hit when we were in Philadelphia. When we opened in Philly, we did five weeks and reviewers went crazy and I knew it was going to be a success. I didn't know that it was going to be a legend, but you know with guys like Julie Stein, Steven Sondheim, Jerome Roberts, and Arthur Lawerence, it's a hell of a combination. You don't get that anymore.

JFD: Anybody come up to Merman in some of these revivals?

Jack Klugman: Nobody. I've seen some who were better actors than she, but nobody comes up to Merman. She was a unique person; there will never be another quite like her. First of all, she had no microphone. I told her you don't even have to come to the theatre just open your window from your apartment. She was so wonderful and I loved her. We did two years together and I treasure those two years.

JFD: You were in "Tchin-Tchin" with another legend: Margaret Leighton.

Jack Klugman: No, Margaret Leighton left because Tony Quinn said that he would kill her if she went on with me. I did it with Arlene Frances. Yeah, I rehearsed with (Leighton) for about three days and she said, "Jack I just got a call from Tony and he said if I go on with you, he would kill me." (laughs) Arlene was wonderful, however.

JFD: When you see other folks in roles that you created, are you overly critical? Or maybe more observant?

Jack Klugman: No, I'm not jealous, I love to see talent. I'm in love with talent. If they're not good, I get angry because they're not good. If they're good then I just love it. I love when people are better than I. Carl Reiner offered me a part in "Where's Poppa?" and they made it a movie, but I couldn't say those words because they were just too dirty. I could say them in the living room, but not on stage or screen. Ron Leibman did the part and when I saw it, I said he's much better than I would ever be and I was so glad that I gave it up. He was wonderful in it! I'm a snob about talent. I love it!

JFD: Early on in your career did there come a moment when you said "I can't believe I'm on stage with this actor"?

Jack Klugman: The first professional job I had was with Henry Fonda and the second lead was a doctor who I understudied and I got to play it with Henry Fonda for six weeks. (The doctor) was a drunk and he bleached his eyes with Murine. He put it in 6 times per day. And, he almost went blind. Thank God he didn't. I played with Henry Fonda, my first professional job; I was 28 years-old and every night I couldn't believe it. When the show was over I would say "I just acted with Henry Fonda."