Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Felix Ungar in “The Odd Couple” (1968) was arguably his most iconic role, not only because he won the most awards for it but it cemented a longtime comedic pairing with Walter Matthau that began with "The Fortune Cookie" in 1966.
The two became lifelong friends and worked on nine projects together, including a 1998 “Odd Couple” sequel plus other comedies trading on their dyanamic like “Grumpy Old Men” and "Out to Sea." The love and admiration they had for one another was evident, and their personas played off one another well.
Here are seven quotes about “The Odd Couple” and the pairing of Matthau and Lemmon:
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1. “Matthau had the timing of a stand-up comic, but didn’t go for punchlines, expressing his humor instead in anecdotes … he was an ideal as a foil for quick-talkers like Jack Lemmon.” –
Roger Ebert
2. “Mr. Lemmon was also a perfect actor for bringing Mr. (Neil) Simon’s neurotic characters to the screen, among them the fastidious hypochondriac Felix in ‘The Odd Couple.’”
–
Aljean Harmetz, wrote in Lemmon’s The New York Times obituary
3. Larry King,
asked Lemmon in a CNN interview, “In 'Fortune Cookie,' the first time you appeared together, did you have any idea that you’d be paired together a lot?” Lemmon answered, “No, but thank God we were.”
4. "Jack Lemmon is a clean-cut, well-scrubbed Boston choirboy with quiet hysteria seeping out of every pore."
– Walter Matthau
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