The Odd Couple
Directed by	Gene Saks
Produced by	Howard W. Kotch
Written by	Neil Simon
Starring	Jack Lemmon Walter Matthau
Music by	Neal Hefti
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	May, 2 1968 (USA)
Running time	106 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Odd Couple is a 1968 film written by Neil Simon, based on his play of the same name, and directed by Gene Saks. It is the story of two divorced men who decide to live together, even though their personalities cause distinctive clashes, Felix Ungar, is a neurotic neatfreak, and Oscar Madison is the complete opposite, a sloppy, fun-loving character. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Marvin Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City), is an American playwright and screenwriter. ... Jack Lemmon at Expo 1967. ... Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an Academy Award winning American comedy actor. ... Neal Hefti (born October 29, 1922) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Marvin Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City), is an American playwright and screenwriter. ... See Odd Couple (disambiguation) for other works with the same title Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau, stars of film adaption Tony Randall & Jack Klugman, stars of TV adaption The Odd Couple was a hit 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

History

The Odd Couple was originally produced for Broadway and the original cast starred Art Carney as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar. For the film version, Matthau reprised his role as Oscar, but Carney turned the film down. Felix was played by Jack Lemmon who had not played the character before. Most of the script from the play is the same, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's apartment, Simon also wrote some scenes take place at various outside locations (most notably one at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Art Carney starring as Ed Norton from The Honeymooners Art Carney as Saun Dann in The Star Wars Holiday Special. ... Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an Academy Award winning American comedy actor. ... Jack Lemmon at Expo 1967. ... William A. Shea Municipal Stadium usually shortened to Shea Stadium, is a baseball stadium in Flushing, New York. ... Queens is geographically the largest of the five boroughs of New York City in the United States, and the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S. It is coterminous with Queens County in the State of New York and is located on western Long Island. ...

Oscar's poker player friends also made up the cast, they were Roy (David Sheiner), Vinnie (John Fiedler), Speed (Larry Haines) and Murray the Cop (Herb Edelman). The plot of the film is simply having to deal with Felix, who was just thrown out of his house by his wife Frances, having nowhere to turn but to his good friend Oscar's house. Oscar asks Felix to stay with him for awhile, as Felix was near suicide at his plight with his crumbling marriage. It would soon comedically be a decision that Oscar would regret. John Fiedler (b. ... Larry Haines (born Larry Hecht on August 3, 1918 in Mount Vernon, New York) is an American actor. ... Herb Edelman (1932-1996) was an American actor who was noted for playing Dorothys loser ex-husband Stanley Zbornak on The Golden Girls. ...

The film made its debut at Radio City Music Hall in 1968. The critics were divided, most had positive things to say about Matthau's perfomance, they were less amicable about Lemmon.^{[citation needed]} The film nonetheless was a hit and earned Neil Simon a nomination for the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Lemmon and Matthau were both nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Radio City Music Hall at Christmas 2005 Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy has been awarded annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. ... The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. ...

The film also eventually spawned a television series spinoff in 1970, also titled The Odd Couple. A sequel, The Odd Couple II was released 30 years later. The Odd Couple was a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. ... A sequel is a work of fiction in literature, film, and other creative works that is produced after a completed work, and is set in the same universe but at a later time. ... The Odd Couple II is the 1998 sequel to the 1968s The Odd Couple. ...

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in a scene from the film

Cast

• Jack Lemmon - Felix Ungar
• Walter Matthau - Oscar Madison
• John Fiedler - Vinnie
• Herb Edelman - Murray
• David Sheiner - Roy
• Larry Haines - Speed
• Monica Evans - Cecily Pigeon
• Carole Shelley - Gwendolyn Pigeon
• Iris Adrian - Waitress

Jack Lemmon at Expo 1967. ... Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an Academy Award winning American comedy actor. ... John Fiedler (b. ... Herb Edelman (1932-1996) was an American actor who was noted for playing Dorothys loser ex-husband Stanley Zbornak on The Golden Girls. ... Larry Haines (born Larry Hecht on August 3, 1918 in Mount Vernon, New York) is an American actor. ... Carole Shelley (born August 16, 1939) is a Tony Award-winning actress from London, England. ... Iris Adrian (29 May 1912 – 17 September 1994) was an American film actress. ...

Trivia

• The scene at Shea Stadium was filmed right before a real game between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Roberto Clemente was asked to hit into the triple play that Oscar misses. But he refused to do it and Bill Mazeroski took his place.

William A. Shea Municipal Stadium usually shortened to Shea Stadium, is a baseball stadium in Flushing, New York. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962-present) East Division (1969-present) Current uniform Ballpark Shea Stadium (1964-present) Major league titles World Series titles (2) 1969 â€¢ 1986 NL Pennants (4) 1969 â€¢ 1973 â€¢ 1986 â€¢ 2000 East Division titles (4) 1969 â€¢ 1973 â€¢ 1986 â€¢ 1988 Wild card berths (2) 1999 â€¢ 2000 The New... Major league affiliations National League (1887-present) Central Division (1994-present) Current uniform Ballpark PNC Park (2001-present) Major league titles World Series titles (5) 1979 â€¢ 1971 â€¢ 1960 â€¢ 1925 1909 NL Pennants (9) 1979 â€¢ 1971 â€¢ 1960 â€¢ 1927 1925 â€¢ 1909 â€¢ 1903 â€¢ 1902 1901 Central Division titles (0) None East Division titles... Roberto Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Major League Baseball right fielder and right-handed batter. ... In baseball, a triple play (denoted by TP) is the act of making three outs during the same continuous play. ... William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936 in Wheeling, West Virginia), nicknamed Maz, and also called simply The Glove by radio broadcaster Bob Prince, is a former Major League Baseball player. ...

External links

• The Odd Couple at the Internet Movie Database