The Odd Couple (film) West Side apartment of divorced sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) on a hot and sticky summer evening, Oscar and his buddies Speed (Larry Haines), Roy (David Sheiner), Vinnie (John Fiedler), and policeman Murray (Herb Edelman) are playing poker and discussing their friend, Felix Ungar, who is unusually late for the game. Murray's wife calls and tells him that Felix is missing. Oscar then calls Felix's wife Frances who says that she and Felix have split up. As they are discussing what to do, and worried that Felix might try to commit suicide, Felix arrives not knowing that his friends already
The Odd Couple (1970 TV series) Rooney and Martin Balsam were also considered for the part of Oscar and Dean Martin and Art Carney for Felix (Carney had originated the role on Broadway). Eventually Tony Randall (as Felix) and Jack Klugman (as Oscar) were hired. Both had starred in different productions of the play. Randall, who was hired first, had still wanted Mickey Rooney to play Oscar. The show's co-executive producer, Garry Marshall, had to lobby hard to get Klugman successfully hired. Once the casting was in place, the show's writers (Marshall, Jerry Belson, Jerry Paris, Bob Brunner, Mark Rothman and Lowell Ganz, among others) came