Jack Lemmon ham, a fine ham, and with ham you have to trim a little fat." The biography quotes Lemmon as saying, "I am particularly susceptible to the parts I play... If my character was having a nervous breakdown, I started to have one." He enjoyed longtime working relationships with both Blake Edwards, starring in "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962), "The Great Race" (1965) and "That's Life!" (1986), and Richard Quine, starring in "My Sister Eileen", "Operation Mad Ball", "Bell, Book and Candle", "It Happened to Jane", and "How to Murder Your Wife". Quine also directed Lemmon's screen test when the
The Odd Couple (film) Felix was portrayed by Jack Lemmon, who had never played the character before. At one point, Frank Sinatra (as Felix) and Jackie Gleason (as Oscar) were reportedly considered for the film version. Dick Van Dyke and Tony Randall were also among those considered for the role of Felix (the latter portrayed him in the TV series). Similarly, Jack Klugman (who aside from the TV series had replaced Matthau on Broadway) and Mickey Rooney were also to play Oscar. Most of the script from the play has been retained, although the setting is expanded: instead of taking place entirely in Oscar's