Last Surviving ‘Odd Couple’ Star, 88, Reflects on ‘Prickly’ Co-Star originally appeared on Parade.
The Odd Couple ran on ABC from September 1970 to March 1975, though it was a successful film before it was a TV show and a successful Neil Simon play before it was a film. But it was legendary producer/writer Garry Marshall’s first sitcom for Paramount Television and earned three Emmy Awards out of 14 total nominations.
Elinor Donahue, who previously had starred on Father Knows Best and The Andy Griffith Show, was cast as Miriam Welby for the season 3 premiere — it was supposed to be a one-off appearance as a blind date for Felix (Tony Randall) and very nearly was a one-off, she told Woman’s World in a new interview where she recalls how Randall could “be a little prickly with people” and was not happy with her during their dress rehearsal together.
“I was just supposed to do one episode, and I was supposed to be a blind date for [Randall’s character Felix]. We meet at a restaurant, and we were doing a dress rehearsal — and bear in mind, I always get particularly nervous at dress rehearsals — and I couldn’t remember my lines. He got very upset and he started pounding on the table, saying, ‘Say your line, say your line, say your line!’” remembered Donahue.
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She continued, “[Co-star] Jack Klugman said, ‘Tony, relax! Calm down; you’re scaring her.’ At that point, I couldn’t have told you my name… I was so scared. It was not like I was a working actress; I hadn’t worked for a year or two, but somebody called me up and said, ‘How would you like to come down and do a small part in a show?’ I thought it could be fun, but I was feeling a little insecure.
“So the script girl comes running up and she gives me my line. We get through the rehearsal. I just thought, ‘I can’t go back, it’s too shameful.'”
But Randall realized that perhaps he had been too hard on Donahue, and when she got to the sound stage to do the full taping of the episode, “in [her] dressing room was a bouquet.”
“Not a large bouquet, but a pretty, very sweet, beautiful bouquet from Tony, apologizing and thanking me for being on the show,” said Donahue. “It was the sweetest thing, and from that time on, he was just as nice to me as he could possibly be. Jack was a doll. We just had a wonderful, wonderful time together.”
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What was supposed to be a one-off became a recurring character, as Donahue played Felix’s girlfriend until the end of the series when the character reunited with his ex-wife Gloria (Janis Hansen).
Donahue told Woman’s World that working in front of a live studio audience was an adventure because it was her first time doing so.
“I had done theater and I’d done live television, but this is sort of like a hybrid. It felt strange, because I always felt like I was maybe overacting for the camera,” said Donahue. “But you have to sort of put it out there for the audience to get the full brunt of it. It just felt funny in the beginning. And, again, Jack and Tony could make anything funny; they were perfectly matched for their characters.”
Sadly, the other major cast members have all passed away. Randall and Klugman died in 2004 and 2012, respectively; Brett Somers (Blanche) died in 2007; Al Molinaro (Officer Greshler) died in 2015; Penny Marshall (Myrna) died in 2018; and Hansen died in 2021.
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Last Surviving ‘Odd Couple’ Star, 88, Reflects on ‘Prickly’ Co-Star first appeared on Parade on Jul 25, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
