Well, while I was kicking back on Christmas Eve with a Christmas Carol drinking game, two of my favorite actors from my childhood passed away.  I didn’t know that ’til this week, but I haven’t really processed it ’til now.

Jack Klugman is probably best known for The Odd Couple, but I remember my mom watching Quincy, M. E. when I was a kid.  So naturally, when cable started to replay the eps (which are now on Netflix and other streaming things, btw), I got sucked back in.  Thank you, Mr. Klugman, for feeding my addiction to procedurals long before Law & Order, Bones and Rizzoli and Isles were a glimmer in a produer’s eye.

As a theater nerd, I’m a big fan of musicals. So the first time I actually noticed Charles Durning was in one of my all-time favorite musicals, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. For a big man, he’s damn light on his feet. And he plays the hell out of that character. Later on, I saw him in Tootsie and Mel Brooks’ To Be Or Not To Be. Charles Durning is one of the all-time great character actors. The world is a little less funny today.