Characters Discussed
Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison, a carefree, good-natured, divorced sportswriter who lives alone in a messy eight-room New York apartment. He is completely oblivious to dirt, clutter, and the overdue child-support payments about which his wife telephones weekly. He has his male cronies in for a weekly poker game with refreshments that invite food poisoning. Oscar’s lifestyle is abruptly turned around when he takes in one of the members of the group, Felix Ungar, whose wife has thrown him out. Everything is now antiseptically clean, the food served to the poker players is appetizing, and there is money to pay his former wife, Blanche. Felix is so compulsive, however, that Oscar cannot live with him and forcefully requests that he leave.
Felix Ungar
Felix Ungar, a fussy man who knows that he is difficult to live with but cannot—or will not—make any concessions or compromises. His wife, unwilling to continue their marriage, asks him to leave the family despite his suicide threat, and he then moves in with Oscar. Made comical by his exaggerated behavior, Felix is persuaded by the end of the play to live temporarily with the Pigeon sisters, who pity him, but it is probable that they too will find him exasperating.
Gwendolyn Pigeon
Gwendolyn Pigeon and
Cecily Pigeon
Cecily Pigeon, English sisters who live in the apartment building. Attractive, intellectually lightweight, and somewhat flirtatious, they accept Oscar’s invitation for dinner. As he leaves the room to make drinks, they speak blithely of their divorces to Felix, who then shows them snapshots of his family, breaking into tears and encouraging them to join him in his sorrow. Because the London broil that Felix has prepared is ruined as a result of Oscar’s casual lateness in coming home, the Pigeon sisters invite the men to their place for potluck. Felix will not go, despite Oscar’s pleading, but later they feel sorry for “the poor tortured” Felix and persuade him to stay at their place until he finds one of his own.
Murray
Murray, an atypical New York policeman, a good-natured clod who will never become a detective. He is one of the weekly poker players.
Roy
Roy, Oscar’s accountant. Somewhat critical of Oscar’s behavior, Roy routinely loans him money to “stay in the game.” He is another of the weekly poker players.
Vinnie
Vinnie, a cheapskate who goes to Florida in midsummer to take advantage of low rates and who leaves the poker game when he is ahead.
Speed
Speed, a man of simple tastes who enjoys the male camaraderie of the weekly poker sessions. He is disgusted when Felix turns their poker nights into “tea parties.”
Characters
Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison represents the "messy" half of the renowned "odd couple." He takes pity on his best friend, Felix Ungar, who is recently separated and nearly suicidal, and invites him to move into his New York City apartment. However, within two weeks, Oscar starts to regret his decision. At 43 years old, Oscar is carefree, pleasant, and highly likable. When one of the poker players asks about the sandwiches he's serving, Oscar checks under the bread and replies, "I got brown sandwiches and green sandwiches." He humorously adds that the green one is "either very new cheese or very old meat." The play hints that living with Felix has changed Oscar's personality, as his final words are a plea to the poker players to be less messy. Walter Matthau played Oscar in both the original Broadway production in 1965 and the 1968 film adaptation. In the television series that aired for five...
(This entire section contains 579 words.)
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years starting in 1970, Jack Klugman took on the role of Oscar.
Murray
Murray, one of the poker players, is a policeman known for his methodical and
sometimes slow thinking. He is gentle, caring, and shows the most concern for
Felix. Though generally unflappable, Murray is also somewhat simple and
naive.
Cecily Pigeon
Cecily Pigeon is slightly more uninhibited than her sister, Gwendolyn. She is
known for making suggestive remarks, such as, "Oh, we've done spectacular
things but I don't think we'd want it spread all over the telly."
Gwendolyn Pigeon
While the Pigeon sisters are almost indistinguishable, Simon describes
Gwendolyn as the "mother hen." Like her sister Cecily, Gwendolyn is in her 30s,
British, attractive, and works as a secretary at the Slenderama Health Club.
She is a bit slower mentally than her sister and struggles to remember Felix's
name.
Roy
Roy, Oscar's accountant, has a keen sense of smell. He is the poker player who
frequently complains about the air quality and bad odors in Oscar's apartment.
In the second act, Roy storms out of the game because the meticulous Felix has
disinfected the playing cards.
Speed
As his name suggests, Speed is always in a rush. He is the impatient poker
player—sarcastic, complaining, and occasionally mean. When the curtain rises on
Murray shuffling the cards agonizingly slowly, Speed delivers the play's sharp
first line: "Tell me, Mr. Maverick, is this your first time on the
riverboat?"
Felix Ungar
Felix Ungar is the "neat" half of the "odd couple." Originally portrayed on
Broadway by Art Carney, who also played Norton on the popular Jackie Gleason TV
show The Honeymooners, Felix was brought to life on the big screen by
Jack Lemmon and on television by Tony Randall. A 44-year-old news writer for
CBS, Felix contemplates suicide after his wife decides to end their marriage.
In Simon's comedic world, however, this grim scenario is treated humorously;
Felix even sends his suicide note to his wife via telegram. Oscar believes
Felix's issue is his need to control everything and advises him to "let loose"
and follow his desires instead of always doing what he thinks he "should" do.
By the end of the play, when Felix accepts an invitation from the Pigeon
sisters to stay at their apartment, he possibly reveals a more unconventional
side of his personality.
Vinnie
Vinnie, the last of the poker players, is jittery and quirky. During the
initial poker game, he frequently checks his watch because he needs to leave
early—he's heading to Florida for a vacation (in July) the next morning.