Can't go to sleep tonight without mentioning the passing of an icon of my generation and all around good guy, Tony Randall died Monday May 17th at age 84. We watched the Larry King tribute tonight and then David Letterman gave him a very heartfelt mention and showed some clips, since he was a regular for years on the show. I grew up watching every episode of The Odd Couple religiously, and he was one of those people I would have loved to met in person, because he seemed like a genuinely nice and intelligent guy. Amazing that he could find love and father two children in his 70's, but at least he got to spend his last decade living out his dreams of family.

I'd always thought he would be one of those people who would live to 100, and be right on top of things the whole way, but to quote Felix "When you assume, you make an ass out of U and Me".

And as a final irony, in September, during a speech to the National Funeral Directors Association, Randall joked about how he envisioned his own ceremony: President Bush and Vice President Cheney would show up to pay their respects, but they’d be turned away because his family knows he didn’t like them. Man, if Tony Randall doesn't like you, you've got to be pretty evil...

TV Land will be airing a best of the Odd Couple marathon Thursday May 20th, and Larry King is going to be running a past interview with Randall and Jack Klugman this Sunday night. And the lights are dimmed on Broadway in memory of his contributions to the theater community.