Jack Klugman was a long-working actor who was used to the fast pace of TV. Indeed, he would ultimately appear in four episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” By 1961, Klugman had also starred in several notable feature films — including Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” — and about 24 episodes of various TV shows (in addition to having a prolific career on the stage). Klugman was in his element. Winters, however, was more comfortable with extemporaneous comedy programs, having starred in his very own “The Jonathan Winters Show” in 1956 and 1957. He did impressions and standup and was clearly not comfortable playing a character like Fats.
Kulik, in Zicree’s book, explained that he wanted a performer to provide a quality that would counter Klugman’s determined professional intensity. A comedian, he felt, would fit the bill perfectly. In his own words:
“With a guy like Jack Klugman, you go out and get Jack Warden or somebody like that. However, we determined that here was this guy who was such a brilliant talent, who would bring a kind of freshness, because this was his first time as a dramatic actor. He’d never even been on film before.”
Jack Warden also appeared in “12 Angry Men,” as well as notable films like “From Here to Eternity,” “Run Silent, Run Deep,” and the 1959 adaptation of “The Sound and the Fury.” Warden and Klugman could certainly have matched each other in dramatic power. But that wasn’t what Kulik wanted. He wanted Winters.