Legends of stage, screen and the political arena filled Riverside Memorial Chapel to say goodbye to venerable actor Tony Randall, who died Monday after a long illness at age 84.
Mourners at the private, invitation-only service included his “Odd Couple” co-star Jack Klugman, who served as a eulogist along with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and actor Eli Wallach. Other notables in attendance included former Mayor David Dinkins, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Walter Cronkite, Cliff Robertson, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Judd Hirsch, Joanne Woodward, and “Sopranos” star Steve Buscemi.
“Tony was a great New Yorker because he understood the tremendous value and the importance of the New York City theater and what it meant to the life of the city,” Giuliani told The Post.
“I had the privilege of presiding over his marriage to Heather. It was one of the high points to see what a wonderful relationship they had.”
For a while, the fastidious actor best-known for his role as sinus-crazed Felix Unger seemingly thumbed his “honking” nose at Father Time, when he married his second wife, 24-year-old theater understudy Heather Harlan, a half-century his junior, in 1995.
She then bore two of his children, Julia, now 7, and Jefferson, 5.
Randall once lamented in an interview that he was sorry he would miss their weddings when they came of age.
Jerry Stiller said Randall was very connected with other actors.
“He was an actor’s friend,” said Jerry Stiller. “He got my life back on track when I needed a job. Tony said ‘We want you to be in “Three Men on a Horse” with [Klugman] and myself.’ And I didn’t even read for the part.”
Stiller said he was then called by Larry David to join the Seinfeld cast right away. “I said, ‘No, I’m doing “Three Men on a Horse.” ‘ So I blew ‘Seinfield,’ ” he said. “I eventually got the part as Frank Costanza, but I couldn’t leave a play that Tony launched. Working with him was one of the highlights of my life.”
Randall, most mourners agreed, was most like the Felix Unger character he played for five years on television’s “The Odd Couple.”
In an example of art imitating life, actor Cliff Robertson, who was a half-hour late after catching a bus from the Hamptons, said, “I could almost hear that mellow baritone voice saying, ‘Well Cliff, you’re a half-hour late. But what else could I expect from a Presbyterian?’ ” he joked after the ceremony. “He would’ve forgiven me, however, for taking the bus.”
“He was a lovely, lovely man,” added Robertson, who first met Randall in the 1950s. “It ended the way he would’ve liked it. Everyone walked out in reverence, but with a smile.”