Actress Brett Somers dead at 83

NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Hollywood actress and television personality Brett Somers has died at the age of 83, Playbill.com reported Monday.

Best-known for her appearances on the U.S. game show "The Match Game" in the 1970s, Somers also played the recurring role of Oscar Madison's ex-wife, Blanche, on the U.S. television series, "The Odd Couple."

Somers and Oscar's portrayer, Jack Klugman, married in real life in 1953 and had two children. Somers had a third child, a daughter, by an earlier marriage.

It was Klugman who suggested to the producers of "The Match Game" that she would be great on the show.

The couple separated in 1974.

Although she only had one Broadway credit on her resume -- in the short-lived 1958 show "Maybe Tuesday" -- she had starred in stage productions of "Happy Ending," "The Seven Year Itch" and "The Country Girl."

She also headlined a New York cabaret act in 2003, in which she reflected on her career.

Her television credits included appearances on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Have Gun--Will Travel," "The Defenders," "Ben Casey" and "Barney Miller."