"Match Game" regular Brett Somers dies

WESTPORT, Conn. — Actress and comedian Brett Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the "Match Game" in the 1970s, has died, her son said. She was 83.

Ms. Somers died Saturday at her home in Westport of stomach and colon cancer, her son Adam Klugman said Monday.

Ms. Somers married actor Jack Klugman, the future star of the television shows "Quincy" and "The Odd Couple," in 1953. The two separated in 1974 but never divorced.

They made many television appearances as a couple. Ms. Somers appeared on several episodes of "The Odd Couple," playing the ex-wife of Klugman's character.

She continued to perform after being diagnosed with cancer.

She was born Audrey Johnston in New Brunswick, Canada, and grew up in Portland, Maine. She ran away from home at age 17 and headed for New York City, where she settled in Greenwich Village and changed her name.

Her son said she was caustic, irreverent and a self-declared bohemian.

"She maintained her independence till the end, and her irreverence," Adam Klugman said. "She died very much at peace."

Ms. Somers is also survived by another son, David, and a daughter, Leslie.