Klugman in the Clear

12/01/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Actor Jack Klugman has won a palimony suit against a former lover who claimed he promised to support her for the rest of his life. "I feel like I just won the Kentucky Derby!" the former "Quincy" and "The Odd Couple" star, 77, told reporters Wednesday after a Los Angeles jury decided that he never had an express or implied contract with Barbara Neugass. The couple had a relationship spanning 20 years, but Klugman testified during the trial that he never loved her. In fact, he said, he loved his dog more than he did her. (He was also married to actress Brett Somers at the same time as the affair, though they are now separated.) Klugman and Neugass split in 1992. Neugass, 57, told reporters that Klugman lied about their emotional involvement. "I loved him for a long time," she said after the verdict. "I don't hate him now. I feel sorry for him because he has to live with himself."