Walter Matthau

Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 in New York City - July 1, 2000 in Santa Monica, California) was an American comedy actor possibly best known for his role as the gruff and less tidy member of The Odd Couple.

Matthau was born in New York and served with the Army Air Corps during World War II. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant and became interested in acting. He often joked that his best early review came in a play he did where he posed as a derelict. Matthau and Sophia Loren in Grumpier Old Men

One reviewer said "The others just looked like actors in make-up, Walter Matthau really looks like a skid row bum!" Matthau was a respected stage actor for years in such fare as Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and A Shot In The Dark. In 1955, he made his film debut as a whip-wielding bad guy in The Kentuckian opposite Kirk Douglas. He appeared in many films after this as a villain such as the 1958 King Creole (where he is beaten up by Elvis Presley!). That same year he made a Western called Ride A Crooked Trail with Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of World War II. Mister Matthau also directed a low budget 1960 film called The Gangster Story. In 1962, Matthau won acclaim as a sympathetic sheriff in Lonely Are The Brave. In addition to his busy movie and stage schedule, Mister Matthau made many television appearances in live tv plays. Although he was constantly working, it seemed the fact he was not handsome in the traditional sense would keep him from being a top star.

The sweet smell of success came late for Matthau. He was 45 when in 1965 Neil Simon cast him in the hit play The Odd Couple. It was also during this time that Matthau nearly died of a heart attack. In 1966, he again achieved glory as a shady lawyer opposite Jack Lemmon in The Fortune Cookie. He won an Academy Award as best supporting actor. Matthau and Lemmon became lifelong friends afterwards and in an amazing act of teamwork made a total of ten films together, including the popular 1993 hit Grumpy Old Men.

Matthau had two children, Jennifer and David, by his first wife, Grace Geraldine Johnson, and a son, Charles, by his second wife and widow, Carol Marcus. Charles directed his father in the movie The Grass Harp (1995).

Matthau died of a massive heart attack at the age of 79, and is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. About one year later, Lemmon, his old pal and frequent co-star, was also buried at the cemetery.

Filmography (selected)

King Creole
Charade
The Fortune Cookie
The Odd Couple
Bad News Bears
Hopscotch
Grumpy Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three