| Walter Matthau (1920 - 2000)
American character actor who has done many comedies, often playing
shady con men, but proved that he could be a dramatic actor as well.
Walter Matthau's real name was Walter Matasschanskayasky (or some
publications have his real name as Matuchanskayasky). There have also
been rumors ( that were later confirmed by his children) that his
real name was indeed Walter Matthow and he made up the others as a
joke. Walter Matthau was born on October 1st, 1920 in New York City
to Russian-Jewish immigrants. He was married twice and had three children,
including director Charles Matthau. Even though he was almost always
in ill-health ( due to 'fast living'), he appeared in many films and
broadway productions. Walter Matthau died early in the morning on
7/1/2000 after he had his second heart attack.
Walter Matthau didn't seriously take up acting until after serving in
World War II. During the 1950's he appeared mostly in straight roles
in plays, movies and television. By the early sixties he was getting
larger parts and had grabbed audiences attention with his preformance
in supporting roles in such films as Charade (1963), and in Goodbye
Charlie (1964). In 1965 he was paired for the first of many times
with actor Jack Lemmon, playing an ambulance-chasing lawyer, a part
that got him an Oscar. Walter Matthau would go on to co-star with Lemmon
in The Odd Couple (1968) ( appearing in the role that he won
a Tony for in the Broadway production),The Front Page (1974),and
Grumpy Old Men (1993) to name a few.
Walter Matthau was also nominated for Best Actor in 1971 for his performance
in Kotch and in 1975 for The Sunshine Boys.
Walter Matthau's other films include:
THE KENTUCKIAN
THE INDIAN FIGHTER
A FACE IN THE CROWD
RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL
ONIONHEAD
LONELY ARE THE BRAVE
ISLAND OF LOVE
CHARADE
ENSIGN PULVER
FAIL SAFE
GOODBYE CHARLIE
A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN
THE
ODD COUPLE
HELLO DOLLY
CACTUS FLOWER
PLAZA SUITE
CHARLEY VARRICK
EARTHQUAKE
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123
THE FRONT PAGE
HOUSE CALLS
HOPSCOTCH
BUDDY BUDDY
PIRATES
THE COUCH TRIP
JFK
DENNIS THE MENACE
GRUMPY OLD MEN
I.Q.
GRUMPIER OLD MEN
I'M NOT RAPPAPORT
THE GRASS HARP
ODD COUPLE 2
HANGING UP
Walter
Matthau Movie Specials |
