Walter Matthau Biography

Birthday: 1920-10-01
Place of Birth: New York City, New York
Height: 6' 3" (1.91 m)
Wiki Biography: Born Walter Matthow on October 1, 1920, to a pair of Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York City, Matthau grew up in poverty on the Lower East Side and started out selling soft drinks and playing bit parts at a Yiddish theater troupe at age 11. He was paid 50 cents for each of his occasional on-stage appearances. His father, a peddler from Kiev, left home when he was 3 years old. He lived with his older brother, Henry, and their mother, a garment worker, on the Lower East Side of New York. After graduating from Seward Park High School during the Depression, he took government jobs as a forest ranger in Montana, a gym instructor for the Works Progress Administration, and a boxing coach for policemen. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radio cryptographer in a heavy bomber unit in Europe and returned home a sergeant with six battle stars.
In 1948, his first Broadway role was when he was hired as an understudy for the role of an 83 year old English bishop in 'Anne of the Thousand Days' starring Rex Harrison. His fame came with The Fortune Cookie (1966) and The Odd Couple (1968). While making the former, he suffered a serious heart attack. This was due to heavy smoking and chronic gambling. Matthau immediately quit smoking and began a life-long regime of walking 2-5 miles per day.
Matthau's acting career continued to flourish for the next 30 years with him playing memorable lead and supporting characters in both dramatic and comic films, several of them alongside Jack Lemmon. Unbeknownst to his fans, Matthau continued to battle heart disease and was later diagnosed with two forms of cancer. In 1976, he had heart bypass surgery. In 1993, he was hospitalized for double pneumonia. In 1995, he had a benign colon tumor removed. In 1999, he was hospitalized again for pneumonia where he was diagnosed again with cancer. Walter Matthau died on July 1, 2000, at age 79.
Walter MatthauPhotos & Pictures






Filmography
TV Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
Kraft Television Theatre | Harry | 1947 - 1958 | |
Alcoa Hour | 1955 | Drama | |
Dennis the Menace | Mr. George Wilson | 1959 - 1963 | Comedy |
The DuPont Show of the Week | 1961 | Comedy | |
Profiles in Courage | Andrew Johnson | 1964 | Drama |
The Odd Couple | Oscar Madison | 1968 | Comedy |
The Front Page | Walter Burns | 1974 | Comedy |
The Bad News Bears | Coach Morris Buttermaker | 1976 | Comedy |
House Calls | 1978 | Comedy | |
Grumpy Old Men | Max Goldman | 2003 - | Comedy |
Movies Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
The Mob | 1951 | ||
The Kentuckian | 1955 | Drama | |
A Face in the Crowd | 1957 | ||
Onionhead | 1958 | 0 | |
Strangers When We Meet | 1960 | Drama, Romance | |
Lonely are the Brave | 1962 | Drama | |
Who's Got the Action? | Tony Gagoots | 1963 | |
Charade | Hamilton Bartholemew | 1963 | Biography |
Ensign Pulver | Doc | 1964 | Comedy, Drama |
Goodbye Charlie | 1964 | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance | |
Fail-Safe | Groeteschele | 1965 | Adventure, Drama, Thriller |
Mirage | Ted Caselle | 1966 | |
The Fortune Cookie | Willie Gingrich | 1966 | Comedy, Romance |
A Guide for the Married Man | 1967 | Comedy, Romance | |
Odd Couple | Oscar Madison | 1968 | Comedy, Romance |
The Odd Couple | Oscar Madison | 1968 | Comedy, Romance |
Cactus Flower | Dr. Julian Winston | 1969 | 0 |
Hello Dolly! | Horace Vandergelder | 1969 | Romance, Comedy, Musical |
A New Leaf | 1971 | Biography | |
Plaza Suite | 1971 | Comedy, Drama | |
Kotch | Joseph P. Kotcher | 1971 | Comedy, Drama |
Pete 'n' Tillie | Pete | 1972 | |
Charley Varrick | Charley Varrick | 1973 | |
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Lt. Zachary Garber | 1974 | 0, Comedy |
The Front Page | Walter Burns | 1974 | Biography, 0 |
The Laughing Policeman | Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD | 1974 | Crime, Drama, Thriller |
Earthquake | 1974 | Action, Drama, Thriller | |
The Sunshine Boys | Willy Clark | 1976 | Comedy |
California Suite | 1978 | Comedy, Romance | |
The Stingiest Man In Town | Ebenezer Scrooge | 1978 | Animation, Musical, Drama |
Hopscotch | 1980 | Adventure, Comedy | |
First Monday in October | 1981 | 0 | |
Buddy Buddy | Trabucco | 1981 | Comedy |
I Ought to Be in Pictures | 1982 | Comedy, Drama | |
The Survivors | 1983 | 0, 0 | |
Movers & Shakers | Joe Mulholland | 1985 | |
Pirates | Capt. Thomas Bartholomew Red | 1986 | |
The Couch Trip | 1988 | Comedy | |
Il piccolo diavolo | Maurice | 1988 | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance |
Dennis the Menace | Mr. George Wilson | 1993 | Comedy, Family |
Grumpy Old Men | Max Goldman | 1993 | Comedy, Drama |
I.Q. | Albert Einstein | 1994 | Comedy, Romance |
Grumpier Old Men | Max Goldman | 1995 | Comedy, Romance |
The Grass Harp | Judge Charlie Cool | 1996 | Drama, Comedy |
I'm Not Rappaport | Nat Moyer | 1996 | |
Out to Sea | 1997 | Biography | |
The Odd Couple II | Oscar Madison | 1998 | Adventure, Comedy |
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg | 1999 | ||
Hanging Up | Lou Mozell | 2000 |