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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.
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 Walter Matthau 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
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