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Walter Matthau

Personal Profile

Walter Matthau
  • Birth Name:
    Walter John Matthau
  • Nickname:
    Jake
  • Date of Birth:
    October 1, 1920
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Libra
  • Place of Birth:
    New York City
  • Place of Death:
    Santa Monica, California, USA
  • Date of Death:
    July 1, 2000
  • Cause of Death:
    Heart attack
  • Height:
    6' 3"
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    American

Family

Walter Matthau
  • Spouse:
    Grace Geraldine Johnson -
    Carol Grace -

Career

Walter Matthau

Trivia

Walter Matthau
  • Big break came when understudying the actor who played the Archbishop in "Anne Of The Thousand Days," starring Rex Harrison.
  • Brought to the St. John's Health Center after suffering a heart attack by ambulance and was pronounced dead shortly afterward at 1:42 a.m.
  • Buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park. Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, Donna Reed, among other stars are buried at this cemetery.
  • People were never sure if he was joking or saying things seriously, either on-screen or off-screen.
  • He hated to be identified as a comedic actor.
  • He once claimed that his father was an Orthodox priest in the Czarist Russia, who was removed after he claimed that the Pope was infallible.
  • Once claimed that his wife's name was Carol Wellington-Smythe Marcus, just to give it a more "aristocratic" sound.
  • When he inscribed himself formally to the U.S. Social Security in 1937, he included "Foghorn" as his middle name. He never changed it.
  • Studied in the dramatic workshop at New York's New School with Gene Saks, Rod Steiger, Harry Guardino and Tony Curtis.
  • Served in the US Army Air Force, 8th Air Force, 453rd Bombardment Group in England with James Stewart.

Quotes

Walter Matthau
  • "She's an absolute dreamboat, the epitome of professionalism, a splendid actress, and she has all the make-up of a fully rounded person."
  • "A lot of parts I want they give to Robert Redford."
  • "I'd love to work with Barbra Streisand again. In something appropriate. Perhaps, Macbeth."
  • "To be successful in show business, all you need are 50 good breaks."
  • "'Get out of show business.' It's the best advice I ever got, because I'm so stubborn that if someone would tell me that, I would stay in it to the bitter end."
  • "The first girl you go to bed with is always pretty."
  • "I always had one ear offstage, listening for the call from the bookie."
  • "Every actor looks all his life for a part that will combine his talents with his personality. The Odd Couple (1968) was mine. That was the plutonium I needed. It all started happening after that."
  • "I never mind my wife having the last word. In fact, I'm delighted when she gets to it."
  • "I think doing comedy is more difficult ... than doing noncomedic or tragic or whatever you want to call it. "Because it's difficult to make all kinds of different audiences understand what you're doing, and moving you to laughter."
View all Quotes: Walter Matthau

Biography

Walter Matthau
Last Updated: Thursday, August 27, 2009

Born Walter Matthow on October 1, 1920, to a pair of Russian-Jewish immigrants in New York City, Matthau grew up poor on the Lower East Side and started out selling soft drinks and playing bit parts at a Yiddish theater 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 forester 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.

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. Matthau died on July 1, 2000. He was seventy-nine.

Filmography

Walter Matthau

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