¬ Announcement: ShareTV is now streaming full-length episodes of TV Shows from
ABC &
ABC Family
 |
Walter Matthau
Age: 79 (passed away Jul. 1st, 2000)
Height: 6' 3"
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA
Born: Oct. 1st, 1920
+ Add to My Celebs
|
Walter Matthau's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: 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 (I). 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.
TRIVIA:
- While making a TV series in Florida before his movie stardom, he lost $183,000 betting on spring-training baseball games.
- 'Dan Castellaneta' (qv) has said that his original voice for Homer Simpson was simply an impression of Matthau.
- During the filming of _Hello, Dolly! (1969)_ (qv), he clashed with 'Barbra Streisand' (qv) and disliked her so intensely that he refused to be around her except when required to do so by the script. He is famously quoted as telling Streisand that she "had no more talent than a butterfly's fart." Interestingly, he is clearly seen in the audience at the _One Voice (1986) (TV)_ (qv) concert at her Malibu ranch, where invitation-only guests had the privilege of paying $5,000 per couple to help establish the Streisand Foundation, which supports numerous charitable organizations. Apparently, he did not hold grudges.
- Dealt with a gambling addiction his entire adult life.
- He and 'Jack Lemmon (I)' (qv) acted together in 10 movies: _Buddy Buddy (1981)_ (qv), _The Fortune Cookie (1966)_ (qv), _The Front Page (1974)_ (qv), _The Grass Harp (1995)_ (qv), _Grumpier Old Men (1995)_ (qv), _Grumpy Old Men (1993)_ (qv), _JFK (1991)_ (qv), _The Odd Couple II (1998)_ (qv), _The Odd Couple (1968)_ (qv) and _Out to Sea (1997)_ (qv). Lemmon also directed Matthau in _Kotch (1971)_ (qv).
- After filming _Grumpy Old Men (1993)_ (qv) in 1993 in freezing weather in Minnesota, he was hospitalized for double pneumonia.
- Step-father of 'Lucy Saroyan' (qv).
- 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.
Walter Matthau Photos | powered by  |
Previous |
Next (1)
Walter Matthau Fans [0]
Facebook
Twitter
