"Why don't you kids go play on the freeway?"
- Walter Matthau as "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich,
The Fortune Cookie, 1966
Hunched, taciturn, and perpetually unkempt, Walter Matthau was one of the most endearing American actors of the second half of the Twentieth Century. As New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow noted in his 2000
obituary: "...through a kind of reverse chic Mr. Matthau could make himself seem stylish. Without airs or affectations, he became a widely respected international star."
Perhaps best remembered for his many comedic pairings with life-long friend Jack Lemmon (notably
The Odd Couple, The Fortune Cookie, and their later work as America's preeminent
Grumpy Old Men), Matthau was a distinguished actor in his own right, utilizing his disheveled charm for comedic and dramatic roles.
Walter Matthau was born in 1920 in a tenement on New York's Lower East Side. His father left the family when the boy was three year's old. His mother worked as a seamstress in a sweatshop to provide for Walter and his brother. His earliest acting experiences were in the then-thriving Yiddish theater. Matthau was an Air Force radio-gunner during WWII, serving under Lt. James Stewart. (Yes, that
James Stewart.) After the war, he attended the New School's Dramatic Workshop. Primarily a stage actor at this point in his career, he also took the occasional bit part in television. Matthau made his film debut in the little-seen 1955 backwoods adventure
The Kentuckian - as a villain. He worked steadily in theater and film for over a decade, establishing a name for himself on the stage without making much of an impact in Hollywood.
The actor's breakout performance came in the 1966 Billy Wilder comedy
The Fortune Cookie. This marked the first onscreen pairing of Matthau and Jack Lemmon, and audiences took notice. He played a morally - and financially - bankrupt personal injury attorney named "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich. The Academy awarded him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Lemmon and Matthau re-teamed in 1968 for the Neil Simon classic
The Odd Couple; cementing their status as one of the great comedic duos. Matthau's almost uncanny gift for hilariously off-beat line-readings is on ample display in both these films.
Matthau's sole directorial effort was the 1960 melodrama
Gangster Story, which would seem to indicate a personal interest in the crime genre. In 1973 he starred in two remarkable crime-centered pictures:
Charley Varrick and
The Laughing Policeman (based on the detective novel by Swedish writing duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö). The following year he appeared in the stellar heist film
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
Matthau was twice nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar;
Kotch (1971) and
The Sunshine Boys (1975). But if there is one 1970s performance that best captured Walter Matthau's unlikely charm, that is undoubtedly
The Bad News Bears. His portrayal of alcoholic pool-cleaner-turned-little-league-coach Morris Buttermaker is quite possibly the most enduring performance of his 5-decade career.
It's been argued - more or less fairly - that the quality of Walter Matthau's films had deteriorated by the 1990s. (The same has been said of Jack Lemmon's later work.) But it's worth noting that the actor himself is consistently engaged and entertaining throughout this late period, regardless of any script or directorial deficiencies. Matthau's performance in
Grumpy Old Men (and its oft-maligned sequel) and the following year in
I.Q. should be ample evidence that his unique talents were still intact. One of Matthau's final performances was in an aptation of Truman Capote's novel
The Grass Harp (1996 ), directed by his son, Charlie Matthau.
Hanging Up (2000)
Find it in the catalog!Out to Sea (1997)
Find it in the catalog!I'm Not Rappaport (1996)
Find it in the catalog!The Grass Harp (1995)
Find it in the catalog!Incident in a Small Town (1994)
Find it in the catalog!I.Q. (1994)
Find it in the catalog!Grumpy Old Men (1993)
Find it in the catalog!Dennis the Menace (1993)
Find it in the catalog!Hopscotch (1980)
Find it in the catalog!House Calls (1978)
Find it in the catalog!Casey's Shadow (1978)
Find it in the catalog!California Suite (1978)
Find it in the catalog!The Bad News Bears (1976)
Find it in the catalog!The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Find it in the catalog!The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Find it in the catalog!The Front Page (1974)
Find it in the catalog!The Laughing Policeman (1973)
Find it in the catalog!Charley Varrick (1973)
Find it in the catalog!Awake and Sing! (1972)
Find it in the catalog!Kotch (1971)
Find it in the catalog!Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Find it in the catalog!The Odd Couple (1968)
Find it in the catalog!A Guide for the Married Man (1967)
Find it in the catalog!The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Find it in the catalog!Fail-Safe (1964)
Find it in the catalog!Charade (1963)
Find it in the catalog!Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
Find it in the catalog!Further reading:
Matthau: A Life by Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg
Find it in the catalog!
Bright Star: A biopic of the 19th-Century Romantic poet John Keats and his tragic love affair with Fanny Brawne. Directed by Jane Campion (The Piano).
