WALTER MATTHAUNot many comedy actors have enjoyed as distinguished a career as Walter Matthau, who died on July 1, 2000, aged 79.During a varied film and stage career spanning four decades he will be best remembered for his comedy pairing with Jack Lemmon in The Odd Couple.It was this role as the grouchy, lovable slob Oscar Madison, which established him firmly as one of Hollywood ’s great comedy geniuses.Even in later life, he continued to make film audiences laugh at his hang-dog expression teaming up again with Mr Lemmon to play the lead roles in Grumpy Old Men.The son of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, Walter John Matthow was born on October 1, 1920, in Manhattan but quickly changed his stage name to Matthau when he started acting at the Yiddish theatre in New York .His father left home when he was a small child, but it is said Mr Matthau was undeterred by this abandonment and set out to establish himself as an actor.His aspirations for the big screen were cemented on his return from the US airforce during World War II where he served alongside fellow actor Jimmy Stewart. MrMatthau’s acting career began on the stage where he drew acclaim for his roles in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter in 1955 and A Shot in the Dark in 1961, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor the following year.However, his first full-length film role came in 1955 playing a villain in The Kentuckian opposite Burt Lancaster. This was to be the first of several “bad guy” roles in films such as King Creole in 1958 and Ride A Crooked Trail the same year.But it wasn’t until 1965, aged 44, that Mr Matthau would enjoy widespread success after he was cast by Neil Simon in his play The Odd Couple. His performance led to a film role in The Fortune Cookie in 1966 where Mr Matthau played opposite a man who was to become his co-star and lifelong friend, Jack Lemmon.He was honoured with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film but it was during this time that he suffered a heart attack, the first of a succession of health problems which would beset his acting career.Mr Matthau and Mr Lemmon went on to make a film version of The Odd Couple in 1968 and appeared together in ten films including Grumpy Old Men in 1993 and Grumpier Old Men two years later.Stories abound that Mr Matthau’s real surname was Matuschanskayasky but family members say it was only used in jest as a credit for a film where he played a drunk, an example of his love of embellishing a story.A known gambler and smoker, Mr Matthau gave up the latter on the advice of his doctors but underwent heart bypass surgery in 1976. Enduring freezing weather conditions on the set of Grumpy Old Men in 1993 landed him a stay in hospital but he continued acting into his later years despite his fragile health.In 1993 Mr Matthau was honoured with a Lifetime’s Achievement Award by America ’s National Association of Theatre Owners. His son Charlie, with whom he had a particularly close relationship, directed him in The Grass Harp in 1995.He was survived by his best friend Mr Lemmon by just a year, who said of his soulmate: “The biggest problem and the only problem I have working with Walter, who is a great actor, is that I have a great deal of difficulty not laughing.”
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