Line #1 Creator/WalterMatthau


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/waltermatthau.jpg]]
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3	->''"Every actor looks all his life for a part that will combine his talents with his personality... ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'' was mine. That was the plutonium I needed. It all started happening after that."''
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5	Most often described with the words "rumpled" and "gruff", Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) would seem an unlikely movie star. And yet his value as a character actor made him a familiar and beloved screen presence with a career spanning five decades.
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7	Born Walter John Matth'''ow''', the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Matthau fought in the Army Air Forces during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo. At the war's end he enrolled in acting classes at the New School. Within a few years he was appearing regularly on New York stages.
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9	Matthau's first big screen appearance came in 1955 with ''The Kentuckian'', and his last was 2000's ''Hanging Up'', directed by and starring Creator/DianeKeaton. Matthau was best known for doing comedy, but could also play convincing and scary tough guys, as shown in an early appearance on ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' as a corrupt highway patrolman.
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12	!!Filmography:
13	[[folder:Film roles]]
14	%%* ''The Kentuckian'' (1955) as Stan Bodine
15	%%* ''The Indian Fighter'' (1955) as Wes Todd
16	* ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' (1956) as Wally Gibbs
17	* ''Film/AFaceInTheCrowd'' (1957) as Mel Miller
18	%%* ''Slaughter on Tenth Avenue'' (1957) as Al Dahlke
19	%%* ''King Creole'' (1958) as Maxie Fields
20	%%* ''Voice in the Mirror'' (1958) as Dr. Leon Karnes
21	* ''Film/KingCreole'' (1958) as Maxie Fields
22	* ''Film/RideACrookedTrail'' (1958) as Judge Kyle
23	%%* ''Gangster Story'' (1959) as Jack Martin (also his sole film as director)
24	%%* ''Strangers When We Meet'' (1960) as Felix Anders
25	* ''Film/LonelyAreTheBrave'' (1962) as Sheriff Morey Johnson
26	* ''Film/{{Charade}}'' (1963) as Carson Dyle aka Hamilton Bartholomew
27	%%* ''Ensign Pulver'' (1964) as Doc
28	* ''Film/FailSafe'' (1964) as Prof. Groeteschele
29	%%* ''Goodbye Charlie'' (1964) as Sir Leopold Sartori
30	* ''Film/{{Mirage\| 1965}}'' (1965) as Ted Caselle
31	* ''Film/TheFortuneCookie'' (1966) as "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (which won Matthau an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor)
32	* ''Film/AGuideForTheMarriedMan'' (1967) as Paul Manning
33	* ''Film/{{The Odd Couple\|1968}}'' (1968) as Oscar Madison (a role he originated [[Theatre/TheOddCouple on Broadway]])
34	%%* ''The Secret Life of an American Wife'' (1968) as the Movie Star
35	%%* ''Candy'' (1968) as Gen. Smight
36	* ''Film/CactusFlower'' (1969) as Dr. Julian Winston
37	* ''Film/HelloDolly'' (1969) as Horace Vandergelder
38	* ''Film/ANewLeaf'' (1971) as Henry Graham
39	* ''Film/PlazaSuite'' (1971) as Sam Nash/Jesse Kiplinger/Roy Hubley
40	%%* ''Kotch'' (1971) as Joseph P. Kotcher
41	%%* ''Pete 'n' Tillie'' (1972) as Pete Seltzer
42	* ''Film/CharleyVarrick'' (1973) as Charley Varrick
43	%%* ''The Laughing Policeman'' (1973) as Det. Sgt. Jake Martin
44	* ''Film/TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree'' (1974) as Lt. Zachary Garber
45	* ''Film/{{Earthquake}}'' (1974) as Drunk ([[TheCameo cameo]] appearance for which he was billed as "Walter Matuschanskayasky"; see OverlyLongName below)
46	* ''Film/TheFrontPage'' (1974) as Walter Burns
47	* ''Film/TheSunshineBoys'' (1975) as Willy Clark
48	* ''Film/TheBadNewsBears'' (1976) as Coach Morris Buttermaker
49	%%* ''Casey's Shadow'' (1978) as Lloyd Bourdelle
50	%%* ''House Calls'' (1978) as Dr. Charley Nichols
51	* ''Film/CaliforniaSuite'' (1978) as Marvin Michaels
52	%%* ''Little Miss Marker'' (1980) as Sorrowful Jones
53	* ''Film/{{Hopscotch}}'' (1980) as Miles Kendig
54	%%* ''First Monday in October'' (1981) as Associate Justice Daniel Snow
55	%%* ''Buddy Buddy'' (1981) as Trabucco
56	%%* ''I Ought to Be in Pictures'' (1982) as Herbert Tucker
57	* ''Film/TheSurvivors'' (1983) as Sonny Paluso
58	%%* ''Movers & Shakers'' (1985) as Joe Mulholland
59	* ''Film/{{Pirates}}'' (1986) as Capt. Thomas Bartholomew Red
60	%%* ''The Couch Trip'' (1988) as Donald Becker
61	%%* ''The Little Devil'' (1988) as Father Maurice
62	* ''Film/{{JFK}}'' (1991) as Senator Russell B. Long
63	* ''Film/DennisTheMenace'' (1993) as George Wilson
64	* ''Film/GrumpyOldMen'' (1993) as Max Goldman
65	* ''Film/{{IQ\|1994}}'' (1994) as UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein
66	%%* ''The Grass Harp'' (1995) as Judge Charlie Cool
67	* ''Film/GrumpierOldMen'' (1995) as Max Goldman
68	* ''Film/ImNotRappaport'' (1996) as Nat Moyer
69	* ''Film/OutToSea'' (1997) as Charlie Gordon
70	* ''Film/TheOddCoupleII'' (1998) as Oscar Madison
71	%%* ''Hanging Up'' (2000) as Lou Mozell
72	[[/folder]]
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75	!!Tropes associated with Walter Matthau:
76	* DeadpanSnarker: Incarnate. His characters hardly went a scene without a dry remark or cutting observation.
77	* OneBookAuthor: His sole directorial effort was ''Gangster Story'' (1959), which he also starred in.
78	* OverlyLongName: Jokingly claimed that he changed his last name to Matthau from Matuschanskayasky. Countless reputable sources repeated this as fact and things didn't finally get cleared up until after his death.[[note]]Apparently his father's original surname before he came from Kyiv (now Ukraine) to America and changed it to Matthow was something along the lines of ''Matuschansky'', but Walter whimsically extended it. Later, it was found in his diary that he said it to gently tease Creator/PaddyChayefsky.[[/note]]
79	* TallDarkAndSnarky: He stood at 6'3 with dark hair and was known for his legendary skill at delivering sarcastic quips.
80	* ThoseTwoActors: With Creator/JackLemmon, also a friend of his in RealLife. They first costarred in ''Film/TheFortuneCookie'', for which Matthau won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Oddly Matthau was in ''Ensign Pulver'', whose eponymous character had been played by Lemmon in ''Film/MisterRoberts'', but by the sequel Lemmon had been replaced by Robert Walker, Jr. Matthau also starred in Lemmon's sole directorial effort, ''Kotch''. Fittingly, they died within a year of each other, Matthau first. It’s worth noting that a lot of people who spoke about Matthau’s passing were almost the EXACT same people who spoke about Lemmon’s passing one year later.

Context Creator / WalterMatthau