Line #73 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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11	----
12	!!Filmography
13	%%* ''The Kentuckian'' (1955) as Stan Bodine
14	%%* ''The Indian Fighter'' (1955) as Wes Todd
15	* ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' (1956) as Wally Gibbs
16	* ''Film/AFaceInTheCrowd'' (1957) as Mel Miller
17	%%* ''Slaughter on Tenth Avenue'' (1957) as Al Dahlke
18	%%* ''King Creole'' (1958) as Maxie Fields
19	%%* ''Voice in the Mirror'' (1958) as Dr. Leon Karnes
20	* ''Film/KingCreole'' (1958) as Maxie Fields
21	* ''Film/RideACrookedTrail'' (1958) as Judge Kyle
22	%%* ''Gangster Story'' (1959) as Jack Martin (also his sole film as director)
23	%%* ''Strangers When We Meet'' (1960) as Felix Anders
24	* ''Film/LonelyAreTheBrave'' (1962) as Sheriff Morey Johnson
25	* ''Film/{{Charade}}'' (1963) as Carson Dyle aka Hamilton Bartholomew
26	%%* ''Ensign Pulver'' (1964) as Doc
27	* ''Film/FailSafe'' (1964) as Prof. Groeteschele
28	%%* ''Goodbye Charlie'' (1964) as Sir Leopold Sartori
29	* ''Film/{{Mirage\| 1965}}'' (1965) as Ted Caselle
30	* ''Film/TheFortuneCookie'' (1966) as "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (which won Matthau an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor)
31	* ''Film/AGuideForTheMarriedMan'' (1967) as Paul Manning
32	* ''Film/{{The Odd Couple\|1968}}'' (1968) as Oscar Madison (a role he originated [[Theatre/TheOddCouple on Broadway]])
33	%%* ''The Secret Life of an American Wife'' (1968) as the Movie Star
34	%%* ''Candy'' (1968) as Gen. Smight
35	* ''Film/CactusFlower'' (1969) as Dr. Julian Winston
36	* ''Film/HelloDolly'' (1969) as Horace Vandergelder
37	* ''Film/ANewLeaf'' (1971) as Henry Graham
38	%%* ''Plaza Suite'' (1971) as Sam Nash/Jesse Kiplinger/Roy Hubley
39	%%* ''Kotch'' (1971) as Joseph P. Kotcher
40	%%* ''Pete 'n' Tillie'' (1972) as Pete Seltzer
41	* ''Film/CharleyVarrick'' (1973) as Charley Varrick
42	%%* ''The Laughing Policeman'' (1973) as Det. Sgt. Jake Martin
43	* ''Film/TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree'' (1974) as Lt. Zachary Garber
44	* ''Film/{{Earthquake}}'' (1974) as Drunk ([[TheCameo cameo]] appearance for which he was billed as "Walter Matuschanskayasky"; see OverlyLongName below)
45	* ''Film/TheFrontPage'' (1974) as Walter Burns
46	* ''Film/TheSunshineBoys'' (1975) as Willy Clark
47	* ''Film/TheBadNewsBears'' (1976) as Coach Morris Buttermaker
48	%%* ''Casey's Shadow'' (1978) as Lloyd Bourdelle
49	%%* ''House Calls'' (1978) as Dr. Charley Nichols
50	* ''Film/CaliforniaSuite'' (1978) as Marvin Michaels
51	%%* ''Little Miss Marker'' (1980) as Sorrowful Jones
52	* ''Film/{{Hopscotch}}'' (1980) as Miles Kendig
53	%%* ''First Monday in October'' (1981) as Associate Justice Daniel Snow
54	%%* ''Buddy Buddy'' (1981) as Trabucco
55	%%* ''I Ought to Be in Pictures'' (1982) as Herbert Tucker
56	* ''Film/TheSurvivors'' (1983) as Sonny Paluso
57	%%* ''Movers & Shakers'' (1985) as Joe Mulholland
58	* ''Film/{{Pirates}}'' (1986) as Capt. Thomas Bartholomew Red
59	%%* ''The Couch Trip'' (1988) as Donald Becker
60	%%* ''The Little Devil'' (1988) as Father Maurice
61	* ''Film/{{JFK}}'' (1991) as Senator Russell B. Long
62	* ''Film/DennisTheMenace'' (1993) as George Wilson
63	* ''Film/GrumpyOldMen'' (1993) as Max Goldman
64	* ''Film/{{IQ\|1994}}'' (1994) as UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein
65	%%* ''The Grass Harp'' (1995) as Judge Charlie Cool
66	* ''Film/GrumpierOldMen'' (1995) as Max Goldman
67	* ''Film/ImNotRappaport'' (1996) as Nat Moyer
68	* ''Film/OutToSea'' (1997) as Charlie Gordon
69	* ''Film/TheOddCoupleII'' (1998) as Oscar Madison
70	%%* ''Hanging Up'' (2000) as Lou Mozell
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72	!!Tropes associated with Walter Matthau:
73	* DeadpanSnarker: Incarnate. His characters hardly went a scene without a dry remark or cutting observation.
74	* OneBookAuthor: His sole directorial effort was ''Gangster Story'' (1959), which he also starred in.
75	* 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]]
76	* TallDarkAndSnarky: He stood at 6'3 with dark hair and was known for his legendary skill at delivering sarcastic quips.
77	* 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