Walter Matthau, together with his equally brilliant co-star Jack Lemmon, has made a huge contribution to making America what it is today as well — thanks mostly to his unique acting skills, his ability to understand the complex subtleties of humor, and his talent for building perfect character portraits on stage and screen. It is not hard to guess that many will remember Walter as the brilliant partner and colleague of another great actor, although, throughout his career, Matthau was involved in numerous works that can definitely attract attention on their own. In general, Matthau has appeared in almost all types of film productions (from comedies to horror, dramas to thrillers, studio products, as well as some indie releases).

Biography

Born Walter John Matthow on October 1, 1920, in New York City, New York, Walter later went down in history as one of the greatest character actors of the 20th century, the star and creator of numerous immortal character portraits on the big screen, who was capable of delivering unforgettable and highly memorable roles.

Stage experience and breakthrough role in films

Matthau's acting career started in New York theaters, where the young man managed to gain valuable skills in acting (especially working with timing in comedic scenes and using the power of pause), before he managed to enter the big film industry. As the actor did not have any particular desire to become a "movie star", his career development was significantly slower than that of many other contemporary film stars.

As a stage actor, he managed to develop skills and talents which allowed him to create characters that could make people laugh without even doing any particularly obvious jokes, but due to some subtle nuances of delivery of dialogues. This skill was crucial for his film career, as the majority of Matthau's characters were quite unglamorous in terms of clothes, appearance, etc., thus making him look even more authentic (at least, more believable). At that period (as well as during the early stage in his film acting career), the majority of Walter Matthau's roles featured cynical and sarcastic heroes that complained about their misfortunes but nevertheless made people feel happy. His characters usually had a certain amount of humanity that could help people to better understand themselves.

The 1966 comedy film directed by Billy Wilder called "The Fortune Cookie" and starring Jack Lemmon made Matthau one of the most popular film stars of his time and even won him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This role (played with incredible precision) was a good demonstration of Matthau's great talent for portraying characters that looked like real people — the cynical attorney who tried to manipulate the people around him.

The following year, in 1968, he starred in "The Odd Couple". Based on the Neil Simon play of the same title, this film is a good demonstration of how Matthau creates his typical character: an unsuccessful sportswriter who looks tough and grumpy from the outside and vulnerable and lonely in reality — in other words, one of the best American comic characters of the late 20th century. As one can understand, working alongside his colleague, he created a unique chemistry with Lemmon that attracted the audience's attention in many subsequent projects (in some sense, he helped create such a genre as the buddy film).

Several of Matthau's best-known films demonstrate that:

  • The Fortune Cookie (1966): Billy Wilder comedy that won Matthau the Best Supporting Actor Oscar
  • The Odd Couple (1968): adapted by Neil Simon from a theatrical play; this movie made Matthau's comic persona world-famous
  • The Sunshine Boys (1975): reunion with Lemmon that made great use of Walter's impeccable timing

Moreover, Matthau participated in a number of other films showing that the spectrum of his skills is actually wider than some believe. In "Cactus Flower" (1969), his character combined comic irritation and romantic awkwardness within a plot full of intrigues, while in "Hello, Dolly!" (1969) he demonstrated his superb performance in musical comedies, playing the character of Horace Vandergelder opposite Barbra Streisand (at that time, the actress was at the peak of her popularity).

In 1974, for instance, he participated in a crime action film (albeit set against the background of New York), "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three". It can be easily noticed that although the genre differed drastically, Walter's acting manner remained practically unchanged. Thus, he showed that he could be a brilliant comedian even in those movies.

Later years

Despite the end of his partnership with Jack Lemmon, Walter stayed famous through the 1980s and the 1990s, performing in both comedy and drama genres with equal success. During his mature career, Walter managed to take advantage of his persona as an aging man and played roles which showed experienced characters that had already seen enough to know the value of everything. For instance, in "Hopscotch" (1980), he demonstrated his skill in portraying a clever, cynical old spy and, in 1981 (the next year), played a Supreme Court Justice in "First Monday in October".

He managed to take advantage of his experience to deliver a perfect performance in films, regardless of the type of production. It is not possible to say for sure whether he ever wanted to become the Hollywood megastar, but one thing is definite: Walter Matthau was definitely a film star (as he understood how to play in films perfectly).

However, the most beloved Matthau films that date to his mature career are the series of films featuring his reunion with Jack Lemmon in the 1990s: two "Grumpy Old Men" films released in 1993 and 1995. Once again his character combined sarcasm and humor that can only be delivered by a truly great comedian. Moreover, they can be considered as an homage to one of the legendary comic pairings created by the actor years ago.

Some of his latest films were "I.Q." (1994), "The Grass Harp" (1995) and "Out to Sea" (1997) — to name just a few. Through his entire long life and career, he understood very well how not to dominate every single scene, using loud voice and spectacular actions and how to achieve the maximum result in minimum time with the help of one word or one glance.