I don't think that anyone else could play a better curmudgeon than Walter Matthau. Such a fantastic and funny comedic actor. I enjoyed some of his non comedic roles as well. There will never be another like him. Rest in peace, Walter Matthau and thanks for the cinematic memories. ♥️🙏
I've wondered if one of the reasons why Jack Lemmon died so soon after Walter Matthau's death was due to how grief stricken he was over his death, like in the way when one of an elderly couple dies, the other dies soon after? Because that kind of grief is often too much on the heart after age 80 or so. Walter and Jack were very close for such a long time, from "Fortune cookie" and "The odd couple" in the 1960s to the "Grumpy old men" films in the 1990s.
My favorite role of the late Walter Matthau was (U. S.) Sen. Russell B. Long in the 1991 Oliver Stone film 'JFK.' Of all the cinematic collaborations between Matthau and Jack Lemmon, 'JFK' is the only film in which neither Matthau nor Lemmon appeared simultaneously on screen.
The narrator says: "He was named 'Walter Matuchanskayasky'." (0:48) According to "Matthau: A Life" by Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2002), which is quoted in the Wikipedia article "Walter Matthau" as well as in the Snopes article "Walter Matthau", "Next there is the matter of Matthau's surname. [...] When he was born, his surname was Matthow; after World War II [...] he altered it to Matthau. [...] It never was Matuschanskayansky." (p. 2)
Walter had a connection with CBS TV..he appeared on a tv drama and on two episodes of Paul Tripp's and CBS TV's pioneering educational kids tv show:"Mr.I Magination".
