Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was born on October 1, 1920 in New York Citys Lower East Side on October 1, 1920, the son of Jewish immigrants Rose (née Berolsky), who was born in Lithuania and worked in a sweatshop, and Milton (Melos) Matthau, an electrician and peddler who was from Russia. His original surname is often shown as Matuschanskayasky, but this is not true (see Matuschanskayasky below for a detailed discussion). As a young boy, Walter attended a Jewish non-profit sleepaway camp, Tranquility Camp, where he first began acting in the shows the camp would stage on Saturday nights.
There is a persistent rumor that his birth name was Matuschanskayasky, which is false, as are the rumors that his name was Matashansky or Matansky, or any of the other reported names. In truth, as reported by the authors of Matthau: A Life by Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg (along with Walter’s son, Charlie Matthau), Walter was a teller of tall tales. In his youth, he found that the joy of embellishment lifted a story (and the listener) to such enjoyable heights that he could not resist trying to pass off the most bogus of information, just to see who was gullible enough to believe it. Matthau told many stories to many reputable people, including the Social Security Administration.
The “Matuschanskayasky” name rumor culminated with the release of 1974’s Earthquake. The executive producer, Jennings Lang, had worked with Matthau the previous year on the film Charley Varrik, and persuaded him to take a cameo role in Earthquake – the small part scripted only as a “drunk at the end of the bar.” On a whim, Matthau agreed to take the part, without compensation, on the condition that he not be credited under his real name. After Matthau agreed, the part of the “drunk” was expanded to provide comic relief for the film, the character offering toasts to various people (Spiro Agnew, Bobby Riggs, and Peter Fonda), as well as delivering the punchline “Hey, who do you have to know to get a drink around here?” in the midst of a bar devastated by a major earthquake. As requested, when it came time to insert the credits for Earthquake, the long name “Matuschanskayasky” was used, as agreed, by Jennings Lang and Matthau.
Despite the facts, this fake name continued to appear in the World Almanac section on “Original Names of Selected Entertainers” as recently as the 2009 edition (p.278).
Matthau was married twice; first to Grace Geraldine Johnson (1948 – 1958), and from 1959 until his death in 2000 to Carol Marcus. He had two children, Jenny Matthau and David Matthau (now a radio news reporter for WKXW “New Jersey 101.5″ in Trenton NJ) , with his first wife, and a son, Charlie Matthau, with his second. He also helped raise Carol’s children Aram Saroyan and Lucy Saroyan. His grandchildren include William Matthau and Emily Roman. His son, Charlie, directed Matthau in the movie The Grass Har (1995).
Matthau died of full cardiac arrest in Santa Monica, California, 2000. After undergoing heart surgery in 1985, doctors discovered that he had colon cancer which, by the time of his death, had spread to his liver, lungs, and brain. However, on his death certificate the causes of death are listed as cardiac arrest and atherosclerotic heart disease, with ESRD and atrial fibrillation added as “other significant conditions contributing to death but not related to [primary] cause…” He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
