(BPI) LOS ANGELES-Walter Matthau's family and close friends attended a private funeral service Sunday for the actor whose characteristic slouch and wily grin charmed moviegoers for decades. Matthau died Saturday of a heart attack at age 79.
The actor had suffered heart ailments, undergoing a heart bypass operation in 1976 and suffering a heart attack 10 years earlier. He was pronounced dead at 1:42 a.m. at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica. His son Charles Matthau said there will be a memorial service at a later date.
The winner of an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his memorable performance as a disreputable lawyer in 1966's "The Fortune Cookie," Matthau also garnered Oscar nominations for his performance as the cantankerous oldster in 1971's "Kotch" and his portrayal of George Burns' feuding vaudeville partner in 1975's "The Sunshine Boys," which also brought him a Golden Globe Award. He won a British Academy Award as best actor for his performance in 1973's "Charley Varrick."
Matthau's performance on Broadway in 1965 as the slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" brought him fame. After receiving critical and popular acclaim for his work, Matthau sifted through many Hollywood offers. He wisely selected a bid to star in Billy Wilder's "The Fortune Cookie."
"He was so natural," Wilder said of Matthau. "He was himself, with all the quirks that a human being has. He was guy who made great friends. Whether you played cards with him or whether you talked football bets with him, he was a full-blown man.
"He was good in everything he did. Sometimes I messed it up as a director. But he was absolutely perfect, always."
Matthau thrived on tackling diverse roles. With his crumpled look and expressive performances, he won over movie audiences as he impersonated gas station attendants, lawyers, sportswriters, dentists and gamblers.
Often, he was paired with Jack Lemmon, battling it out with his longtime friend in such comedies as the 1968 movie version of "The Odd Couple," "The Front Page," "Buddy Buddy" and, more recently, "Grumpy Old Men," "Out to Sea" and "Grumpier Old Men." Matthau and Lemmon reprised their 1968 roles in the 1998 film "The Odd Couple II."
"I have lost someone I loved as a brother, as a closest friend and a remarkable human being," Lemmon said. "We have also lost one of the best damn actors we'll ever see."
Matthau once said of his broad selection of characters: "I'm insecure, and I thrive on it. I love living on the brink. Anyway, I'm not all that sure that security is a good thing. Otherwise, why are those people in Sweden always committing suicide?"
Matthau was buried Sunday at Westwood Memorial Park, in a ceremony that included only family and close friends. Westwood Memorial is known best as being where Marilyn Monroe is buried, and according to Charles Matthau, his father would want alphabetical billing.
Born Walter Matuchanskayasky on the lower East Side of New York on Oct. 1, 1920, Matthau was the son of impoverished Russian-Jewish immigrants. Deserted by his father when he was 3, Matthau and his older brother Henry were subsequently shuttled from tenement to tenement as their mother worked in the garment industry.
At age 8, Matthau decided to become a writer or actor and, three years later, he landed a job selling soft drinks at a Yiddish theater. Later, he got a small part in a musical comedy.
Matthau was 28 when he landed his first Broadway role, understudying for an 83-year-old English bishop in "Anne of the Thousand Days" starring Rex Harrison.
During the following 17 years, from 1948-65, Matthau appeared on Broadway in 16 plays, principally in supporting roles, building a reputation as one of the most versatile, talented actors in the New York theater. He won recognition, among other credits, for his co-starring performance in George Axelrod's hit comedy "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"
But the high point of Matthau's theater career was "The Odd Couple," in which he developed the role of Oscar that has become one of the most memorable performances in movie comedy as well.
Matthau scored another Broadway success with his performance in "Once More, With Feeling," and in 1961, he won a best supporting actor Tony for "A Shot in the Dark."
Matthau was married to Grace Geraldine Johnson from 1948 until their divorce in 1958. They had two children, David and Jenny. In 1959, he married Carol Grace Marcus, who he met while they appeared in the same play. Charles is their son.