Remembering Walter Matthau who passed away July 1st 2000.

Walter Matthau was an American Oscar winning actor and comedian appearing in over 100 film and tv credits with a career spanning over 6 decades.

Some of Matthau’s biggest films hits include: “Charade,” “Hello, Dolly!” “Charlie Verrick” and “The Taking Of Pelham 123.”  He also struck up a lifelong friendship and on screen partnership with Jack Lemmon and together they made 10 films together, including: “The Odd Couple,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “The Front Page” and “The Fortune Cookie” for which Matthau won an Academy Award for ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role.’

Although his name isn’t instantly thought of when it comes to Marilyn, they do have a connection. Matthau was one of the original choices for the role of “Richard Sherman” in “The Seven Year Itch” and even went as far as to record a screen test (linked below.)
The role eventually went to Tom Ewell and the rest is history.

Although it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Richard Sherman, as Tom Ewell did such a fantastic job, I’m sure Walter Matthau would have put his own unique stamp on it!

WATCH WALTER MATTHAU’S SCREEN TEST FOR “THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH” HERE:
https://youtu.be/Cwyod0Fg-Dw

Matthau passed away at the age of 79 on July 1st 2000.  He is buried at Westwood Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles with his wife Carol, not too far away from Jack Lemmon and of course… Marilyn.