He was also close friends with actors Tony Curtis, Ernie Kovacs, Walter Matthau, and Kevin Spacey.

Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple, as Felix Ungar ( Lemmon ) and Oscar Madison ( Matthau ).

It was the only movie that Lemmon ever directed and Matthau was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.

He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California where he is buried near his friend and co-star, Walter Matthau, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon.

Walter Matthau ( October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000 ) was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears.

Matthau was born Walter John Matthow in New York City's Lower East Side on October 1, 1920, the son of Rose ( née Berolsky ; from Lithuania ), who worked in a sweatshop, and Milton Matthow, an electrician and peddler ( from Russia ), both Jewish immigrants.

Matthau was visibly banged up during the Oscar telecast, having been involved in a bicycle accident, nonetheless he scolded actors who had not bothered to come to the ceremony, especially the other major award winners that night: Elizabeth Taylor, Sandy Dennis and Paul Scofield.

Matthau was married twice ; first to Grace Geraldine Johnson from 1948 to 1958, and then from 1959 until his death in 2000 to Carol Marcus.

So, as another of his traditional goofs, he wrote that his true name was " Walter Foghorn Matthau ".

The rumor that his birth name was " Matuschanskayasky " was given additional credence by the release of the 1974 film Earthquake in which Matthau had agreed to provide a cameo performance without compensation on the condition that he not be credited under his real name.

The film was remade in 1949 as Sorrowful Jones with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball and again as Little Miss Marker in 1980 with Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis, Bob Newhart, Brian Dennehy, and Lee Grant.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role ( Walter Matthau ), Best Film Editing ( Ralph E. Winters ), Best Music, Song ( for Marvin Hamlisch and Johnny Mercer for " Life Is What You Make It ") and Best Sound ( Richard Portman, Jack Solomon ).

" The film was a drama about three sisters coping with the senility and eventual death of their elderly father, played by Walter Matthau.

O ' Connor's last feature film was the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau comedy Out to Sea, in which he played a dance host on a cruise ship.

The production gained Tony Awards for Walter Matthau, Best Actor ( Play ), Best Author ( Play ), Best Direction of a Play, and Best Scenic Design ( Oliver Smith ), and was nominated for Best Play.

Matthau was replaced with Jack Klugman, starting in November 1965 and later Pat Hingle, starting in February 1966.

In 1968, The Odd Couple was made into a highly successful film starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau ( once more ) as Oscar.

Klugman was familiar with the role as he had replaced Walter Matthau in the original Broadway run.

The film was a remake of the 1974 film of the same title starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.

To the American audiences, the most notable actor to play Martin Beck is Walter Matthau from the 1973 film called The Laughing Policeman, though his character was called " Jake Martin ".

As a young child she was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency, and at the age of six she was cast as Opal on Pee-wee's Playhouse which was quickly followed by film appearances in Heartburn written by Nora Ephron, directed by Mike Nichols ; A Man Called Sarge ; and Dennis the Menace with Walter Matthau and Christopher Lloyd.

The company produced First Monday in October, both on stage and on film ( Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh appeared in the film ).

He felt the conceit of one actor playing the lead role in all three acts worked on stage but not on screen, especially if the actor was Matthau, whom he felt was the right choice only for the beleaguered father-of-the-bride, Roy Hubley.

* Walter Matthau, actor, former enrollee

Lemmon often appeared in films partnered with actor Walter Matthau.

** Walter Matthau, American actor ( d. 2000 )

The remains of actor George C. Scott are also buried next to those of Walter Matthau, in an unmarked grave.

* Walter Matthau ( 1920 – 2000 ), actor

Long appears as a character in Oliver Stone's film JFK, portrayed in a cameo appearance by legendary actor Walter Matthau.

Jim Henson's Creature Shop modelled Mee-Shee after the late actor Walter Matthau.

* Walter Matthau ( 1920-2000 ), an American actor

Each actor made only one more theatrical film: The Legend of Bagger Vance for Lemmon and Hanging Up for Matthau, both in 2000.

His perseverance finally paid off, with the major box-office hit A Guide for the Married Man ( 1967 ) where he directed Walter Matthau.

They also starred together in The Fortune Cookie ( for which Matthau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor ), The Front Page and Buddy Buddy.

In earlier years Benigni had started a long-lasting collaboration with screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami, for a series of films which scored great success in Italy: Il piccolo diavolo (" The little devil ", with Walter Matthau ), Johnny Stecchino (" Johnny Toothpick "), and Il mostro (" The Monster ").

His voice for the character started out as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but later evolved into a more robust voice.

Homer's voice began as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but Castellaneta could not " get enough power behind that voice " and could not sustain his Matthau impression for the nine to ten hour long recording sessions.

" In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3½ / 5 and commented: " Surprisingly, this early episode has a lot of the zest of the later shows, despite fairly odd looking art and a very Walter Matthau voice for Homer, still has some laughs ".

Following the cancellation of The Farmer's Daughter in 1966, Stevens appeared in several movies: A Guide for the Married Man ( 1967 ) with Walter Matthau, Hang ' Em High with Clint Eastwood, 5 Card Stud with Dean Martin, and Madigan with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark, all in 1968.

In 1998, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprised their roles for the film The Odd Couple II, produced by Neil Simon.

Matthau, who had a great personal fondness for opera, is said to have selected the soundtrack himself.

Klugman also starred in the original Broadway production of The Odd Couple as a replacement for Walter Matthau.

Footage of Walter Matthau and Ewell's screen tests for Sherman is featured in the DVD of the film.

In 1967, he co-starred in " A Guide for the Married Man ," opposite Walter Matthau.

* Production was halted for weeks after Walter Matthau had a heart attack.