She was telling the director, Gene Kelly, how to direct that movie. Starring: When you grow up, son, Belafonte remembered his mother telling him, never go to bed at night knowing that there was something you could have done during the day to strike a blow against injustice and you didnt do it.. I have to say that I totally disagree with the last comment I read on this movie. Gregory Peck,Diane Baker,Walter Matthau, Herbert Ross Elvis Presley,Carolyn Jones,Dean Jagger, Edward Dmytryk His political career came to a screeching halt in 1915 when he commuted the death sentence of Leo Frank to life imprisonment. When King was assassinated, in 1968, Belafonte helped pick out the suit he was buried in, sat next to his widow, Coretta, at the funeral, and continued to support his family, in part through an insurance policy he had taken out on King in his lifetime. In December 1995, he had a colon tumor removed, apparently successfully, as there was no mention of cancer in his death certificate. Neil Simon cast him in the play The Odd Couple in 1965, with Matthau playing slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison, opposite Art Carney as Felix Ungar. In the 1990s there were a slew of films in which Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau appeared together. Those two old pros, Jack Lemmon and James Garner, in their only film together provide quite a few laughs in what would normally be a very serious subject, a constitutional crisis. Franks appeals failed, and Governor Slaton was his last hope. He died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home. Matthau was suffering from health problems, however, and was replaced with James Garner. He is best known for his film roles in A Face in the Crowd (1957), King Creole (1958) and as a coach of a hapless little league team in the baseball comedy The Bad News Bears (1976). She said she wasn't pretty enough or talented enough to be in show business.". (1992) and played the role of Mr. Wilson in the film Dennis the Menace (1993). External Reviews Realizing that he was signing his own political death warrant, Slaton commuted Franks sentence to life imprisonment. He gave up his three pack a day smoking habit as a result. Had Walter Mathau been cast in the role of Democratic Governor Matt Douglas and not James Garner, we would've been calling this "Grumpiest Old Men," as if it were a sequel to the inspired comedies Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau made in the mid-nineties. Two ex-Presidents of the USA, Kramer and Douglas are both bitter rivals, being one either side of the political spectrum but also having gone head to head on several campaigns. #inline-recirc-item--id-abdaf0c6-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-abdaf0c6-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Streisand's current husband is James Brolin and Andersen says it looks like a good match, in spite of his odd nickname for her. First Monday in October (1981) directed by Ronald Neame Matthau and Griffith later appeared in the critical and box office hit A Face in the Crowd (1957), directed by Elia Kazan. In the 1970s, he returned to movie acting, co-starring with Poitier in Buck and the Preacher, a commercial flop, the raucous and popular comedy Uptown Saturday Night. His other film credits include Bobby, White Mans Burden, and cameos in Altmans The Player and Ready to Wear. He also appeared in the Altman-directed TV series Tanner on Tanner and was among those interviewed for When the Levees Broke, Spike Lees HBO documentary about Hurricane Katrina. The rewrite was a condition of his participation. He argued with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the presidents brother, over the governments failure to protect the Freedom Riders trying to integrate bus stations. Story-wise, the film revolves around Harry Hinkle (Lemmon), a cameraman who is accidentally injured while filming a Walter Matthau,Goldie Hawn,Ingrid Bergman, Michael Curtiz In addition to his wife, Belafonte is survived by his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte and David Belafonte; two stepchildren, Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank; and eight grandchildren. Matthau won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Billy Wilder film The Fortune Cookie (1966). He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. They also see America as they have never seen it before and learn that many of their decisions were not the best for those in the national public. Kirk Douglas,Gena Rowlands,Walter Matthau, Donald Petrie He appeared in the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn crime thriller Charade (1963). Walter Matthau was an American actor. Want to have a good laugh about presidential politics? Poitier was a peer, both of them skinny, brooding and vulnerable within our hard shells of self-protection, Belafonte later wrote. In fact, the largest growing segment of voters are those that dont identify with either of the two major political parties 39 percent self-identify as independent according to the Pew Research Center. As for the growing buzz about Streisand going out on another concert tour, Andersen says she has some very good incentive. The premise is fairly simple: Lemmons character is a Republican president who was ousted after a single four-year term in favor of Garners character, a Democrat. [25] He was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. WebWalter Matthau. | On television, he appeared twice on Naked City, as well as in four installments of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Joyce Van Patten,Ben Piazza,Jackie Earle Haley, Don Siegel Daaaaay-O. But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robesons decree that artists are gatekeepers of truth.. Matthau portrayed Herbert Tucker in I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982), with Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff. There is no mention of cancer. Any lover of political satire or action-oriented farce will find this film's running time to be time well spent, and C-SPAN addicts -- provided that they have a sense of humor about their passion will be richly rewarded. "My Fellow Americans" is a great movie simply due to the team of Jack Lemmon and James Garner. They spoke for hours, and Belafonte would remember feeling King raised him to the higher plane of social protest. Then at the peak of his singing career, Belafonte was soon producing a benefit concert for the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama that helped make King a national figure. From The Institute For The Study of War: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 29, 2023 Angela Howard, Grace Mappes, I apologize for my text writing and grammar., Dear PF: Considering the opposition Trump fa, it goes against everything that the world sa, Five of my siblings died in infancy due to A, Amen to all. He achieved great success in the comedy film, The Fortune Cookie (1966), as a shyster lawyer, William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, starring yet again opposite Lemmon; the first of many collaborations with Billy Wilder, and a role that would earn him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. [citation needed], A heavy smoker, Matthau had a heart attack in 1966 while filming The Fortune Cookie, the first of at least three in his lifetime. But even if Matthau didn't like her, plenty of other men did. In 1954, he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the Otto Preminger-directed musical Carmen Jones, a popular breakthrough for an all-Black cast. We just happened upon this movie a couple of years ago when looking for some movies to rent. [24], Matthau had atherosclerotic heart disease during the last years of his life. Ironically it was only a stay of execution, with Frank being lynched by a mob on August 17, 1915, which included prominent people, among them a past governor of Georgia. } }, First published on March 29, 2006 / 10:59 AM. They play very well of each other. Starring: Walter Matthau - Wikipedia I recommend My Fellow Americans for everybody who likes a movie with politics and who doesn't. Instead, Slaton carefully reviewed the evidence and concluded that he had quite a bit of doubt about Franks guilt. Later that year, a simple, spontaneous gesture led to another milestone. Although Mr. Matthau was an experienced stage actor, in common with great film stars of the past like Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart, he created character through the magnetism of his own personality. At the very least, a pairing of two candidates from both major parties that runs on the platform of ending the dysfunction in Washington and striking a tone of bipartisan compromise would be refreshing. Though a box office dud that barely grossed its budget, the film found a new audience via repeated broadcasts on cable TV in the years thereafter. He played detective Ted Casselle in the Hitchcockian thriller Mirage (1965), directed by Edward Dmytryk. We are fans of James Garner in particular, and Jack Lemmon also. Along the way, their efforts result in numerous farcically-staged attempts on their lives. Highly recommended--hilarious, with a surprise ending. And he claims Streisand shared some special moments with Elvis Presley. Appearing on a taped TV special starring Petula Clark, Belafonte joined the British singer on the anti-war song On the Path of Glory. At one point, Clark placed a hand on Belafontes arm. I also know James Garner from The Ultimate Gift. What joy that beautiful child would h, The last eight weeks have been the happiest and mo, The killer of homicide in the first degree, murder, "I prefer Augustinianism because he was black. ", When Streisand became a star, she quickly became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, but not always the most popular. Sidney did that in every role he took.. Ralph Abernathy. What she wants it for are her political causes, building a war chest for 2008 and her various philanthropist charities. In Spike Lees 2018 film BlacKkKlansman, he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the countrys past. This is a pretty unique presidential comedy because the protagonists, Jack Lemmon and James Garner, are a pair of presidents already out of office. I thought My Fellow Americans was a fantastic and a funny movie to watch. Matthau: expressing his beliefs on the big screen - Daily I was quite taken by the fact that he (Kennedy) knew so little about the Black community, Belafonte told NBC in 2013. And of course I know Jack Lemmon from Grumpy and Grumpier Old Men. Walter Matthaus opening line was Miami, Floridawhere the oranges and tourists are freshly squeezed every day. The birth of the Florida Department of Law Her first husband was the actor Elliott Gould. "They want to work in Hollywood. As for her other romantic relationships, Andersen said Streisand nearly tied the knot with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada. Matthaus work with Wilder has only been a highlight in his prolific career. Funny lines follow each other in rapid succession, and James Garner and Jack Lemon are just perfect as the two ex-presidents who detest each other but are forced to work together to survive, and gradually learn to like each othermore-or-less. It is a movie to just sit back and enjoy, a funny spin on American politics at it's best. Three of them Shari, David and Gina became actors. The great True Story movie he made has got to be Tuesday's with Morrie. Actor Walter Matthau dies at 79 | Movies | The Guardian The Odd Couple is a 1968 American comedy film, starring Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau, based on Neil Simons 1965 play. I was having almost daily talks with Martin, Belafonte wrote in his memoir My Song, published in 2011. [13], Oscar nominations would come Matthau's way again for Kotch (1971), directed by Lemmon, and The Sunshine Boys (1975), another adaptation of a Neil Simon stage play, this time about a pair of former vaudeville stars.