Editing Walter Matthau (section)

===1960s===
[[File:Walter Matthau Art Carney The Odd Couple Broadway 1965.JPG|thumb|Matthau and [[Art Carney]] in ''[[The Odd Couple (play)|The Odd Couple]]'', 1965]]
Comedies were rare in Matthau's work at that time. He was cast in a number of stark dramas, such as ''[[Fail Safe (1964 film)|Fail Safe]]'' (1964), in which he portrayed Pentagon adviser Dr. Groeteschele, who urges an all-out nuclear attack on the [[Soviet Union]] in response to an accidental transmission of an attack signal to U.S. Air Force bombers. [[Neil Simon]] cast him in the [[stage play|play]] ''[[The Odd Couple (play)|The Odd Couple]]'' in 1965, with Matthau playing slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison, opposite [[Art Carney]] as Felix Ungar.<ref name="ibdb">{{IBDB name|68261}}</ref> Matthau reprised the role in the [[The Odd Couple (film)|film version]], with [[Jack Lemmon]] as Felix Unger. He played detective Ted Casselle in the Hitchcockian thriller ''[[Mirage (1965 film)|Mirage]]'' (1965), directed by [[Edward Dmytryk]].

He achieved great success in the comedy film ''[[The Fortune Cookie]]'' (1966) as [[shyster]] lawyer William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich, starring yet again opposite Lemmon; the first of many [[collaboration]]s with [[Billy Wilder]], and a role that would earn him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Filming had to be placed on a five-month hiatus after Matthau had a serious [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]]. He gave up his three-pack-a-day smoking habit as a result.<ref name="theguardian.com">[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jul/01/news Obituary], guardian.com; accessed August 20, 2015.</ref> Matthau appeared during the Oscar telecast shortly after having been injured in a bicycle accident; nonetheless, he scolded actors who had not attended the ceremony, especially the other major award winners that night: [[Paul Scofield]], [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Sandy Dennis]].<ref>[http://hollywood-legacy.tumblr.com/post/29981916902/the-fortune-cookie-lemmon-matthau-behind-the-scenes ''The Fortune Cookie'' Lemmon & Matthau Behind-the-Scenes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121100331/http://hollywood-legacy.tumblr.com/post/29981916902/the-fortune-cookie-lemmon-matthau-behind-the-scenes |date=November 21, 2015 }}, ''Hollywood Legacy''. Accessed November 3, 2022.</ref> Broadway-hits-cum-films continued to cast Matthau in lead roles such as ''[[Hello, Dolly! (film)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' and ''[[Cactus Flower (film)|Cactus Flower]]'' (both 1969); for the latter, [[Goldie Hawn]] received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.[[File:Hello, Dolly!9.jpg|thumb|Matthau in ''[[Hello, Dolly! (film)|Hello, Dolly!]]'', 1969]]