Why ‘The Odd Couple’ Star Walter Matthau Turned Down Cryogenic Freezing
What To Know
- Walter Matthau’s son, Charlie, tried to convince him to undergo cryogenic freezing through the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, hoping for a chance at future revival.
- Despite Charlie’s efforts, Matthau declined, humorously explaining he was afraid cryonics might actually work and he would return as a “circus act.”
- Respecting his father’s wishes, Matthau was laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Actor Walter Matthau passed away in 2000, leaving behind a legacy of films that cemented him as one of Hollywood’s most distinctive and beloved leading men, known for his sharp wit, gruff charm, and impeccable comedic timing in films like The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men, and The Bad News Bears.
But before he passed away, his son, filmmaker Charlie Matthau, searched for any way to keep his father with him just a little longer. In doing so, he introduced his father to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a nonprofit organization that specializes in cryonics, the preservation of human bodies (or sometimes just the brain) through freezing in the hope that future medical technology might one day revive and heal them.
The organization has drawn attention over the years for its celeb clients, including baseball legend Ted Williams, who was reportedly cryopreserved there. According to Deadline, Charlie joined Alcor while in film school, and he repeatedly tried to convince his father to participate.
Everett Collection
“I’m actually one of the first 100 Alcor members,” Charlie said. “I was always interested in it. It always made sense to me because I thought, well, it’s the second worst thing that could ever happen to you, because the worst thing is you die and you’re not frozen. Maybe a longshot chance you can come back, but the alternative didn’t sound exciting to me.”
“When I signed up and I tried to get my dad to do it. First thing he said to me was, ‘How are you paying for this, Charlie?’ And I said, well, you get an insurance policy, and because I’m in my early 20s, I can get one very cheap, and the death benefit goes to Alcor,” recalled Charlie.
According to Charlie, father Walter was less than thrilled with the on-ice option. “He said, ‘Charlie, are you crazy? They’re going to come and kill you to get the money.’ I said, I’ve been to Alcor and I’ve seen the cars that they drive and they’re not doing that.”
Everett Collection
“He is my best buddy, and if I come back for the next lifecycle, if this thing actually works, I would like to hang out with my best buddy,” explained Charlie. “So I thought, okay, I’m, we’re going to go out to dinner and convince him. I know he’s going to say, ‘Charlie, this is a bunch of bulls**t, and you’re crazy.’ And then I’m going to say, well, if that’s the way you feel, then you really have to do this because it’s not going to work anyway, and you’re going to make your son happy.”
But according to Charlie, things did not go according to plan. “So we go to dinner and I say, I’d like to talk to you about cryonics. And he just looks at me, and he goes, I’m not doing it. I said, ‘Oh, really? Okay. Why not?’ He looks at me and he says, ‘Because I’m afraid it’ll work.'”
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
“I thought he was going to say, because it’s a bunch of bullsh*t that’s not going to work,” Matthau told me. “I had my answer all prepared for that. I was laying the trap for him, but he was always one step ahead of me, at least, and much smarter. He said, ‘I’m not doing it because I’m afraid it’s going to work. And I don’t want to come back and be a circus act,'” explained Charlie.
Honoring his father’s wishes, Walter Matthau is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, not far from his longtime friend and frequent co-star Jack Lemmon.
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