Carol Matthau | Relationships

Al Hirschfeld

The pre-eminent cartoonist of the 20th Century, he created several portraits of Charlie, Carol, and Walter while on the job at the “New York Times”. He was a treasured family friend.

Anderson Cooper

Carol was Anderson’s godmother. His mother Gloria Vanderbilt and Carol met when they were young girls and remained lifelong friends.

Aram Saroyan

Aram is Carol's firstborn son, whom she had while married to William Saroyan.

Audrey Hepburn

Starred with Walter in "Charade" (1963). Her Holly Golightly character from Truman Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' is inspired by Carol's personality.

Barbra Streisand

Starred with Walter in "Hello, Dolly!" (1969). She and Carol became good friends for decades.

Candice Bergen

As a photojournalist (in her pre-acting days), Bergen covered the exclusive Oscar season party for Charlie Chaplin, which was hosted by the Matthau’s and featured exclusively in “Life Magazine.”

Carol Burnett

Long time family friend of the Matthau family, she starred with Walter in "Pete 'N Tillie" (1972) and "The Front Page" (1974). While directing his fourth film, Charlie cast Carol Burnett and his father Walter as widowers who find a second chance at love in "The Marriage Fool" (1998).

Cary Grant

Starred with Walter in "Charade" (1963). He and wife Dyan Cannon were family friends of the Matthaus.

Carson McCullers

Carol met and befriended Carson, one of the most talented writers of her generation, in 1958 when Carol was a standby for Anne Baxter in McCullers play 'The Square Root of Wonderful'.

Charles Marcus

Carol’s adopted father, Charles Marcus co-founded Bendix Aviation with Vincent Bendix. He was a confidante of Howard Hughes.

Charlie Chaplin

His wife Oona was Carol Matthau’s best friend. The Matthaus and Chaplin subsequently became close. The Matthaus had a party to toast him when he returned to the U.S. to accept his honorary Oscar. The party was exclusively featured in "Life Magazine".

Charlie Matthau

Charlie is Carol’s only child with Walter.

Dyan Cannon

Cannon and her husband Cary Grant were family friends of the Matthaus. She also appears with Walter in "Out to Sea" (1997).

Edith Sitwell

Carol met Sitwell, and English writer later made Dame of the British empire while at a party with Bill Saroyan. "What are you doing with that old man?" Dame Edith asked. "You are just a little girl."

Elaine May

The multi-talented Elaine May, wrote, directed and co-starred with Matthau in "A New Leaf"(1971). She played Matthau's on-screen wife in Neil Simon's "California Suite" (1978). Matthau's real wife, Carol Grace, won critical acclaim for her riveting performance as Nellie in "Mikey and Nicky", written and directed by Elaine May.

Eli Wallach

Carol and Eli Wallach worked together on Broadway in 'The Cold Wind and the Warm'. Carol, Walter, Eli, and his wife Anne Jackson became great family friends.

Elliot Gould

Gould was a lifelong friend of the Matthaus. He helped Carol’s son Charlie obtain his first directing job by recommending him to Menachem Golan, CEO of Canon Films.

Felicia Farr

A lifelong family friend, Farr was the wife of Walter's best friend, Jack Lemmon.

Frank Sinatra

Carol spent time with Sinatra at a time when he was seeing her good friend Gloria Vanderbilt.

Fred Astaire

The legendary dancer and entertainer was a family friend to the Matthaus.

Gene Kelly

Kelly directed Walter and Barbra Streisand in "Hello, Dolly!"(1969) and "A Guide for the Married Man"(1967). It was a Matthau family tradition to spend New Year’s Eve at Gene Kelly's house.

George Burns

Starred with Walter in “The Lion Roars Again” (1975) and "The Sunshine Boys" (1975).

Gloria Vanderbilt

Carol met Gloria as a young girl on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They remained close friends throughout life. Gloria's painting of Carol is the cover of Carol's book 'Among the Porcupines'.

Irving Lazar

Carol became friendly with Swifty, and attended his post-Oscar parties regularly.

Isak Dineson

Carol first met the British writer during her first date with William Saroyan. The two remained in touch over the years.

Jack Lemmon

Lemmon was Walter Matthau’s best friend, Carol’s dear friend and neighbor, and Charlie Matthau’s second father.

James Agee

Carol shared an intimate, yet unconsummated, love affair with the renowned poet, writer and screenwriter.

Jayne Mansfield

In 1955, Carol was Mansfield's understudy for the Broadway production "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter". She met and fell in love with Walter Matthau.

John Cassavetes

Cassavetes plays opposite Carol in "Mikey and Nicky"

Kay Kendall

Kendall, before she was Rex Harrison's wife, met Carol when she was dating Charlie Chaplin's son Sydney. Carol said, "Kay and I fell in love with each other almost at once."

Kenneth Tynan

Carol first met Tynan, the brilliant theater critic for 'The London Observer' at a dinner party in California in 1954 when she had first begun seeing Walter. That night, he asked her to come to London and marry him. She did spend time with him in Europe before breaking apart. "I know you'll go straight back to Matthau," he told her.

Leslie Howard

According to Carol's mother Rosheen, the British actor of 'Gone with the Wind' fame, was her biological father.

Lillian Ross

Ross was the editor of 'The New Yorker' and a close friend of Carol's.

Lucy Saroyan

Carol's only daughter.

Marianne Moore

Carol met the poet during one of her first dates with William Saroyan.

Marlon Brando

Marlon dated Carol before she met Walter.

Maureen Stapleton

A lifelong friend and pal, Maureen was friends with Carol and Walter in the early New York days, even before they were married. She appeared in the stage production “The Cold Wind and the Warm” (1958-1959) with Carol and later starred in "Plaza Suite" (1971) with Walter.

Oona O'Neill Chaplin

Oona, the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, and Carol met as privileged young girls on Manhattan's Lower East Side. They remained very best friends through every stage of life.

Paula Prentiss

Co-starred with Matthau in "Buddy, Buddy". She is married to Matthau's "House Calls" and "The Sunshine Boys" co-star Richard Benjamin. Paula and Richard were also close friends with Walter, Carol and Charlie.

Peter Falk

Falk appears with Carol and John Cassavetes in "Mikey and Nicky".

Rex Harrison

The star of Walter’s first Broadway play, “Anne of a Thousand Days”. He later married actress Kay Kendall, Carol's good friend.

Richard Avedon

Carol met Avedon at a friend's one Christmas. They chatted enough for him to say, "I've heard that you're extraordinary, but I don't see it." Carol replied, "I think you're right. I'm not. Because everybody is." He said, "Oh. Now I see it."

Richard Benjamin

Benjamin played Walter’s nephew in the "The Sunshine Boys" (1975), which is Charlie Matthau’s favorite film of his father's work. Benjamin again co-starred with Matthau when they played doctors in "House Calls". Richard and his wife Paula (who co-starred with Matthau in "Buddy, Buddy") were close friends of Carol and Walter. Benjamin said Walter was a mentor and role model. In watching Walter raise Charlie with such extraordinary love, he learned valuable lessons about fatherhood and was inspired to follow Matthau's nurturing example with his own children.

Richard Widmark

This film-noir legend was a close friend and neighbor of Walter and Carol as well as godfather to Matthau’s son Charlie.

Rose Matthow

Rose was Walter's tough-love mother, Carol's mother-in-law.

Rosheen Grace

Carol's mother. She later married Bendix Aviation vice-president Charles Marcus, who became Carol's father.

Ruth Gordon

Ruth and her love of many years Garson Kanin were good friends of Walter’s.

Sidney Lumet

Carol was by Gloria Vanderbilt's side when Vanderbilt married Lumet.

Suzanne Pleshette

Pleshette was a roommate of Carol's during the production of 'The Cold Wind and the Warm'. Carol said of her, "She's the best friend you could ever have, filled with the most beautiful aspirations, and very brave."

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder wrote Carol a very long letter when 'The Secret in the Daisy' was published. After seeing her perform in 'The Cold Wind and the Warm', he expressed interest in meeting her. "Don't forget who you are," he told her. "When the play is over, go back to work. You will be a great writer someday. I have never been wrong about that."

Truman Capote

Capote and Carol met when they were both thirteen. He based the personality of Holly Golightly from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Carol’s. They remained close until Capote’s death. Carol said she told Truman all her secrets and he told her some of his own.

Walter Matthau

Carol met the love of her life while both were working on a Broadway play, 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'. They were married for 41 years.

William Saroyan

Saroyan married and divorced Carol twice when she was a very young woman. They had two children together, Aram and Lucy.

William Schallert

A family friend and neighbor, Schallert acted with both Walter and the young Charlie Matthau in "Charley Varrick" (1973). Schallert was a Pacific Palisades neighbor and family friend of the Matthaus.