Walter Mathews obit

 

Actor Walter Matthews Dies

He was not on the list.

Long time actor Walther Matthews died April 28 at the age of 85 from natural causes in Mountain Center, California.

Matthews was born on October 10, 1926 in New York City. He got his start on the stage and appeared in “Equus” and “King Lear”. While he appeared in numerous television and film roles, Matthews made his mark as the mechanic in the Fram Oil Filter commercials that says, “you can pay me now or you can pay me later.”

On television, Mathews appeared in a series of commercials for Fram Oil Filters as the original fictional Fram mechanic who promised consumers, "You can pay me now or pay me late.

Matthews has not been on the screen since his last roles in 1986, but prior to that Matthews appeared in “Murder She Wrote”, The A Team”, “Falcon Crest”, “The Facts of Life”, “Hart to Hart”, Clyde Bingham on “General Hospital”, “Quincy M.E.”, two episodes of “Charlie’s Angels”, “Operation Petticoat”, “Starsky and Hutch”, “Barnaby Jones”, two episodes of “Emergency”, “Alice”, “Police Story”, “Medical Center”, three episodes of “Mannix”, four episodes of “The F.B.I.”, “It Takes a Thief”, “That Girl”, two episodes of “Adam-12”, three episodes of “Mission Impossible”, a truck driver in “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”, “Hazel”, six episodes of “Perry Mason”, “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”, “a storekeeper on “Rawhide”, two episodes of “Ben Casey”, “The Virginian” and his debut role as Charley Carroll in the television series “Ripcord” in 1962.

 

Matthews is survived by his four children and five grandchildren.

 

Filmography

 

 

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1959    Middle of the Night            Mickey Hilliard            Uncredited

1964    The Naked Kiss            Mike   

1964    Where Love Has Gone            Reporter            Uncredited

1966    Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!            Stagehand, Movie Set            Uncredited

1966    Not with My Wife, You Don't!            Television Producer            Uncredited

1967    A Covenant with Death            Appraiser            Uncredited

1970    The Lawyer Mr. Andre  

1981            Nighthawks            Commissioner 

1982            Cannery Row  Sonny  

1984    Racing with the Moon            Sailor            Voice

1985    Beyond Reason Al        

1986    The Check Is in the Mail...  Water & Power man #1       

1986    Mission Kill            Foreman