Charles Matthau

Charles "Charlie" Matthau (born December 10, 1962) is a film and television director and actor and the son of actor Walter Matthau and actress/author Carol Grace.

Life and career

Born in New York City, he appeared as a child actor alongside his father in such films as Charley Varrick (1973), The Bad News Bears (1976) and House Calls (1978). He became active in his father's production company, Walcar Productions, in 1978. Among his directorial projects have been The Grass Harp, from a novella by Truman Capote, and the made-for-TV movie The Marriage Fool, both of which starred his father. He also directed Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988), Her Minor Thing (2005), Baby-O (2009) "The Book of Leah" (2019) and Freaky Deaky (2012), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

He was named for his mother's stepfather, aviation industrialist Charles Marcus and for his godfather, Charlie Chaplin. He attended the University of Southern California, where he met his first wife, Michele Bauer. He and his current wife, Ashley, were seen on an episode of HGTV's Selling New York in June 2013. Ashley is a dancer and working on her own teahouse.

Philanthropy

Charlie Matthau is one of three founding nonprofit Board of Directors for the Maria Gruber Foundation, a charitable foundation based in Beverly Hills, California. He has expressed that the Maria Gruber Foundation aligns with his philanthropic goals. The foundation's mission focuses on raising awareness through education by creating collaborative educational tools, a support system with guidance counselors, grief counselors, and volunteers, as well as removing some of the personal and familial helplessness from the diagnosis of a terminal disease.