Walter Mathews, Popular Character Actor
In addition to roles in dozens of television series, Mathews was also well known for commercial, including a series of memorable spots for Fram Oil FIlters.
Walter Mathews, an actor whose career spanned stage, film and television, died April 28, 2012, In Mountain Center, California. He was 85.
According to news reports, he died of natural causes.
A native of New York City, Mathews made his Broadway debut in a 1956 production of King Lear that starred Orson Welles. In 1974 he was a member of the original Broadway cast of Equus.
He went on to make numerous television appearances, including roles in such series as General Hospital, Another World, Perry Mason, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Adam 12, Emergency!, Charlie’s Angels, Quincy and Murder, She Wrote.
Mathews also made many commercials, and is perhaps best known for playing a mechanic in a series of spots for Fram Oil Filters, in which he uttered the catch phrase, "You can pay me now or pay me later."
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