Tim Matheson: From “Animal House” to “This is Us” and more

Tim Matheson as Eric Stratton in "Animal House".

Source: https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2021/08/national-lampoons-animal-house-1978-an-interview-with-tim-matheson/

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One of his iconic roles was the suave, smart aleck Otter in “Animal House”, but in the ‘80s, Tim Matheson was also a private investigator with an extraordinary wife, up the creek without a paddle, and more.

Over the past few years he has been introduced to a new generation of fans as the snobbish father-in-law of Jack Pierson on “This Is Us", and continues acting to this day.

In fact, he guest starred on the most recent episode of “Quantum Leap” as an aging actor hell bent on marrying the one who got away.

The years before
Tim Matheson started acting in the 1960s.

My first exposure to him was in “Yours, Mine and Ours’, a 1968 movie that I saw many times in reruns, and just loved. It stars Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball as a couple who marry. He has 10 children and she has eight, so their combined family is a source of a lot of laughs. Matheson played the oldest son, Mike.

A few years later, again in reruns, I saw him in “The Quest” from 1976, a TV movie that was the pilot for a series. He starred with Kurt Russell as two brothers on the search for their sister, in the Old West. Matheson plays Quentin, while Russell plays Morgan. Their parents were killed in an “Indian Massacre”, where Morgan was taken by the Cheyenne and held for eight years until released by the United States Army. Quentin was taken to San Francisco where he was trained as a doctor. Now, they are looking for their sister who they believe is being held captive by the Cheyenne.

I never saw the series, which only lasted 15 episodes, but the movie did leave me wanting more.

Then, in 1978, he was part of that ensemble cast of “National Lampoon’s Animal House”, which starred John Belushi. Matheson played the smooth-talking Eric “Otter” Stratton, who is also quite fond of the ladies.

Again, I saw “Animal House” on TV, so it was heavily edited. It wasn’t until I was in university when I saw it on video that I got the full effect.

Matheson was back on screen a year later with John Belushi, appearing in Steven Spielberg’s movie “1941” in 1979.

Tim Matheson already built a solid career as the 1980s dawned.

Withcraft
The next time I recall seeing him was in TV Guide. The fall preview issue always provided an advanced look at the new TV shows set to premiere. I actually read an old back issue previewing “The Quest” from 1976.

In the 1982 fall preview, Tim Matheson was starring in a detective show with Catherine Hicks called, “Tucker’s Witch”. He was a detective and she was a witch in Laurel Canyon, California.

The show was not on peasant vision, so it was not readily available, but I did manage to see one episode.

It was Easter break of 1983, and I was on a trip to Las Vegas and California with my Mom and my sister. We were staying in a hotel near Disneyland, and we were watching TV after a day at the theme park. We were flipping channels came upon “Tucker’s Witch”. So I got to see an episode.

This past year, I found the entire 12-episode-run of “Tucker’s Witch” on one of our on-demand subscriptions and I watched the pilot episode. It was the same episode I saw in California 40 years ago.

It guest starred Ted Danson, and was the second pilot for the show. I watched the initial pilot, which did not star either Matheson or Hicks. Instead it had Art Hindle and Kim Cattrall, two Canadian actors coincidentally, playing the Tuckers. It was also called “The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon”.

Without a paddle
Matheson was back on the big screen in 1984 with the comedy “Up the Creek”.

I was spending a couple of weeks in the summer in Brooks as I did for five or six years every summer. One night, my cousins Chris and Fred and his brother Henry decided to get a movie, so we rented “Up the Creek”.

Tim Matheson plays Bob McGraw, a wise-cracking boatsman who fancies himself a writer, and Jennifer Runyon plays his love interest. He actually speaks in the third person about himself at various times through the movie. The time I remember best is when he is outnumbered and about to get beat up. He also smoked these tiny little cigars, which I thought was cool. It was something my cousin Chris pointed out  that he liked too while we were watching. Matheson’s character really did not seem to me that different from Otter though.

My cousin Fred, who is an outstanding musician and song writer, immediately picked out that Cheap Trick sang the title song “Up the Creek”.

The rest of the decade
Matheson played the villain in “Fletch” in 1985 and appeared in “Speed Zone” in 1989, a movie about a cross-country race that seems to be in the same vain as “Cannonball Run”. He also appeared in a string of television movies.

The years after
Tim Matheson continues to act to this day. He has appeared in theatrical releases such as “Drop Dead Fred”; “A Very Brady Sequel”; “She’s All That”; “Van Wilder”; and much more.

On television he was the title character in the short-lived sitcom “Charlie Hoover” on Fox in 1991; played Howard Hughes on “Fallen Angels” in 1993; guest starred in “Cybill” in 1995; “Dead Man’s Gun” in 1998 and appeared in a multitude of TV movies.

In 1999, he began his run as John Hoynes, vice-president of the United States, for which he was nominated for Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama series in 2002 and 2003.

Matheson played the sheriff in the supernatural drama “Wolf Lake” in 2001-2002, and a news anchor in the drama “Breaking News” in 2002. He also guest starred in “The King of Queens”; “Ed”; “Without a Trace”; “Shark”; “Burn Notice”; “Entourage”; “White Collar”; “CSI”; “Madam Secretary”; “The Goldbergs”; “This is Us” as Rebecca Malone Pearson’s father Dave Malone; and most recently in “Quantum Leap”.

He also has been in “Virgin River” a romantic drama on Netflix since 2019, as the doctor.

Parting thoughts
Tim Matheson is one of those actors who just keeps on working. Wikipedia lists dozens of TV movies he has appeared in.

He has always been an effective actor, because of a variety of different roles he has played. He was very funny as wise-cracking, smooth-talking characters in “Animal House” and “Up the Creek”. He had a nice light touch as Rick Tucker in “Tucker’s Witch”, and was excellent as Quentin Beaudine in “The Quest”, John Hoynes in “The West Wing” and Dave Malone in “This is Us”.

You put all this together and that’s why Tim Matheson has always been a favourite of mine.