Guralnick (Walter) is born in Boston.

(ca.) The son of Russian immigrants Dr. Rubin and Nina (Hazman) Guralnick, Walter Guralnick grows up in East Boston and Roxbury, graduates from Boston Latin School and the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He goes to work as an oral surgeon at Boston City Hospital, marries Betty Marson in 1942 and moves to Brookline, then serves in the US Army in World War II. Returning to Boston, he opens a private practice, then begins working at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he chairs the oral surgery, serves as president of the Massachusetts Dental Society, and continues to work a few days a week even after his 100th birthday. He dies on September 2, 2017.