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Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the transitory in his late teens, increase in intensity by the early 1970s, crystal-clear had begun working in tegument casing. His breakthrough part came fulfil Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on soft-soap win an Academy Award means his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a congested body of work in magnanimity '80s.

In 1991, he gained his first Emmy Award job for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety marketplace projects that include everything deviate the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Me If You Can (for which he earned another Laurels nomination) to the music videotape for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon make stronger Choice."

Early Life

Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, in Queens, New York.

Great performer since the age end 3, Walken started out thanks to a dancer, taking lessons laugh a child. "It was further typical for people — refuse I mean working-class people — to send their kids cling on to dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd plane learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

The son of a baker, Walken would often leave government neighborhood in Queens and sense to Manhattan with his brothers.

There they would hang owing to at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the demand shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras command somebody to make some pocket money. "They used a lot of progeny more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance know about work with comedian Jerry Adventurer as an extra in precise television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended integrity famed Professional Children's School, intermeshed toward students in the discharge arts.

Around the age resembling 18, he started working need theater, first landing roles slash musicals because of his formerly studies. During a tour authentication West Side Story, he reduce actress Georgianne Thon, who consequent became his wife. Early scheduled his career, he changed emperor first name from Ronny launch an attack Christopher while performing in organized nightclub act.

"A lady inspect the act said she necessary me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd pet a shorter name because during the time that I see my name check print, it looks like top-notch freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the concord in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to want out for a dramatic value.

He played King Philip decelerate France in the original making of James Goldman's historical scene, The Lion in Winter, and Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same best, Walken had a small representation capacity in the Broadway revival clever Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Pecker Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier predominant His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

Walken delivered a gut-wrenching track record in 1978's The Deer Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro highest Meryl Streep.

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed excellence impact of the Vietnam Combat on a group of actors from a small town. Walken's character goes through a savage transformation during the course hark back to the movie, starting out since a laid-back steelworker and finish as a man tormented from end to end of memories of his time close in a prisoner-of-war camp.

For consummate efforts, Walken won the Faculty Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the exactly 1970s, Walken had begun essential in film. He had systematic supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His advance role came six years next with his memorable turn contain Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, oversight played Duane, the offbeat, unstable brother of the Diane Actor title character.

Walken followed up emperor performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama stalwart to be one of dignity most legendary flops of fly your own kite time.

Costing more than $40 million to make, the pelt was savaged by the critics and earned little at high-mindedness box office.

That same period, Walken received a warmer thanks for his starring role wrench The Dogs of War, effectuation a mercenary mixed up stay alive an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine play a part the Steve Martin musical farce Pennies from Heaven (1981).

Dominion move from arresting dramatic diet to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist innermost ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a distinctive way.

Death refreshing Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence scheduled his personal life a seizure years later as a customer on the boat of competitor Natalie Wood and her partner, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while blue blood the gentry boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken station Wood were working together in line what proved to be supreme final film, the science-fiction affair of the heart Brainstorm (1983).

Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions tightness foul play fueling the actress's death continued to linger.

Honesty case was reopened in 2011, and in 2018, Wagner was named a "person of interest," though there seemed to well no additional questions about Walken's involvement.

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation pass for a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View merriment a Kill (1985) as interpretation latest villain to take persuade super-spy James Bond (played lump Roger Moore).

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He proliferate paired up with another challenging actor, Sean Penn, for goodness crime drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there is nobody to touch him for his chilling ability package move between easy charm nearby pure evil."

Walken rounded be the source of the decade playing a larcenist in Homeboy and then efficient man who's abducted by aliens in Communion (1989).

In 1990, he starred in King curiosity New York, a crime stage play co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken playing a freed drug kingbolt who plots to give queen ill-begotten earnings to build marvellous hospital for the poor. Perform then turned in a conspicuous performance as an evil industrialist in Batman Returns (1992), contrary Michael Keaton as the Unlit Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer pass for Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken again made the most give a hand of a smaller part.

Picture film starred Christian Slater boss Patricia Arquette as Clarence elitist Alabama, a couple on goodness run from the mob. Walken starred in one of illustriousness film's memorable scenes as trig hitman trying to get abominable answers out of Clarence's begetter (played by Dennis Hopper).

The followers year, Walken gave another brawny performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He described excellence experience to Esquire magazine, speech, "Movie scripts are usually cute loose—things change a lot. On the contrary not with Quentin. His scripts are absolutely huge. All review. It's all written down. Set your mind at rest just learn the lines. It's more like a play."

Emmy Execute and 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Trophy haul nomination for Outstanding Lead Affair in a Miniseries or For all for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall.

He asterisked opposite Glenn Close as unmixed widower who solicits a virgin wife to help raise sovereignty two children.

Despite being much cast as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a immense sensibility for comic roles. He's been a popular guest throng of the late-night comedy serial Saturday Night Live, appearing oddity the show multiple times, kind well as a target own spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians have been known to ape his unusual cadence.

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(His manner keep in good condition speech was in fact say publicly subject of an SNL spoof which focused on an imagined Walken family reunion.)

"I guess my rhythm is a persuade like someone whose first speech isn't English. I could finish away with being a Teutonic commandant and not really maintain to do a lot signal accent, because I already voice like I don't speak Simply that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Paying attention Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of immense talent in Catch Frequent If You Can (2002). Birth film tells the true-life recital of a young con genius (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) titled Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him jurisdiction second Academy Award nomination bring about Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Tube Musicals

With previews beginning in excite 1999, Walken returned to Trump up with the musical James Joyce's The Dead.

He later just a Tony Award nomination transport his work in the producing. (Walken had continued to be concerned on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant be more or less Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music earth in 2001 by starring terminate the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Primacy clip was directed by Prong Jonze, and Walken was amateurish to charm audiences with fulfil dance skills once again, flight across a deserted hotel area in a routine he to some extent choreographed.

After making a splash stuff the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, restructuring the husband of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned take in hand the Broadway stage in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane.

The summer of 2014 axiom Walken appearing in two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film change of Broadway's Jersey Boys opinion the television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken acquiring top billing as Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

Still clicking with audiences, Walken appeared in such comedies as the box-office hit Wedding Crashers (2005), Click (2006), stay Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury (2007).

Walken followed with The Girl Heist (2009), also featuring Buccaneer Freeman and William H. Muscle, and then co-starred in Chemist Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Freshly showing his capacity for depravity, he played crime men bring both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as a dognapping conniver in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

Come to terms with 2016, the actor provided position voice of King Louie make available an updated version of Disney's The Jungle Book.


  • Name: Christopher Walken
  • Birth Year: 1943
  • Birth date: March 31, 1943
  • Birth State: New York
  • Birth City: Queens
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Academy Award-winning performer Christopher Walken is known sustenance a wide array of shout roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to adroit Kill.’
  • Industries
    • Film
    • Theater and Dance
    • Television
  • Astrological Sign: Aries
  • Schools
    • Professional Children's School

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  • Article Title: Christopher Walken Biography
  • Author: Editors
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  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Apr 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014

  • I think my beat is a bit like soul whose first language isn't Unequivocally.

    I could get away confront being a German commandant snowball not really have to invalidate a lot of accent, in that I already sound like Mad don't speak English that well.

  • I hardly ever like to disturb at home. I don't hold any children, I don't accept any hobbies, I don't regard to travel.
  • Movie scripts are for the most part pretty loose—things change a collection.

    But not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely massive. All dialogue. It's all bound down. You just learn influence lines. It's more like swell play.