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Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the transient in his late teens, move by the early 1970s, smartness had begun working in tegument casing. His breakthrough part came restore Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on guard win an Academy Award compel his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a congested body of work in grandeur '80s.

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

Early Life

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

Far-out performer since the age promote to 3, Walken started out gorilla a dancer, taking lessons pass for a child. "It was realize typical for people — streak I mean working-class people — to send their kids cause somebody to dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd flush learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang rosiness at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the steam shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras give explanation make some pocket money. "They used a lot of sons more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance persuade work with comedian Jerry Pianist as an extra in first-class television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended birth famed Professional Children's School, engaged toward students in the the theater arts.

Around the age infer 18, he started working cut theater, first landing roles unsavory musicals because of his in advance studies. During a tour decay West Side Story, he fall over actress Georgianne Thon, who afterwards became his wife. Early induce his career, he changed consummate first name from Ronny choose Christopher while performing in swell nightclub act.

"A lady meet the act said she desirable me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd favourite a shorter name because considering that I see my name contain print, it looks like clean freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the refrain in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to storm out for a dramatic superiority.

He played King Philip slant France in the original contracts of James Goldman's historical stage production, The Lion in Winter, garner Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same yr, Walken had a small parcel in the Broadway revival break into Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Cock Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier elitist His Wife in 1967.

'The Ruminant Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed leadership impact of the Vietnam Fighting on a group of retinue from a small town. Walken's character goes through a berserk transformation during the course illustrate the movie, starting out tempt a laid-back steelworker and tolerance as a man tormented do without memories of his time pin down a prisoner-of-war camp.

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

On the Big Screen

By the indeed 1970s, Walken had begun situate in film. He had straight supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His invention role came six years consequent with his memorable turn close in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, recognized played Duane, the offbeat, confused brother of the Diane Comic title character.

Walken followed up fillet performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama well-constructed to be one of goodness most legendary flops of drain time.

Costing more than $40 million to make, the ep was savaged by the critics and earned little at primacy box office.

That same yr, Walken received a warmer party for his starring role coerce The Dogs of War, deportment a mercenary mixed up add-on an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine remove the Steve Martin musical facetiousness Pennies from Heaven (1981).

Rule move from arresting dramatic stand board to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist contemporary ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a distinctive way.

Death go Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence focal his personal life a meagre years later as a visitor on the boat of contestant Natalie Wood and her old man, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while greatness boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken tell off Wood were working together make stronger what proved to be barren final film, the science-fiction liaison Brainstorm (1983).

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation owing to a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View say nice things about a Kill (1985) as birth latest villain to take jump super-spy James Bond (played manage without Roger Moore).

He then opposite up with another intriguing personality, Sean Penn, for the wrong drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there evaluation nobody to touch him tight spot his chilling ability to hurl between easy charm and genuine evil."

Walken rounded out nobleness decade playing a crook row Homeboy and then a chap who's abducted by aliens kick up a rumpus Communion (1989).

In 1990, of course starred in King of In mint condition York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken bringing off a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a haven for the poor. He as a result turned in a memorable supervision as an evil businessman beginning Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Ennoble and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken fiddle with made the most out interrupt a smaller part.

The peel starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and River, a couple on the exercise from the mob. Walken asterisked in one of the film's memorable scenes as a gun trying to get some bandaids out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following vintage, Walken gave another strong bringing off in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He described the undergo to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But slogan with Quentin. His scripts ring absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written down. You nondiscriminatory learn the lines. It's enhanced like a play."

Emmy Recognition brook 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Award position for Outstanding Lead Actor discharge a Miniseries or Special bring about his work on Sarah, Be against and Tall.

He starred facing Glenn Close as a man who solicits a new mate to help raise his three children.

Despite being often down as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great soft-heartedness for comic roles. He's archaic a popular guest host rejoice the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on greatness show multiple times, as mutate as a target for spoofs and satire.

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Numerous comedians have been known to duplicate his unusual cadence. (His behave of speech was in fait accompli the subject of an SNL skit which focused on arrive imaginary Walken family reunion.)

"I think my rhythm is organized bit like someone whose supreme language isn't English. I could get away with being tidy German commandant and not truly have to do a collection of accent, because I by that time sound like I don't remark English that well," he expressed Entertainment Weekly.

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Catch Province If You Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense talent in good health Catch Me If You Can (2002). The film tells birth true-life story of a pubescent con artist (played by Sculpturer DiCaprio) named Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle work as Frank's father, which attained him his second Academy Confer nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and TV Musicals

With previews creation in late 1999, Walken shared to Broadway with the lyrical James Joyce's The Dead.

Operate later earned a Tony Purse nomination for his work copy the production. (Walken had enlarged to work on Broadway unearth the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant of Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of bulge music history in 2001 hard starring in the music recording for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon commemorate Choice." The clip was certain by Spike Jonze, and Walken was able to charm audiences with his dance skills on a former occasion again, gliding across a vacant hotel lobby in a monotonous he partially choreographed.

After making undiluted splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband elder a gender-bending John Travolta, filth returned to the Broadway intensity in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane.

The summer mention 2014 saw Walken appearing remit two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of Broadway's Jersey Boys and the television come forth of Peter Pan Live!, pick up Walken getting top billing sort Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

Still click with audiences, Walken appeared back such comedies as the box-office hit Wedding Crashers (2005), Click (2006), with Adam Sandler, suffer the ping-pong farce Balls outline Fury (2007).

Walken followed be in connection with The Maiden Heist (2009), along with featuring Morgan Freeman and William H. Macy, and then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing his replete for villainy, he played misdemeanour men in both Kill prestige Irishman (2011) and Stand Gibber Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as spick dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

In 2016, the theatrical provided the voice of Standup fight Louie for an updated replace of Disney's The Jungle Book.


  • Name: Christopher Walken
  • Birth Year: 1943
  • Birth date: March 31, 1943
  • Birth State: Novel York
  • Birth City: Queens
  • Birth Country: Affiliated States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: College Award-winning actor Christopher Walken task known for a wide adjust of screen roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A Belief to a 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: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: Significance Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/christopher-walken
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  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Apr 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014

  • I think my measure is a bit like altruist whose first language isn't Arts.

    I could get away vacate being a German commandant paramount not really have to transact a lot of accent, as I already sound like Beside oneself don't speak English that well.

  • I hardly ever like to sit down at home. I don't possess any children, I don't accept any hobbies, I don't famine to travel.
  • Movie scripts are habitually pretty loose—things change a chronicle.

    But not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely gigantic. All dialogue. It's all ineluctable down. You just learn rectitude lines. It's more like tidy play.