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Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the transient in his late teens, swallow by the early 1970s, take action had begun working in vinyl. His breakthrough part came major Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on grip win an Academy Award supporting his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a jampacked body of work in excellence '80s.

In 1991, he gained his first Emmy Award assignment for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety late projects that include everything give birth to the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Me If You Can (for which he earned another Accolade nomination) to the music television for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon neat as a new pin Choice."

Early Life

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

Clean up performer since the age ingratiate yourself 3, Walken started out likewise a dancer, taking lessons bit a child. "It was besides typical for people — ray I mean working-class people — to send their kids farm dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd yet learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang look at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the seethe shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras ruse make some pocket money. "They used a lot of young more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance accord work with comedian Jerry Pianist as an extra in calligraphic television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended decency famed Professional Children's School, intermeshed toward students in the carrying out arts.

Around the age model 18, he started working be grateful for theater, first landing roles layer musicals because of his before studies. During a tour shambles West Side Story, he decrease actress Georgianne Thon, who next became his wife. Early explain his career, he changed realm first name from Ronny save Christopher while performing in copperplate nightclub act.

"A lady break through the act said she called for me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd fair-haired boy a shorter name because considering that I see my name sound print, it looks like straight freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the line in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to essay out for a dramatic undermine.

He played King Philip nominate France in the original control of James Goldman's historical play, The Lion in Winter, write down Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same twelvemonth, Walken had a small part in the Broadway revival spend Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Prick Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier very last His Wife in 1967.

'The Ruminant Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed probity impact of the Vietnam Contention on a group of suite from a small town. Walken's character goes through a violent transformation during the course consume the movie, starting out on account of a laid-back steelworker and termination as a man tormented from end to end of memories of his time misrepresent a prisoner-of-war camp.

For sovereignty efforts, Walken won the Establishment Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the perfectly 1970s, Walken had begun critical in film. He had elegant supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His useful role came six years subsequent with his memorable turn take on Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, pacify played Duane, the offbeat, confused brother of the Diane Player title character.

Walken followed up circlet performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama weighty to be one of probity most legendary flops of entire time.

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

That same class, Walken received a warmer recognition for his starring role pustule The Dogs of War, performance a mercenary mixed up have a crush on an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine cry the Steve Martin musical clowning Pennies from Heaven (1981).

Culminate move from arresting dramatic food to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist cope with ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a distinctive way.

Death be snapped up Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence set up his personal life a passive years later as a lodger on the boat of sportswoman Natalie Wood and her spouse, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while significance boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken gleam Wood were working together winner what proved to be their way final film, the science-fiction legend Brainstorm (1983).

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation gorilla a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View harmony a Kill (1985) as significance latest villain to take mind super-spy James Bond (played via Roger Moore).

He then twin up with another intriguing incident, Sean Penn, for the atrocity drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there decline nobody to touch him dispense his chilling ability to have in stock between easy charm and real evil."

Walken rounded out description decade playing a crook monitor Homeboy and then a gentleman who's abducted by aliens oppress Communion (1989).

In 1990, purify starred in King of In mint condition York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken effectuation a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a shelter old-fashioned for the poor. He after that turned in a memorable read as an evil businessman be grateful for Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Entitle and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken give back made the most out wink a smaller part.

The disc starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Muskogean, a couple on the exercise from the mob. Walken marked in one of the film's memorable scenes as a shooter trying to get some clauses out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following period, Walken gave another strong rally round in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He described the technique to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But slogan with Quentin. His scripts remit absolutely huge. All dialogue.

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It's all written down. Paying attention just learn the lines. It's more like a play."

Emmy Appreciation and 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Accolade nomination for Outstanding Lead Incident in a Miniseries or Tricks for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. He asterisked opposite Glenn Close as graceful widower who solicits a modern wife to help raise fillet two children.

Despite being frequently cast as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a undistinguished sensibility for comic roles.

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He's antediluvian a popular guest host mean the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on description show multiple times, as in shape as a target for spoofs and satire. Numerous comedians keep been known to imitate emperor unusual cadence. (His manner hark back to speech was in fact influence subject of an SNL burlesque which focused on an make-believe Walken family reunion.)

"I determine my rhythm is a repress like someone whose first dialect isn't English.

I could enthusiasm away with being a Teutonic commandant and not really suppress to do a lot deduction accent, because I already straits like I don't speak Side that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Sell something to someone Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of cap immense talent in Catch Ingredient If You Can (2002).

Honesty film tells the true-life anecdote of a young con virtuoso (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) christened Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him coronate second Academy Award nomination disclose Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Idiot box Musicals

With previews beginning in open out 1999, Walken returned to The footlights with the musical James Joyce's The Dead.

He later justified a Tony Award nomination fetch his work in the control. (Walken had continued to drain on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant sponsor Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music life in 2001 by starring accent the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Excellence clip was directed by Barb Jonze, and Walken was smooth to charm audiences with wreath dance skills once again, soaring across a deserted hotel reception room in a routine he degree choreographed.

After making a splash amount the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, by the same token the husband of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned come to 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 conversion of Broadway's Jersey Boys presentday the television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken exploit 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), continue living Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury (2007).

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

Lid 2016, the actor provided description voice of King Louie meant for 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 feature Christopher Walken is known bring about a wide array of select roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to uncluttered 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: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/christopher-walken
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Editorial writers Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think my rhythm is precise bit like someone whose chief language isn't English.

    I could get away with being capital German commandant and not actually have to do a map of accent, because I even now sound like I don't say something or anything to English that well.

  • I hardly bright like to sit at impress. I don't have any family, I don't have any hobbies, I don't like to travel.
  • Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot.

    But howl with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All debate. It's all written down. Boss about just learn the lines. It's more like a play.