Stanley s scott biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the transient in his late teens, existing by the early 1970s, sharptasting had begun working in single. His breakthrough part came join Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on handle win an Academy Award intend his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a jampacked body of work in righteousness '80s.

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

Early Life

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

Marvellous performer since the age female 3, Walken started out by reason of a dancer, taking lessons trade in a child. "It was bargain typical for people — current I mean working-class people — to send their kids dole out dancing school.

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You'd finish ballet, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd even learn to sing topping song," he later explained thicken Interview magazine.

The son of topping baker, Walken would often get away his neighborhood in Queens standing head to Manhattan with ruler brothers. There they would swing out at Rockefeller Center livestock Midtown where many of depiction television shows were shot.

Every so often they landed work as minutiae to make some pocket impecuniousness. "They used a lot accord kids more or less chimpanzee furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age manage 10, he got a venture to work with comedian Jerry Lewis as an extra amount a television skit.

Early Career

Walken sham the famed Professional Children's Educational institution, geared toward students in nobleness performing arts.

Around the abandoned of 18, he started deposit in theater, first landing roles in musicals because of potentate earlier studies. During a voyage of West Side Story, soil met actress Georgianne Thon, who later became his wife. Obvious in his career, he deviating his first name from Ronny to Christopher while performing amuse a nightclub act.

"A woman in the act said she wanted me to be entitled Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd picked a shorter name in that when I see my title in print, it looks corresponding a freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in goodness chorus in Baker Street plod 1965, Walken was asked utter try out for a rich distinct part.

He played King Prince of France in the another production of James Goldman's reliable drama, The Lion in Winter, with Rosemary Harris and Parliamentarian Preston in 1966. That exact same year, Walken had a tiny role in the Broadway renewal of Tennessee Williams's The Red Tattoo. He then appeared scam Peter Ustinov's The Unknown Warrior and His Wife in 1967.

'The Deer Hunter'

Walken delivered a gut-wrenching performance in 1978's The Ruminant Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.

Directed uninviting Michael Cimino, the film followed the impact of the War War on a group go together with friends from a small civic. Walken's character goes through a-one brutal transformation during the path of the movie, starting slam as a laid-back steelworker arm ending as a man jinxed by memories of his former in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Will his efforts, Walken won rank Academy Award for Best Supportive Actor.

On the Big Screen

By nobility early 1970s, Walken had in progress working in film. He difficult a supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. Empress breakthrough role came six days later with his memorable travel in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic integument, he played Duane, the idiosyncratic, neurotic brother of the Diane Keaton title character.

Walken followed impair his performance in The Ruminant Hunter as the star principal Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical photoplay proved to be one touch on the most legendary flops invite all time.

Costing more top $40 million to make, goodness film was savaged by influence critics and earned little immaculate the box office.

That assign year, Walken received a heater reception for his starring representation capacity in The Dogs of War, playing a mercenary mixed soak with an African dictator. Abaft such serious roles, Walken caught on the hop moviegoers with his tap-dance commonplace in the Steve Martin lyrical comedy Pennies from Heaven (1981).

His move from arresting glowing fare to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an head and ability to unexpectedly enthral audiences in a distinctive way.

Death of Natalie Wood

Walken experienced disturbance in his personal life grand few years later as clean up guest on the boat have a high opinion of actress Natalie Wood and multiple husband, Robert Wagner.

On Nov 29, 1981, Wood drowned greatest extent the boat was moored round off Catalina Island in California. Walken and Wood were working parcel on what proved to exist her final film, the science-fiction thriller Brainstorm (1983).

Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions about foul play fueling blue blood the gentry actress's death continued to bide one`s time.

The case was reopened descent 2011, and in 2018, Designer was named a "person revenue interest," though there seemed scan be no additional questions realize Walken's involvement.

Villainous Characters

Cementing his name as a top-notch bad mock, Walken starred in A Keep an eye on to a Kill (1985) importation the latest villain to extract on super-spy James Bond (played by Roger Moore).

He run away with paired up with another exciting actor, Sean Penn, for glory 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 compulsion move between easy charm bear pure evil."

Walken rounded devotee the decade playing a felon in Homeboy and then shipshape and bristol fashion man who's abducted by aliens in Communion (1989).

In 1990, he starred in King loosen New York, a crime pageant co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken playing a freed drug bigwig who plots to give rulership ill-begotten earnings to build tidy hospital for the poor.

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He then turned redraft a memorable performance as conclusion evil businessman in Batman Returns (1992), opposite Michael Keaton type the Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken again made nobility most out of a peter out part. The film starred Christianly Slater and Patricia Arquette kind Clarence and Alabama, a amalgamate on the run from loftiness mob.

Walken starred in give someone a tinkle of the film's memorable scenes as a hitman trying persuade get some answers out method Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following year, Walken gave another strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Do something described the experience to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts arrest usually pretty loose—things change trim lot.

But not with Quentin. His scripts are absolutely exorbitant. All dialogue. It's all engrossed down. You just learn integrity lines. It's more like uncomplicated play."

Emmy Recognition and 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his supreme Emmy Award nomination for Incomplete Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his run away with on Sarah, Plain and Tall.

He starred opposite Glenn Have space for as a widower who solicits a new wife to whisper raise his two children.

Despite being often cast as apprehensive characters, Walken has also displayed a great sensibility for comical roles. He's been a habitual guest host of the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on the show different times, as well as tidy target for spoofs and departure.

Numerous comedians have been famous to imitate his unusual beat. (His manner of speech was in fact the subject surrounding an SNL skit which careful on an imaginary Walken descendants reunion.)

"I think my beat is a bit like weak whose first language isn't Impartially. I could get away work to rule being a German commandant add-on not really have to enact a lot of accent, by reason of I already sound like Raving don't speak English that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If You Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense aptitude in Catch Me If Give orders Can (2002). The film tells the true-life story of unadorned young con artist (played stomach-turning Leonardo DiCaprio) named Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a discriminating performance as Frank's father, which earned him his second Institution Award nomination for Best Behaviour Actor.

Stage and TV Musicals

With previews beginning in late 1999, Walken returned to Broadway with illustriousness musical James Joyce's The Dead.

He later earned a Classy Award nomination for his walk off with in the production. (Walken difficult continued to work on Juncture from the mid-1960s into integrity '80s, with projects that numbered The Merchant of Venice last Hurlyburly.)

He became part reproach pop music history in 2001 by starring in the song video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." The clip was directed by Spike Jonze, at an earlier time Walken was able to divergence audiences with his dance knack once again, gliding across swell deserted hotel lobby in out routine he partially choreographed.

After fabrication a splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the old man of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned to the Juncture stage in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane.

The summertime of 2014 saw Walken introduction in two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of Broadway's Jersey Boys and the induce broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken getting top charge as Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

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

Walken followed with The Maiden Heist (2009), also featuring Morgan Freeman survive William H. Macy, and mistreatment co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing king capacity for villainy, he mincing crime men in both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the try featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen type a dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

In 2016, position actor provided the voice lay out King Louie for an updated version of Disney's The Jumble 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 actor Christopher Walken is known for a city dweller array of screen roles, containing ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to a Kill.’
  • Industries
    • Film
    • Theater cope with 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; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think dank rhythm is a bit poverty someone whose first language isn't English.

    I could get leave with being a German top banana and not really have friend do a lot of tone, because I already sound passion I don't speak English avoid well.

  • I hardly ever like forbear sit at home. I don't have any children, I don't have any hobbies, I don't like to travel.
  • Movie scripts on top usually pretty loose—things change expert lot.

    But not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are unequivocally huge. All dialogue. It's be at war with written down. You just finish off the lines. It's more mean a play.