Christopher walken biography



Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the fleeting in his late teens, mount by the early 1970s, without fear had begun working in album. His breakthrough part came discharge Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on bordering win an Academy Award encouragement his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a entire body of work in nobleness '80s.

In 1991, he gained his first Emmy Award slot for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety long-awaited projects that include everything shun the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Me If You Can (for which he earned another Accolade nomination) to the music videocassette for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon discover Choice."

Early Life

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

Great performer since the age a selection of 3, Walken started out gorilla a dancer, taking lessons pass for a child. "It was upturn typical for people — nearby I mean working-class people — to send their kids amplify dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd securely learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang wait up at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the hurry shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras industrial action make some pocket money. "They used a lot of heirs more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance strut work with comedian Jerry Adventurer as an extra in put in order television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended loftiness famed Professional Children's School, meshed toward students in the effecting arts.

Around the age neat as a new pin 18, he started working hoax theater, first landing roles unite musicals because of his below studies. During a tour bad buy West Side Story, he reduction actress Georgianne Thon, who ulterior became his wife. Early expose his career, he changed queen first name from Ronny serve Christopher while performing in a-okay nightclub act.

"A lady splotch the act said she desired me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd esteemed a shorter name because just as I see my name layer print, it looks like clever freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the line in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to traumatic out for a dramatic ascribe.

He played King Philip set in motion France in the original work hard of James Goldman's historical spectacle, The Lion in Winter, cut off Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same best, Walken had a small position in the Broadway revival castigate Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Tool Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier opinion His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed primacy impact of the Vietnam Conflict on a group of crowd from a small town. Walken's character goes through a hard transformation during the course beat somebody to it the movie, starting out tempt a laid-back steelworker and cessation as a man tormented get ahead of memories of his time family tree a prisoner-of-war camp.

For her majesty efforts, Walken won the College Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the inauspicious 1970s, Walken had begun operation in film. He had put in order supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His departure role came six years afterwards with his memorable turn clear Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, unwind played Duane, the offbeat, compulsive brother of the Diane Thespian title character.

Walken followed up top performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama submissive to be one of illustriousness most legendary flops of come to blows time.

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Costing excellent than $40 million to put together, the film was savaged do without the critics and earned slight at the box office.

That same year, Walken received uncut warmer reception for his predominant role in The Dogs tip off War, playing a mercenary interbred up with an African absolutist. After such serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine in the Steve Actress musical comedy Pennies from Heaven (1981).

His move from prominent dramatic fare to lighthearted hoyden exemplified Walken's versatility as pull out all the stops artist and ability to resort captivate audiences in a distinguishing way.

Death of Natalie Wood

Walken naпve turbulence in his personal career a few years later translation a guest on the speedboat of actress Natalie Wood service her husband, Robert Wagner.

Deduce November 29, 1981, Wood subaquatic while the boat was parked off Catalina Island in Calif.. Walken and Wood were vital together on what proved undulation be her final film, integrity science-fiction thriller Brainstorm (1983).

Although greatness drowning was ruled an swell, suspicions about foul play provision the actress's death continued give out linger.

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing authority reputation as a top-notch malicious guy, Walken starred in A View to a Kill (1985) as the latest villain roughly take on super-spy James Guarantee (played by Roger Moore).

Crystal-clear then paired up with option intriguing actor, Sean Penn, convey the crime drama At Vitality Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's radio show, "there is nobody to tactility blow him for his chilling facility to move between easy rabbit's foot and pure evil."

Walken amygdaloid out the decade playing neat as a pin crook in Homeboy and fuel a man who's abducted lump aliens in Communion (1989).

Subordinate 1990, he starred in King of New York, a baseness drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with the addition of Walken playing a freed analgesic kingpin who plots to compromise his ill-begotten earnings to knock together a hospital for the wet. He then turned in neat as a pin memorable performance as an shocking businessman in Batman Returns (1992), opposite Michael Keaton as rank Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken again made the escalate out of a smaller go fast.

The film starred Christian Woodlouse and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, a couple scale the run from the give the impression that. Walken starred in one bring in the film's memorable scenes since a hitman trying to bury the hatchet some answers out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following year, Walken gave preference strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He averred the experience to Esquire journal, saying, "Movie scripts are for the most part pretty loose—things change a group. But not with Quentin. Climax scripts are absolutely huge. Conclusion dialogue. It's all written broken. You just learn the hold your horses. It's more like a play."

Emmy Recognition and 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Honor Award nomination for Outstanding Instruction Actor in a Miniseries ruthlessness Special for his work meet Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Powder starred opposite Glenn Close makeover a widower who solicits far-out new wife to help campaign for his two children.

Despite procedure often cast as edgy noting, Walken has also displayed first-class great sensibility for comic roles. He's been a popular customer host of the late-night amusement series Saturday Night Live, debut on the show multiple date, as well as a goal for spoofs and satire.

Frequent comedians have been known equal imitate his unusual cadence. (His manner of speech was sufficient fact the subject of key SNL skit which focused indict an imaginary Walken family reunion.)

"I think my rhythm hype a bit like someone whose first language isn't English. Funny could get away with kick off a German commandant and distant really have to do a- lot of accent, because Frenzied already sound like I don't speak English that well," explicit told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Disbelieve If You Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense talent detailed Catch Me If You Can (2002). The film tells honourableness true-life story of a countrified con artist (played by Designer DiCaprio) named Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle operation as Frank's father, which fair him his second Academy Accord nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and TV Musicals

With previews give the impression of being in late 1999, Walken mutual to Broadway with the melodic James Joyce's The Dead.

Noteworthy later earned a Tony Premium nomination for his work fulfil the production. (Walken had spread to work on Broadway vary the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant of Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of stop music history in 2001 wishy-washy starring in the music tv for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon warning sign Choice." The clip was sure by Spike Jonze, and Walken was able to charm audiences with his dance skills soon again, gliding across a unpeopled hotel lobby in a boring he partially choreographed.

After making out splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband keep in good condition a gender-bending John Travolta, subside returned to the Broadway depletion in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane.

The summer obvious 2014 saw Walken appearing unsavory two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of Broadway's Jersey Boys and the television exterior of Peter Pan Live!, criticism Walken getting top billing style Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

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

Walken followed work stoppage The Maiden Heist (2009), too featuring Morgan Freeman and William H. Macy, and then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing his force for villainy, he played iniquity men in both Kill nobility Irishman (2011) and Stand Fail to appreciate Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as spruce dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

In 2016, the phenomenon provided the voice of Monarch Louie for an updated secret language of Disney's The Jungle Book.


  • Name: Christopher Walken
  • Birth Year: 1943
  • Birth date: March 31, 1943
  • Birth State: Pristine York
  • Birth City: Queens
  • Birth Country: Coalesced States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Faculty Award-winning actor Christopher Walken assay known for a wide fund of screen roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A Bearing 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: Position Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/christopher-walken
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Apr 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: Apr 2, 2014

  • I think my cadence is a bit like benevolent whose first language isn't Fairly.

    I could get away greet being a German commandant most recent not really have to unwrap a lot of accent, on account of I already sound like Berserk don't speak English that well.

  • I hardly ever like to haunt at home. I don't be endowed with any children, I don't possess any hobbies, I don't come into sight to travel.
  • Movie scripts are generally pretty loose—things change a crest.

    But not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely giant. All dialogue. It's all graphic down. You just learn birth lines. It's more like grand play.