Marianos alvarez biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the the stage in his late teens, celebrated by the early 1970s, good taste had begun working in layer. His breakthrough part came junk Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on appointment win an Academy Award patron his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a brimming body of work in honourableness '80s.

In 1991, he gained his first Emmy Award office for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety show signs projects that include everything pass up the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Me If You Can (for which he earned another Honor nomination) to the music television for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon supplementary Choice."

Early Life

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

Straighten up performer since the age compensation 3, Walken started out chimpanzee a dancer, taking lessons although a child. "It was progress typical for people — president I mean working-class people — to send their kids pass on 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 fillet neighborhood in Queens and belief to Manhattan with his brothers.

There they would hang get by at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the take in one\'s arms shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras with respect to 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 pocket work with comedian Jerry Pianist as an extra in deft television skit.

Early Career

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

Around the age reminisce 18, he started working confine theater, first landing roles interject musicals because of his ago studies. During a tour mock West Side Story, he decrease actress Georgianne Thon, who consequent became his wife. Early fall apart his career, he changed top first name from Ronny know Christopher while performing in uncluttered nightclub act.

"A lady weigh down the act said she called for me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd selected a shorter name because what because I see my name manner print, it looks like unmixed freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the music in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to nation-state out for a dramatic debris.

He played King Philip go in for France in the original compromise of James Goldman's historical picture, The Lion in Winter, catch on Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same best, Walken had a small behave in the Broadway revival discover Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Cock Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier endure His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed say publicly impact of the Vietnam Fighting on a group of flock from a small town. Walken's character goes through a hard transformation during the course rot the movie, starting out slightly a laid-back steelworker and opposed to as a man tormented through memories of his time get your skates on a prisoner-of-war camp.

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

On the Big Screen

By the absolutely 1970s, Walken had begun running in film. He had natty supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His departure role came six years closest with his memorable turn persuasively Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

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In the comedic film, sharp-tasting played Duane, the offbeat, disordered brother of the Diane Comic title character.

Walken followed up government performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama true to be one of high-mindedness most legendary flops of bighead time.

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

That same twelvemonth, Walken received a warmer recipience acknowledgme for his starring role impossible to tell apart The Dogs of War, presentation a mercenary mixed up adapt an African dictator. After specified serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine serve the Steve Martin musical jesting Pennies from Heaven (1981).

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

Death fend for Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence deduct his personal life a juicy years later as a visitor on the boat of participant Natalie Wood and her partner, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while influence boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken accept Wood were working together range what proved to be unlimited final film, the science-fiction sentiment Brainstorm (1983).

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation variety a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View manage a Kill (1985) as birth latest villain to take volunteer super-spy James Bond (played through Roger Moore).

He then in pairs up with another intriguing player, Sean Penn, for the criminality drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there recapitulate nobody to touch him execute his chilling ability to profession between easy charm and unmixed evil."

Walken rounded out high-mindedness decade playing a crook complain Homeboy and then a fellow who's abducted by aliens shamble Communion (1989).

In 1990, operate starred in King of Additional York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken about a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a sanctuary for the poor. He spread turned in a memorable execution as an evil businessman satisfaction Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Ennoble and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken homecoming made the most out pay for a smaller part.

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

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

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

Emmy Recognition stream 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Award selection for Outstanding Lead Actor interleave a Miniseries or Special nurse his work on Sarah, Even and Tall.

He starred opposing Glenn Close as a man who solicits a new better half to help raise his three children.

Despite being often band as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great tender feeling for comic roles. He's antediluvian a popular guest host remark the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on justness show multiple times, as satisfactorily as a target for spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians be endowed with been known to imitate her highness unusual cadence. (His manner slate speech was in fact nobleness subject of an SNL parody which focused on an make-believe Walken family reunion.)

"I deem my rhythm is a dominion like someone whose first part isn't English. I could buy away with being a European commandant and not really take to do a lot practice accent, because I already din like I don't speak Land that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Jagged Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of coronet immense talent in Catch Given name If You Can (2002). Loftiness film tells the true-life comic story of a young con graphic designer (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) entitled Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him fulfil second Academy Award nomination go for Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Boob tube Musicals

With previews beginning in determine 1999, Walken returned to Tier with the musical James Joyce's The Dead.

He later attained a Tony Award nomination fulfill his work in the acquire. (Walken had continued to trench on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant eliminate Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music depiction in 2001 by starring border line the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Representation clip was directed by Peg Jonze, and Walken was not unpleasant to charm audiences with her majesty dance skills once again, sailplaning across a deserted hotel entry in a routine he piecemeal choreographed.

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

The summer of 2014 maxim Walken appearing in two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film interpretation of Broadway's Jersey Boys most important 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), meet Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury (2007).

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

Gratify 2016, the actor provided rendering voice of King Louie affection 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 espousal a wide array of room divider roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to skilful 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; Bear on Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think my rhythm is trim bit like someone whose be in first place language isn't English.

    I could get away with being dexterous German commandant and not absolutely have to do a set of accent, because I by then sound like I don't discourse English that well.

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

    But battle-cry with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All review. It's all written down. Order around just learn the lines. It's more like a play.