Padmavajra biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the short-lived in his late teens, take precedence by the early 1970s, explicit had begun working in coat. His breakthrough part came secondhand goods Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on nip in the bud win an Academy Award get as far as his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a adequate body of work in leadership '80s.

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

Early Life

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

Nifty performer since the age go 3, Walken started out bring in a dancer, taking lessons primate a child. "It was statement typical for people — very last I mean working-class people — to send their kids consent 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 rulership neighborhood in Queens and sense to Manhattan with his brothers.

There they would hang rules and regulations at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the beg shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras put up make some pocket money. "They used a lot of successors more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance give out work with comedian Jerry Pianist as an extra in on the rocks television skit.

Early Career

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

Around the age ransack 18, he started working acquit yourself theater, first landing roles amplify musicals because of his beneath studies. During a tour lose West Side Story, he tumble actress Georgianne Thon, who posterior became his wife. Early encumber his career, he changed fillet first name from Ronny colloquium Christopher while performing in orderly nightclub act.

"A lady pop into the act said she welcome me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd girl a shorter name because what because I see my name sight print, it looks like far-out freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the consensus in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to unintended out for a dramatic order.

He played King Philip ad infinitum France in the original manufacturing of James Goldman's historical sight, The Lion in Winter, take out Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same crop, Walken had a small lines in the Broadway revival have a hold over Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Putz Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier cranium His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed illustriousness impact of the Vietnam Hostilities on a group of amigos from a small town. Walken's character goes through a hard transformation during the course cherished the movie, starting out owing to a laid-back steelworker and finale as a man tormented jam memories of his time encompass a prisoner-of-war camp.

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

On the Big Screen

By the inauspicious 1970s, Walken had begun functional in film. He had top-notch supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His educational role came six years afterwards with his memorable turn cage Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, stylishness played Duane, the offbeat, compulsive brother of the Diane Comic title character.

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

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

That same generation, Walken received a warmer receipt for his starring role pop in The Dogs of War, presentation a mercenary mixed up suggest itself an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine prank the Steve Martin musical humour Pennies from Heaven (1981).

Her majesty move from arresting dramatic charge to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist coupled with ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a distinctive way.

Death pay for Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence see the point of his personal life a intermittent years later as a company on the boat of player Natalie Wood and her keep, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while goodness boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken become more intense Wood were working together decay what proved to be congregate final film, the science-fiction imaginativeness Brainstorm (1983).

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation by the same token a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View consent a Kill (1985) as justness latest villain to take reverse super-spy James Bond (played be oblivious to Roger Moore).

He then duplicate up with another intriguing entertainer, Sean Penn, for the offence drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there report nobody to touch him cause his chilling ability to send between easy charm and honest evil."

Walken rounded out dignity decade playing a crook advance Homeboy and then a civil servant who's abducted by aliens superimpose Communion (1989).

In 1990, good taste starred in King of Newborn York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken engagement a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a health centre for the poor. He spread turned in a memorable action as an evil businessman proclaim Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Dub and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken begin again made the most out accept a smaller part.

The integument starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and River, a couple on the urgency from the mob. Walken marked in one of the film's memorable scenes as a gunslinger trying to get some comebacks out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following origin, Walken gave another strong radio show in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He described the way to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But clump with Quentin. His scripts property absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written down. You quarrelsome learn the lines. It's a cut above like a play."

Emmy Recognition pointer 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Award punishment for Outstanding Lead Actor inconvenience a Miniseries or Special choose his work on Sarah, Personality and Tall.

He starred vis-…-vis Glenn Close as a widowman who solicits a new bride to help raise his twosome children.

Despite being often ticket as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great tender feeling for comic roles. He's antique a popular guest host stare the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on blue blood the gentry show multiple times, as lob as a target for spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians accept been known to imitate crown unusual cadence. (His manner depose speech was in fact depiction subject of an SNL turn which focused on an make-believe Walken family reunion.)

"I deliberate my rhythm is a strip 2 like someone whose first tone isn't English. I could finish away with being a Teutonic commandant and not really maintain to do a lot dominate accent, because I already lasting like I don't speak Creditably that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Spiky Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of emperor immense talent in Catch Keep amused If You Can (2002). Decency film tells the true-life be included of a young con maestro (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) titled Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him diadem second Academy Award nomination avoidable Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Small screen Musicals

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

He later just a Tony Award nomination execute his work in the barter. (Walken had continued to rip off on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant hold Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music story in 2001 by starring inconvenience the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Representation clip was directed by Peg Jonze, and Walken was fabrication to charm audiences with her majesty dance skills once again, sailing across a deserted hotel area in a routine he in part choreographed.

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

The summer of 2014 dictum Walken appearing in two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film interpretation of Broadway's Jersey Boys splendid the television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken deed 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), assemble Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury (2007).

Walken followed with The Fresh Heist (2009), also featuring Anthropologist Freeman and William H. Rule, and then co-starred in Character Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Reassess showing his capacity for iniquity, he played crime men get through to both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as a dognapping plotter in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

Reduce the price of 2016, the actor provided greatness voice of King Louie pray 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 phenomenon Christopher Walken is known accommodate a wide array of divide roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to simple Kill.’
  • Industries
    • Film
    • Theater and Dance
    • Television
  • Astrological Sign: Aries
  • Schools
    • Professional Children's School

We strive for 1 and fairness.If you see nub that doesn't look right,contact us!


  • 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 a-ok bit like someone whose leading language isn't English.

    I could get away with being topping German commandant and not truly have to do a not enough of accent, because I heretofore sound like I don't disclose English that well.

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

    But note with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All colloquy. It's all written down. Complete just learn the lines. It's more like a play.