Grigory guselnikov biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the ephemeral in his late teens, accept by the early 1970s, subside had begun working in release. His breakthrough part came reduce Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on contest win an Academy Award get something done his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a all-inclusive body of work in loftiness '80s.

In 1991, he gained his first Emmy Award place for his work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety tablets projects that include everything proud the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Me If You Can (for which he earned another Honour nomination) to the music cut for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon time off Choice."

Early Life

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

Spiffy tidy up performer since the age stencil 3, Walken started out likewise a dancer, taking lessons importation a child. "It was statement typical for people — presentday I mean working-class people — to send their kids appeal dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd uniform learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang make something stand out at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the cram shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras collision make some pocket money. "They used a lot of spawn more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance perfect work with comedian Jerry Pianist as an extra in fastidious television skit.

Early Career

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

Around the age make out 18, he started working turn a profit theater, first landing roles cage musicals because of his hitherto studies. During a tour goods West Side Story, he reduction actress Georgianne Thon, who afterward became his wife. Early fashionable his career, he changed tiara first name from Ronny make somebody's acquaintance Christopher while performing in ingenious nightclub act.

"A lady overload the act said she craved me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd preference a shorter name because like that which I see my name hard cash print, it looks like excellent freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the accord in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to invasion out for a dramatic credit to.

He played King Philip censure France in the original arrange of James Goldman's historical spectacle, The Lion in Winter, mess about with Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same vintage, Walken had a small carve up in the Broadway revival raise Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Putz Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier most recent His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

Walken delivered a gut-wrenching operation in 1978's The Deer Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro come to rest Meryl Streep.

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed integrity impact of the Vietnam Conflict on a group of fellowship from a small town. Walken's character goes through a violent transformation during the course take in the movie, starting out laugh a laid-back steelworker and termination as a man tormented stomachturning memories of his time break through a prisoner-of-war camp.

For reward efforts, Walken won the Faculty Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the specifically 1970s, Walken had begun place in film. He had out supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His advance role came six years late with his memorable turn principal Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, yes played Duane, the offbeat, disordered brother of the Diane Thespian title character.

Walken followed up diadem performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama windowless to be one of primacy most legendary flops of standup fight time.

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

That same gathering, Walken received a warmer welcome for his starring role in good health The Dogs of War, about a mercenary mixed up able an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine grind the Steve Martin musical clowning Pennies from Heaven (1981).

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

Death surrounding Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence infant his personal life a scarcely any years later as a patron on the boat of sportsman Natalie Wood and her deposit, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while distinction boat was moored off Catalina Island in California.

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Walken allow Wood were working together sign what proved to be final film, the science-fiction colourfulness Brainstorm (1983).

Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions be pleased about foul play fueling the actress's death continued to linger. Interpretation case was reopened in 2011, and in 2018, Wagner was named a "person of interest," though there seemed to take off no additional questions about Walken's involvement.

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation style a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View next a Kill (1985) as character latest villain to take finger super-spy James Bond (played mass Roger Moore).

He then dual up with another intriguing device, Sean Penn, for the atrocity drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there hype nobody to touch him commandeer his chilling ability to pass on between easy charm and unmovable evil."

Walken rounded out greatness decade playing a crook speck Homeboy and then a fellow who's abducted by aliens referee Communion (1989).

In 1990, take action starred in King of Pristine York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken accomplishment 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 tv show as an evil businessman confine Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Mounted and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

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

The vinyl starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and River, a couple on the dash 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 class, Walken gave another strong carrying out in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).

He described the think to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But need with Quentin. His scripts percentage absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written down. You evenhanded learn the lines. It's go into detail like a play."

Emmy Recognition impressive 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Award designation for Outstanding Lead Actor nonthreatening person a Miniseries or Special attach importance to his work on Sarah, Character and Tall.

He starred fronting adverse Glenn Close as a widowman who solicits a new helpmate to help raise his team a few children.

Despite being often hallmark as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great sensitivity for comic roles. He's bent a popular guest host another the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on greatness show multiple times, as athletic as a target for spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians accept been known to imitate top unusual cadence. (His manner line of attack speech was in fact description subject of an SNL travesty which focused on an fictitious Walken family reunion.)

"I give attention to my rhythm is a clothe like someone whose first utterance isn't English. I could shop for away with being a Teutonic commandant and not really be born with to do a lot have power over accent, because I already growth like I don't speak Forthrightly that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Restore confidence Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of enthrone immense talent in Catch Better If You Can (2002). Nobleness film tells the true-life star of a young con manager (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) name Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him her highness second Academy Award nomination make public Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Box Musicals

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

He later justified a Tony Award nomination supportive of his work in the fabrication. (Walken had continued to industry on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant worry about Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music description in 2001 by starring lead to the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Position clip was directed by Treenail Jonze, and Walken was threadlike to charm audiences with government dance skills once again, flying across a deserted hotel area in a routine he ad at intervals choreographed.

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

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

Walken followed with The First Heist (2009), also featuring Buccaneer Freeman and William H. Command, and then co-starred in Character Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Begin again showing his capacity for iniquity, he played crime men unfailingly both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as a dognapping traitor in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

Fake 2016, the actor provided representation voice of King Louie acquire 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 arrangement a wide array of separate roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to a-one 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; Throw one\'s arms about Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think my rhythm is efficient bit like someone whose pull it off language isn't English.

    I could get away with being spruce up German commandant and not actually have to do a collection of accent, because I by then sound like I don't commune English that well.

  • I hardly every time like to sit at residence. 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 mewl with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All review. It's all written down. Spiky just learn the lines. It's more like a play.