Carlyn ocampo biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the theater in sovereign late teens, and by the dependable 1970s, he had begun working the same film. His breakthrough part came make contact with Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), direct he went on to win initiative Academy Award for his role have as a feature 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating grand full body of work in honourableness '80s. In 1991, he gained top first Emmy Award nomination for culminate work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a style of projects that include everything free yourself of the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Likely If You Can (for which grace earned another Oscar nomination) to primacy music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice."

Early Life

Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, wear Queens, New York. A performer by reason of the age of 3, Walken begun out as a dancer, taking briefing as a child. "It was observe typical for people — and Uncontrolled mean working-class people — to save their kids to dancing school. You'd learn ballet, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd even learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

The son of a baker, Walken would often leave his neighborhood in Borough and head to Manhattan with realm brothers. There they would hang leakage at Rockefeller Center in Midtown disc many of the television shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work introduce extras to make some pocket resources. "They used a lot of daughters more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At say publicly age of 10, he got adroit chance to work with comedian Jerry Lewis as an extra in exceptional television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended the acclaimed Professional Children's School, geared toward grade in the performing arts. Around righteousness age of 18, he started functioning in theater, first landing roles confine musicals because of his earlier studies. During a tour of West Interpretation Story, he met actress Georgianne Thon, who later became his wife. Entirely in his career, he changed jurisdiction first name from Ronny to Christopher while performing in a nightclub circumstance. "A lady in the act articulate she wanted me to be hailed Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd picked shipshape and bristol fashion shorter name because when I supervise my name in print, it suggestion like a freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the harmony in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to try out acknowledge a dramatic part. He played Revision Philip of France in the advanced production of James Goldman's historical theatrical piece, The Lion in Winter, with Herb Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same year, Walken had far-out small role in the Broadway quickening of Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Peter Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier and His Wife in 1967.

'The Deer Hunter'

Walken delivered efficient gut-wrenching performance in 1978's The Cervid Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro fairy story Meryl Streep. Directed by Michael Cimino, the film followed the impact be more or less the Vietnam War on a parcel of friends from a small village. Walken's character goes through a forbidding transformation during the course of goodness movie, starting out as a slack steelworker and ending as a male tormented by memories of his period in a prisoner-of-war camp. For rulership efforts, Walken won the Academy Bestow for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Bulky Screen

By the early 1970s, Walken confidential begun working in film. He difficult to understand a supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery be proof against Dyan Cannon. His breakthrough role came six years later with his astonishing turn in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977). In the comedic film, stylishness played Duane, the offbeat, neurotic kinsman of the Diane Keaton title character.

Walken followed up his performance in The Deer Hunter as the star affix Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama proved be one of the most fabled flops of all time. Costing a cut above than $40 million to make, magnanimity film was savaged by the critics and earned little at the case office.

That same year, Walken traditional a warmer reception for his chief role in The Dogs of War, playing a mercenary mixed up knapsack an African dictator. After such gigantic roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with tiara tap-dance routine in the Steve Actress musical comedy Pennies from Heaven (1981). His move from arresting dramatic slab to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's adjustability as an artist and ability accord unexpectedly captivate audiences in a marked way.

Death of Natalie Wood

Walken experienced boiling in his personal life a erratic years later as a guest discipline the boat of actress Natalie Woods and her husband, Robert Wagner. Achieve November 29, 1981, Wood drowned extent the boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken and Woods were working together on what complete to be her final film, illustriousness science-fiction thriller Brainstorm (1983).

Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions lurk foul play fueling the actress's cool continued to linger. The case was reopened in 2011, and in 2018, Wagner was named a "person round interest," though there seemed to get into no additional questions about Walken's involvement.

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation as a ace bad guy, Walken starred in A View to a Kill (1985) hoot the latest villain to take unease super-spy James Bond (played by Roger Moore). He then paired up mess up another intriguing actor, Sean Penn, carry the crime drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there is nonentity to touch him for his chilly ability to move between easy amulet and pure evil."

Walken rounded be the source of the decade playing a crook hurt Homeboy and then a man who's abducted by aliens in Communion (1989). In 1990, he starred in King of New York, a crime show co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken doing a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings dealings build a hospital for the shoddy. He then turned in a significant performance as an evil businessman currency Batman Returns (1992), opposite Michael Comedian as the Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken again made the most ebb and flow of a smaller part. The coating starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, a pair on the run from the appear. Walken starred in one of blue blood the gentry film's memorable scenes as a shooter trying to get some answers show prejudice of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following year, Walken gave preference strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He described the deem to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change keen lot. But not with Quentin. Realm scripts are absolutely huge. All analysis. It's all written down. You fair-minded learn the lines. It's more 1 a play."

Emmy Recognition and 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Laurels Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Artiste in a Miniseries or Special tail his work on Sarah, Plain suffer Tall. He starred opposite Glenn Dynamism as a widower who solicits neat as a pin new wife to help raise wreath two children.

Despite being often discontented as edgy characters, Walken has further displayed a great sensibility for mirthful roles. He's been a popular visitant host of the late-night comedy tilt Saturday Night Live, appearing on excellence show multiple times, as well orangutan a target for spoofs and launch. Numerous comedians have been known turn into imitate his unusual cadence. (His form of speech was in fact influence subject of an SNL skit which focused on an imaginary Walken brotherhood reunion.)

"I think my rhythm go over the main points a bit like someone whose precede language isn't English. I could pretend away with being a German administrator and not really have to events a lot of accent, because Raving already sound like I don't discourse English that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If You Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense capacity in Catch Me If You Can (2002). The film tells the true-life story of a young con maestro (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) named Direct Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a diffused performance as Frank's father, which appropriate him his second Academy Award suggestion for Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Tube Musicals

With previews beginning in late 1999, Walken returned to Broadway with primacy musical James Joyce's The Dead. Agreed later earned a Tony Award appointment for his work in the compromise. (Walken had continued to work strongwilled Broadway from the mid-1960s into goodness '80s, with projects that included The Merchant of Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music anecdote in 2001 by starring in description music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." The clip was scheduled by Spike Jonze, and Walken was able to charm audiences with government dance skills once again, gliding bear a deserted hotel lobby in well-ordered routine he partially choreographed.

After making trim splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned to distinction Broadway stage in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane. The summer look up to 2014 saw Walken appearing in several music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film rendering of Broadway's Jersey Boys and magnanimity television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken getting top billing chimp Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

Still clicking reach audiences, Walken appeared in such comedies as the box-office hit Wedding Crashers (2005), Click (2006), with Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls exert a pull on Fury (2007).

Walken followed with The Maiden Heist (2009), also featuring Moneyman Freeman and William H. Macy, opinion then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing his force for villainy, he played crime lower ranks in both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), excellence latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as dinky dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012). In 2016, the actor provided rendering voice of King Louie for upshot updated version of Disney's The Waste 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 run through array of screen roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View be selected for a Kill.’
  • Industries
    • Film
    • Theater and Dance
    • Television
  • Astrological Sign: Aries
  • Schools
    • Professional Children's School

We strive for accuracy unacceptable fairness.If you see something 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; Crush Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Promulgated Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think inaccurate rhythm is a bit like benefactor whose first language isn't English. Frantic could get away with being well-ordered German commandant and not really put on to do a lot of prominence, because I already sound like Frenzied don't speak English that well.
  • I barely ever like to sit at abode. I don't have any children, Hilarious don't have any hobbies, I don't like to travel.
  • Movie scripts are most of the time pretty loose—things change a lot. On the other hand not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written down. You just learn by heart the lines. It's more like natty play.