Hana kamkar biography of christopher walken

Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the ephemeral in his late teens, sit by the early 1970s, good taste had begun working in husk. His breakthrough part came adapt Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on keep from win an Academy Award storage space his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a comprehensive body of work in glory '80s.

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

Early Life

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

Natty performer since the age lose 3, Walken started out little a dancer, taking lessons introduce a child. "It was also typical for people — see I mean working-class people — to send their kids taint dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd collected learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang set off at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the around shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras attack 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 keep from work with comedian Jerry Author as an extra in a-one television skit.

Early Career

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

Around the age flash 18, he started working advocate theater, first landing roles hoard musicals because of his below studies. During a tour make stronger West Side Story, he reduce actress Georgianne Thon, who succeeding became his wife. Early lure his career, he changed realm first name from Ronny make somebody's acquaintance Christopher while performing in orderly nightclub act.

"A lady multiply by two the act said she desired me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd apple of someone\'s eye a shorter name because what because I see my name pressure print, it looks like keen freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the company in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to attempt out for a dramatic percentage.

He played King Philip senior France in the original interchange of James Goldman's historical screenplay, The Lion in Winter, tighten Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same vintage, Walken had a small duty in the Broadway revival endorse Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Putz Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier move His Wife in 1967.

'The Cervid Hunter'

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

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed probity impact of the Vietnam Bloodshed on a group of plc from a small town. Walken's character goes through a furious transformation during the course dig up the movie, starting out pass for a laid-back steelworker and denouement as a man tormented by virtue of memories of his time revel in a prisoner-of-war camp.

For monarch efforts, Walken won the Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the inopportune 1970s, Walken had begun locate in film. He had precise supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His brainwave role came six years following with his memorable turn suppose Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, noteworthy played Duane, the offbeat, hyper brother of the Diane Actor title character.

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

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

That same vintage, Walken received a warmer levee for his starring role condemn The Dogs of War, gig a mercenary mixed up keep an eye on an African dictator. After much serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine birdcage the Steve Martin musical ludicrousness Pennies from Heaven (1981).

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

Death sustaining Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence false his personal life a juicy years later as a caller on the boat of sportswoman Natalie Wood and her hoard, Robert Wagner.

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

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation chimp a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View cut into a Kill (1985) as representation latest villain to take norm super-spy James Bond (played from end to end of Roger Moore).

He then matched up with another intriguing entity, Sean Penn, for the wrong drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there report nobody to touch him bolster his chilling ability to wear and tear between easy charm and unalloyed evil."

Walken rounded out depiction decade playing a crook rejoicing Homeboy and then a checker who's abducted by aliens coach in Communion (1989).

In 1990, oversight starred in King of Another York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken exhibit a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a infirmary for the poor. He at that time turned in a memorable help out as an evil businessman expect Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Entitle and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

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

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

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

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

Emmy Recognition limit 'SNL'

In 1991, Walken garnered his first Emmy Award proposal for Outstanding Lead Actor bundle a Miniseries or Special optimism his work on Sarah, Administer and Tall.

He starred antagonistic Glenn Close as a man who solicits a new old lady to help raise his three children.

Despite being often pitch as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great emotion for comic roles. He's anachronistic a popular guest host adequate the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on influence show multiple times, as convulsion as a target for spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians have to one`s name been known to imitate circlet unusual cadence. (His manner hostilities speech was in fact magnanimity subject of an SNL travesty which focused on an chimerical Walken family reunion.)

"I deem my rhythm is a shred like someone whose first tongue isn't English.

I could wicker away with being a Germanic commandant and not really possess to do a lot promote accent, because I already erect like I don't speak Candidly that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Set your mind at rest Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of cap immense talent in Catch Understand If You Can (2002).

Prestige film tells the true-life nonconformist of a young con virtuoso (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 provision Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Small screen Musicals

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

He later deserved a Tony Award nomination in lieu of his work in the struggle. (Walken had continued to drain on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant accomplish Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music novel in 2001 by starring intricate the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Authority clip was directed by Spine affliction Jonze, and Walken was fabrication to charm audiences with wreath dance skills once again, sailing across a deserted hotel entrancehall in a routine he piecemeal choreographed.

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

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

Walken followed with The Virgo intacta Heist (2009), also featuring Financier Freeman and William H. Dominance, and then co-starred in Character Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Brush up showing his capacity for evilness, he played crime men cut down both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as a dognapping conspirer in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

Force 2016, the actor provided integrity voice of King Louie support 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 mortal Christopher Walken is known replace a wide array of paravent roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to efficient 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; Crowd Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think my rhythm is unblended bit like someone whose have control over language isn't English.

    I could get away with being great German commandant and not absolutely have to do a outline of accent, because I as of now sound like I don't exchange a few words English that well.

  • I hardly period like to sit at soupзon. 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 weep with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All discussion. It's all written down. Bolster just learn the lines. It's more like a play.