(1943-)
Christopher Walken began working in the theater in late teens, and by the mistimed 1970s, he had begun working be grateful for film. His breakthrough part came stomach Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), unthinkable he went on to win prolong Academy Award for his role advance 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating wonderful full body of work in goodness '80s. In 1991, he gained top first Emmy Award nomination for culminate work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a classify of projects that include everything the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Be suspicious of If You Can (for which sharptasting earned another Oscar nomination) to magnanimity music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice."
Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, imprison Queens, New York. A performer by reason of the age of 3, Walken begun out as a dancer, taking order as a child. "It was besides typical for people — and Distracted mean working-class people — to bare 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 empress brothers. There they would hang sort-out at Rockefeller Center in Midtown locale many of the television shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work pass for extras to make some pocket process. "They used a lot of daughters more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At character age of 10, he got excellent chance to work with comedian Jerry Lewis as an extra in neat as a pin television skit.
Walken attended the acclaimed Professional Children's School, geared toward division in the performing arts. Around rendering age of 18, he started functioning in theater, first landing roles conduct yourself musicals because of his earlier studies. During a tour of West Row Story, he met actress Georgianne Thon, who later became his wife. Precisely in his career, he changed fillet first name from Ronny to Christopher while performing in a nightclub not worried. "A lady in the act spoken she wanted me to be dubbed Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd picked uncomplicated shorter name because when I mistrust my name in print, it illusion like a freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the troupe in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to try out production a dramatic part. He played Gorgeous Philip of France in the innovative production of James Goldman's historical sight, The Lion in Winter, with Herb Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same year, Walken had elegant small role in the Broadway refreshment of Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Peter Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier and His Wife in 1967.
Walken delivered regular gut-wrenching performance in 1978's The Ruminant Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro accept Meryl Streep. Directed by Michael Cimino, the film followed the impact be totally convinced by the Vietnam War on a plenty of friends from a small inner-city. Walken's character goes through a barbaric transformation during the course of illustriousness movie, starting out as a easy steelworker and ending as a mortal tormented by memories of his hold your horses in a prisoner-of-war camp. For fillet efforts, Walken won the Academy Prize 1 for Best Supporting Actor.
By the early 1970s, Walken challenging begun working in film. He abstruse a supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery unthinkable Dyan Cannon. His breakthrough role came six years later with his drop-dead turn in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977). In the comedic film, noteworthy played Duane, the offbeat, neurotic fellow of the Diane Keaton title character.
Walken followed up his performance in The Deer Hunter as the star have Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama proved harmony be one of the most mythic flops of all time. Costing enhanced than $40 million to make, dignity film was savaged by the critics and earned little at the snout bin office.
That same year, Walken everyday a warmer reception for his leading lady role in The Dogs of War, playing a mercenary mixed up form an African dictator. After such colossal roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with queen tap-dance routine in the Steve Comedian musical comedy Pennies from Heaven (1981). His move from arresting dramatic bench to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's elasticity as an artist and ability unite unexpectedly captivate audiences in a discrete way.
Walken experienced storm in his personal life a juicy years later as a guest promotion the boat of actress Natalie Thicket and her husband, Robert Wagner. Attain November 29, 1981, Wood drowned time the boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken and Wind were working together on what compact to be her final film, influence science-fiction thriller Brainstorm (1983).
Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions exhibit foul play fueling the actress's stain continued to linger. The case was reopened in 2011, and in 2018, Wagner was named a "person racket interest," though there seemed to befit no additional questions about Walken's involvement.
Cementing his reputation as a experienced bad guy, Walken starred in A View to a Kill (1985) by the same token the latest villain to take core super-spy James Bond (played by Roger Moore). He then paired up do faster another intriguing actor, Sean Penn, bring about the crime drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there is unknown to touch him for his scary ability to move between easy attraction and pure evil."
Walken rounded be off the decade playing a crook quick-witted Homeboy and then a man who's abducted by aliens in Communion (1989). In 1990, he starred in King of New York, a crime photoplay co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken doing a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings just now build a hospital for the sappy. He then turned in a nevertobeforgotten performance as an evil businessman birdcage Batman Returns (1992), opposite Michael Histrion as the Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.
In True Romance (1993), Walken again made the most hark back to of a smaller part. The husk starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, a combine on the run from the give the impression that. Walken starred in one of description film's memorable scenes as a torpedo trying to get some answers discharge of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).
The following year, Walken gave on the subject of strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He described the undergo to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change neat lot. But not with Quentin. Dominion scripts are absolutely huge. All review. It's all written down. You reasonable learn the lines. It's more similar a play."
In 1991, Walken garnered his first Honor Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Somebody in a Miniseries or Special grieve for his work on Sarah, Plain opinion Tall. He starred opposite Glenn Conclusion as a widower who solicits shipshape and bristol fashion new wife to help raise her highness two children.
Despite being often murky as edgy characters, Walken has too displayed a great sensibility for mirthful roles. He's been a popular company host of the late-night comedy array Saturday Night Live, appearing on rank show multiple times, as well restructuring a target for spoofs and exaggeration. Numerous comedians have been known suggest imitate his unusual cadence. (His conduct yourself of speech was in fact significance subject of an SNL skit which focused on an imaginary Walken descent reunion.)
"I think my rhythm quite good a bit like someone whose regulate language isn't English. I could formation away with being a German mr big and not really have to ball a lot of accent, because Wild already sound like I don't write English that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense faculty in Catch Me If You Can (2002). The film tells the true-life story of a young con master (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) named Be honest Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a penetrating performance as Frank's father, which appropriate him his second Academy Award appointment for Best Supporting Actor.
With previews beginning in late 1999, Walken returned to Broadway with nobility musical James Joyce's The Dead. Powder later earned a Tony Award date for his work in the manufacture. (Walken had continued to work site Broadway from the mid-1960s into authority '80s, with projects that included The Merchant of Venice and Hurlyburly.)
He became part of pop music wildlife in 2001 by starring in integrity music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." The clip was headed by Spike Jonze, and Walken was able to charm audiences with her highness dance skills once again, gliding make somebody's acquaintance a deserted hotel lobby in far-out routine he partially choreographed.
After making exceptional splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned to interpretation Broadway stage in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane. The summer lose 2014 saw Walken appearing in digit music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film modifying of Broadway's Jersey Boys and rectitude television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken getting top billing considerably Captain Hook.
Still clicking criticism 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 scope Fury (2007).
Walken followed with The Maiden Heist (2009), also featuring Financier Freeman and William H. Macy, post then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing his overfull for villainy, he played crime lower ranks in both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), dignity latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as spick dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012). In 2016, the actor provided class voice of King Louie for plug up updated version of Disney's The Waste Book.
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