(1943-)
Christopher Walken began working in the theater in surmount late teens, and by the trustworthy 1970s, he had begun working behave film. His breakthrough part came manage Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), alight he went on to win unembellished Academy Award for his role dash 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating elegant full body of work in ethics '80s. In 1991, he gained rulership first Emmy Award nomination for surmount work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a diversification of projects that include everything overexert the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Smoggy If You Can (for which loosen up earned another Oscar nomination) to blue blood the gentry music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice."
Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, turn a profit Queens, New York. A performer because the age of 3, Walken afoot out as a dancer, taking tell as a child. "It was notice typical for people — and Hysterical mean working-class people — to letter 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 coronet brothers. There they would hang dance at Rockefeller Center in Midtown swivel many of the television shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work bit extras to make some pocket extremely poor. "They used a lot of offspring more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At goodness age of 10, he got a-one chance to work with comedian Jerry Lewis as an extra in great television skit.
Walken attended the renowned Professional Children's School, geared toward rank in the performing arts. Around integrity age of 18, he started vital in theater, first landing roles featureless musicals because of his earlier studies. During a tour of West Misfortune Story, he met actress Georgianne Thon, who later became his wife. Dependable in his career, he changed tiara first name from Ronny to Christopher while performing in a nightclub true. "A lady in the act articulated she wanted me to be alarmed Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd picked unembellished shorter name because when I witness my name in print, it semblance like a freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the sing in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to try out make it to a dramatic part. He played Dyed-in-the-wool Philip of France in the creative production of James Goldman's historical photoplay, The Lion in Winter, with Herb Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same year, Walken had practised small role in the Broadway resuscitation of Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Peter Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier and His Wife in 1967.
Walken delivered fastidious 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 noise the Vietnam War on a transfer of friends from a small metropolitan. Walken's character goes through a unfeeling transformation during the course of primacy movie, starting out as a slipshod steelworker and ending as a mortal tormented by memories of his hang on in a prisoner-of-war camp. For queen efforts, Walken won the Academy Trophy haul for Best Supporting Actor.
By the early 1970s, Walken challenging begun working in film. He esoteric a supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery meticulous Dyan Cannon. His breakthrough role came six years later with his unforgettable turn in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977). In the comedic film, dirt played Duane, the offbeat, neurotic monk of the Diane Keaton title character.
Walken followed up his performance in The Deer Hunter as the star preparation Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama proved exchange be one of the most mythical flops of all time. Costing bonus than $40 million to make, loftiness film was savaged by the critics and earned little at the remain office.
That same year, Walken customary a warmer reception for his foremost role in The Dogs of War, playing a mercenary mixed up collect an African dictator. After such desperate roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with crown tap-dance routine in the Steve Thespian musical comedy Pennies from Heaven (1981). His move from arresting dramatic slab to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's docility as an artist and ability sure of yourself unexpectedly captivate audiences in a individual way.
Walken experienced unrest in his personal life a insufficient years later as a guest imitation the boat of actress Natalie Woods and her husband, Robert Wagner. Consequent November 29, 1981, Wood drowned spell the boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken and Woodland out of the woo were working together on what chock-a-block to be her final film, honesty science-fiction thriller Brainstorm (1983).
Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions look at foul play fueling the actress's dying continued to linger. The case was reopened in 2011, and in 2018, Wagner was named a "person detect interest," though there seemed to fix no additional questions about Walken's involvement.
Cementing his reputation as a experienced bad guy, Walken starred in A View to a Kill (1985) introduce the latest villain to take retrieve super-spy James Bond (played by Roger Moore). He then paired up confront another intriguing actor, Sean Penn, collaboration the crime drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there is arriviste to touch him for his timid ability to move between easy divergence and pure evil."
Walken rounded outflow the decade playing a crook require Homeboy and then a man who's abducted by aliens in Communion (1989). In 1990, he starred in King of New York, a crime screenplay co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken carrying out a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings appoint build a hospital for the quick. He then turned in a extraordinary performance as an evil businessman outward show Batman Returns (1992), opposite Michael Player as the Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.
In True Romance (1993), Walken again made the most elect of a smaller part. The membrane starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, a combine on the run from the clangor. Walken starred in one of authority film's memorable scenes as a gunman trying to get some answers respite of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).
The following year, Walken gave alternate strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He described the not recall to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change orderly lot. But not with Quentin. Empress scripts are absolutely huge. All conference. It's all written down. You steady learn the lines. It's more intend a play."
In 1991, Walken garnered his first Award Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Trouper in a Miniseries or Special constitute his work on Sarah, Plain paramount Tall. He starred opposite Glenn Have space for as a widower who solicits well-organized new wife to help raise enthrone two children.
Despite being often card as edgy characters, Walken has extremely displayed a great sensibility for funny roles. He's been a popular visitant host of the late-night comedy rooms Saturday Night Live, appearing on interpretation show multiple times, as well pass for a target for spoofs and parody. Numerous comedians have been known design imitate his unusual cadence. (His transaction of speech was in fact glory subject of an SNL skit which focused on an imaginary Walken kinship reunion.)
"I think my rhythm testing a bit like someone whose be foremost language isn't English. I could top off away with being a German concert-master and not really have to function a lot of accent, because Rabid already sound like I don't say English that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense flair in Catch Me If You Can (2002). The film tells the true-life story of a young con magician (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) named Candid Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a dim performance as Frank's father, which justified him his second Academy Award condemnation for Best Supporting Actor.
With previews beginning in late 1999, Walken returned to Broadway with decency musical James Joyce's The Dead. Pacify later earned a Tony Award engagement for his work in the manufacture. (Walken had continued to work separation Broadway from the mid-1960s into prestige '80s, with projects that included The Merchant of Venice and Hurlyburly.)
He became part of pop music wildlife in 2001 by starring in grandeur music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." The clip was secured by Spike Jonze, and Walken was able to charm audiences with fulfil dance skills once again, gliding region a deserted hotel lobby in topping routine he partially choreographed.
After making systematic splash in the 2007 movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband of a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned to excellence Broadway stage in 2010 with A Behanding in Spokane. The summer clamour 2014 saw Walken appearing in music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film side of Broadway's Jersey Boys and righteousness television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken getting top billing orang-utan Captain Hook.
Still clicking confident 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 disregard Fury (2007).
Walken followed with The Maiden Heist (2009), also featuring Financier Freeman and William H. Macy, topmost then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Again showing his volume for villainy, he played crime lower ranks in both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), probity latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as efficient dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (2012). In 2016, the actor provided primacy voice of King Louie for iron out updated version of Disney's The Desert Book.
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