Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken, born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, is an American actor known for his prolific career in film, dance, television, and stage. He has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, among others. Walken's films have been highly successful, grossing over $1.6 billion in the United States alone.


He gained attention for his supporting roles in films like "The Anderson Tapes" (1971), "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" (1976), "Roseland" (1977), and "Annie Hall" (1977). However, it was his portrayal of the troubled Vietnam War veteran Nick Chevotarevich in "The Deer Hunter" (1978) that brought him widespread recognition and earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


Since then, Walken has appeared in a wide range of films spanning various genres. Some of his notable roles include "The Dogs of War" (1980), "The Dead Zone" (1983), "A View to a Kill" (1985), "Batman Returns" (1992), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), "Wedding Crashers" (2005), "Hairspray" (2007), and "Seven Psychopaths" (2012). He has also provided voice work for animated films such as "Antz" (1998) and "The Jungle Book" (2016).


In addition to his film work, Walken has appeared in television films like "Who Am I This Time?" (1982) and "Sarah, Plain and Tall" (1991), earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the latter. He has also starred in television series like "The Outlaws" (2021–) and "Severance" (2022–), receiving critical acclaim and award nominations for his performances.


Walken's stage career is equally impressive. He starred in a 1975 Broadway revival of "Sweet Bird of Youth" alongside Irene Worth and has played lead roles in Shakespearean plays such as "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Coriolanus." His performance in the original production of James Joyce's "The Dead" (2000) earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Martin McDonagh's "A Behanding in Spokane" (2010). Additionally, Walken wrote and starred in the 1995 play "Him," based on his idol Elvis Presley.


Christopher Walken, originally named Ronald Walken, was born on March 31, 1943, in Astoria, Queens, New York City. His mother, Rosalie Russell, was a Scottish immigrant from Glasgow, and his father, Paul Wälken, was a German immigrant from Gelsenkirchen who owned Walken's Bakery in Astoria. Walken was named after the actor Ronald Colman and was raised Methodist. He has two brothers, Kenneth and Glenn, and they were all child actors on television in the 1950s, inspired by their mother's aspirations for stardom.


At the age of 15, Walken was captivated by a magazine photo of Elvis Presley and adopted Presley's hairstyle, which he has maintained ever since. During his teenage years, he even worked as a lion tamer in a circus.
Walken attended Hofstra University but dropped out after one year when he was cast in the role of Clayton Dutch Miller in an off-Broadway revival of "Best Foot Forward," starring alongside Liza Minnelli. Initially trained as a dancer at the Washington Dance Studio, Walken transitioned to dramatic stage roles and eventually entered the world of film.


As a child, Christopher Walken appeared as an extra in numerous anthology series and variety shows during the Golden Age of Television. After a memorable sketch with Martin and Lewis on The Colgate Comedy Hour, Walken decided to pursue acting. He landed a regular role in the 1953 television show Wonderful John Acton, portraying the character Kevin Acton, and during this period, he was credited as Ronnie Walken.


Over the next few years, Walken appeared frequently on television, including a role in the experimental film Me and My Brother, and had a successful career in theater. From 1954 to 1956, Walken and his brother Glenn originated the role of Michael Bauer on the soap opera The Guiding Light. He also appeared in various theater productions, including the Broadway premiere of The Lion in Winter in 1966, where he played King Philip of France. In 1968, he performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet at the Stratford Festival in Canada.


In 1964, Walken changed his first name to Christopher at the suggestion of Monique van Vooren, a nightclub performer with whom he worked as a dancer. She believed the name suited him better than Ronnie, which he had been credited as until then. However, Walken prefers to be known informally as Chris rather than Christopher.


In the 1970s, Walken continued to expand his acting career. He starred in Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky Off-Broadway in 1970 and received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance. Walken made his feature film debut in Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes and played his first starring role in The Mind Snatchers (also known as The Happiness Cage) in 1972. In 1976, he portrayed the charismatic poet Robert Fulmer in Paul Mazursky's Next Stop, Greenwich Village, and appeared in Woody Allen's Annie Hall as Annie's eccentric brother. He also had minor roles in films like The Sentinel (1977) and Shoot the Sun Down (1978).
However, Walken's breakthrough came in 1978 when he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. He portrayed a young Pennsylvania steelworker emotionally devastated by the Vietnam War, and to achieve his character's gaunt appearance, Walken reportedly underwent a rigorous diet of bananas, water, and rice for a week.


In the early 1980s, Christopher Walken continued to diversify his filmography with a range of roles across different genres. He appeared in Michael Cimino's controversial film Heaven's Gate (1980) and starred in John Irvin's action-adventure film The Dogs of War (1981). However, it was his role in Herbert Ross's musical Pennies from Heaven (1981) that surprised many critics and audiences. In the film, Walken showcased his intricate tap-dancing skills in a memorable striptease scene.


In 1982, Walken portrayed a socially awkward but talented theater actor in the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's short story Who Am I This Time?, co-starring Susan Sarandon. He then took on the role of Johnny Smith, a schoolteacher with psychic abilities, in David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone (1983). The same year, Walken starred alongside Natalie Wood in Brainstorm, directed by Douglas Trumbull.


One of Walken's notable roles in the 1980s was as the James Bond villain Max Zorin in A View to a Kill (1985), Roger Moore's final appearance as Bond. Walken underwent a physical transformation for the role, dyeing his hair blond to fit the character's origins as a Nazi experiment.


In 1986, Walken portrayed Brad Whitewood, a rural Pennsylvania crime boss, in At Close Range, a role based on the criminal Bruce Johnston. The film received critical acclaim for Walken's performance and its gritty portrayal of crime.
The following year, Walken appeared in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues (1988) as Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey, directed by Mike Nichols. He also played Federal Agent Kyril Montana in The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) and took on the lead role of Whitley Strieber in Communion (1989), an autobiographical film based on claims of alien visitations.


Additionally, Walken starred in Homeboy (1988), written by and featuring Mickey Rourke, and played the lead role of "Puss" in a musical version of Puss in Boots (1989) produced by the Cannon theater group. These diverse roles showcased Walken's versatility as an actor and his willingness to take on challenging and unconventional characters.

References

1.  Nash, Bruce. "Christopher Walken Box Office Data". The-Numbers.com. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
2. ^ 07.39 EDT. "Cinema's unforgettable character actors | Film". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
3. ^ Michael Feingold. "Him by Christopher Walken". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
4. ^ "Christopher Walken Filmography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
5. ^ Salon.Com Archived January 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine "Both of his parents were immigrants – his father, Paul, from Germany; and his mother, Rosalie, from Glasgow, Scotland."
6. ^ "The Master of Menace". Cbsnews.com. December 4, 2002. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
7. ^ Bernard Weinraub (June 24, 1992). "AT LUNCH WITH – Christopher Walken – A New York Actor Takes Stardom With a Grain of Salt – Biography –". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.