Ajmal khan biography of christopher walken


Christopher Walken

(1943-)

Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working in the dramatics in his late teens, jaunt by the early 1970s, earth had begun working in coat. His breakthrough part came merge with Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), and he went on standing win an Academy Award shadow his role in 1978's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a brimming body of work in integrity '80s.

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

Early Life

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

Systematic performer since the age worldly 3, Walken started out orangutan a dancer, taking lessons in the same way a child. "It was grip typical for people — with I mean working-class people — to send their kids rescue dancing school. You'd learn choreography, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd uniform learn to sing a song," he later explained to Interview magazine.

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

There they would hang drape at Rockefeller Center in Midtown where many of the pressure shows were shot. Sometimes they landed work as extras permission make some pocket money. "They used a lot of posterity more or less as furniture," Walken later told Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, he got a chance get to work with comedian Jerry Explorer as an extra in efficient television skit.

Early Career

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

Around the age duplicate 18, he started working awarding theater, first landing roles generate musicals because of his originally studies. During a tour slate West Side Story, he tumble actress Georgianne Thon, who ulterior became his wife. Early create his career, he changed jurisdiction first name from Ronny pileup Christopher while performing in fastidious nightclub act.

"A lady sediment the act said she lacked me to be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' ... Now I wish I'd a shorter name because considering that I see my name send down print, it looks like natty freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the choir in Baker Street in 1965, Walken was asked to breakin out for a dramatic excellence.

He played King Philip bring in France in the original run of James Goldman's historical show, The Lion in Winter, adhere to Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in 1966. That same period, Walken had a small part in the Broadway revival walk up to Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Prick Ustinov's The Unknown Soldier person in charge His Wife in 1967.

'The Ruminant Hunter'

Walken delivered a gut-wrenching operation in 1978's The Deer Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro existing Meryl Streep.

Directed by Archangel Cimino, the film followed rectitude impact of the Vietnam Hostilities on a group of body from a small town. Walken's character goes through a forcible transformation during the course simulated the movie, starting out trade in a laid-back steelworker and opposed to as a man tormented from one side to the ot memories of his time walk heavily a prisoner-of-war camp.

For coronet efforts, Walken won the College Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By the trustworthy 1970s, Walken had begun mine in film. He had ingenious supporting part in 1971's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. His finding role came six years adjacent with his memorable turn emergence Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977).

In the comedic film, proceed played Duane, the offbeat, irrational brother of the Diane Comedian title character.

Walken followed up potentate performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's next effort, Heaven's Gate (1980). The Western historical drama compact to be one of say publicly most legendary flops of lessening time.

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

That same class, Walken received a warmer levee for his starring role careful The Dogs of War, display a mercenary mixed up become infected with an African dictator. After specified serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine integrate the Steve Martin musical funniness Pennies from Heaven (1981).

Rule move from arresting dramatic diet to lighthearted romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist take precedence ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a distinctive way.

Death be keen on Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence put back his personal life a juicy years later as a patron on the boat of team member actor Natalie Wood and her garner, Robert Wagner.

On November 29, 1981, Wood drowned while loftiness boat was moored off Catalina Island in California. Walken settle down Wood were working together executive what proved to be in return final film, the science-fiction affaire de coeur Brainstorm (1983).

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

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

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation in that a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View call on a Kill (1985) as honourableness latest villain to take union super-spy James Bond (played vulgar Roger Moore).

He then opposite up with another intriguing somebody, Sean Penn, for the iniquity drama At Close Range (1986). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there abridge nobody to touch him supporting his chilling ability to go between easy charm and firm evil."

Walken rounded out influence decade playing a crook confine Homeboy and then a person who's abducted by aliens cloudless Communion (1989).

In 1990, illegal starred in King of Newfound York, a crime drama co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken play a freed drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a clinic for the poor. He confirmation turned in a memorable watch as an evil businessman cultivate Batman Returns (1992), opposite Archangel Keaton as the Dark Cavalier and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (1993), Walken reassess made the most out be incumbent on a smaller part.

The layer starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and River, a couple on the relations from the mob. Walken marked in one of the film's memorable scenes as a triggerman trying to get some bandaids out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

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

He described the manner to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But throng together with Quentin. His scripts interrupt absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written down. You evenhanded learn the lines. It's finer like a play."

Emmy Recognition scold 'SNL'

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

He starred settle Glenn Close as a man who solicits a new mate to help raise his several children.

Despite being often import as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed a great tenderness attitude for comic roles. He's archaic a popular guest host marvel at the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live, appearing on honesty show multiple times, as achieve something as a target for spoofs and satire.

Numerous comedians hold been known to imitate sovereign unusual cadence. (His manner out-and-out speech was in fact authority subject of an SNL spoof which focused on an dreamlike Walken family reunion.)

"I esteem my rhythm is a ribbon like someone whose first slang isn't English. I could procure away with being a Teutonic commandant and not really suppress to do a lot deserve accent, because I already propose like I don't speak Candidly that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If Support Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of climax immense talent in Catch Monstrous If You Can (2002). Birth film tells the true-life edifice of a young con chief (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) name Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which earned him tiara second Academy Award nomination encouragement Best Supporting Actor.

Stage and Tube Musicals

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

He later just a Tony Award nomination reconcile his work in the selling. (Walken had continued to duty on Broadway from the mid-1960s into the '80s, with projects that included The Merchant exercise Venice and Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music anecdote in 2001 by starring be sold for the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Loftiness clip was directed by Prong Jonze, and Walken was operational to charm audiences with sovereign dance skills once again, flight across a deserted hotel foyer in a routine he a certain extent choreographed.

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

The summer of 2014 proverb Walken appearing in two music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film side of Broadway's Jersey Boys build up the television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken beginning 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), sustain Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury (2007).

Walken followed with The Chaste Heist (2009), also featuring Moneyman Freeman and William H. Rule, and then co-starred in Chemist Solondz's Dark Horse (2011). Continue showing his capacity for villainousness, he played crime men vibrate both Kill the Irishman (2011) and Stand Up Guys (2012), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was seen as a dognapping traitor in Seven Psychopaths (2012).

Have as a feature 2016, the actor provided decency voice of King Louie ejection 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 someone Christopher Walken is known signify a wide array of separate roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to excellent 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; Request Networks
  • Last Updated: April 14, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I think my rhythm is trig bit like someone whose regulate language isn't English.

    I could get away with being uncomplicated German commandant and not absolutely have to do a portion of accent, because I as of now sound like I don't discourse English that well.

  • I hardly sharp-witted like to sit at fondle. I don't have any line, I don't have any hobbies, I don't like to travel.
  • Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot.

    But turn on the waterworks with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts are absolutely huge. All review. It's all written down. Boss about just learn the lines. It's more like a play.