Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born March 31, 1943) is a U.S. stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New York, Batman Returns, True Romance, Catch Me If You Can, Wayne’s World 2, Pulp Fiction, Envy, Wedding Crashers, Click and Hairspray as well as music videos by recording artists such as Madonna, Journey and Fatboy Slim.
Walken’s films have grossed more than $1.8 billion in the United States. He has also played the main role in the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Coriolanus. He has several times guest-hosted Saturday Night Live, his most notable role being Bruce Dickinson in the “More Cowbell” sketch.
Walken debuted as a film director and script writer with the short (five-minute) film “Popcorn Shrimp” in 2001. He also wrote and acted the main role in a play about Elvis Presley titled Him in 1995.
Trivia:
Jerry Lewis influenced Walken to make show business his career. At age 10, he met Lewis on “The Colgate Comedy Hour” (1950), where Lewis and Dean Martin were guest hosts. Walken was an extra on the show and was in a skit with Lewis.
Walken initially intended to study dancing instead of acting, but dropped out of Hofstra University after one year when he landed an off-Broadway musical “Best Foot Forward” in 1963.
Ranked #96 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. [October 1997]
Brother of Glenn Walken and Ken Walken.
Was George Lucas’ second choice for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977).
Worked briefly as a lion tamer in a circus at age 15.
Attended the Professional Children’s School.
Has a phobia of going too fast in cars.
Was assaulted in a street in New York in 1980 when he asked two men to turn down their music. His nose was broken in the incident.
Was robbed at the airport in Venice and his The Prophecy II (1998) (V) script, glasses, keys, drivers licence, and $100 were stolen. All items were later found, except for the money.
Was on Natalie Wood’s yacht the night she drowned.
Only Oscar-winning actor to portray a primary 007 villain, in A View to a Kill (1985).
He and Nick Nolte were both considered for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977).
Manages to insert a little dance number into nearly all of his roles, no matter how small, scripted or not.
Won an MTV Video Music Award for choreographing his own moves in Fatboy Slim’s 2001 music video “Weapon Of Choice.”
Member of “Saturday Night Live” (1975)’s prestigious “Five Timers Club”.
At the beginning of The Dead Zone (1983) he tells his class to read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Sixteen years later he plays The Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (1999).
Met wife, casting agent Georgianne Walken (née Thon), while touring with “West Side Story”.
Has an intense dislike of handguns.
Along with Alec Baldwin, he has a standing invitation to host “Saturday Night Live” (1975) every year (if scheduling permits).
When hosting “Saturday Night Live” (1975), he likes to sing during his monologues (which has become a crowd pleasing favorite). So naturally, when co-hosting SNL specials, his introduction song “I’m Walkin, Im ‘Talkin” (for the rhyme of his last name) is played.
Is only the second person in history to be nominated for both Best Supporting Actor from the Oscars, for Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Worst Supporting Actor from the Razzies, for The Country Bears (2002) in the same year. The first was James Coco, who was actually nominated for both awards for the same role in Only When I Laugh (1981).
Danced with Judy Garland at Liza Minnelli’s 16th birthday party.
The son of a baker.
In his 35 years in film, he has acted in well over 90 films. He rarely turns down a part, under the belief that making movies (whether they turn out good or bad) is always a rewarding experience.
Adopted the name “Christopher” when a friend told him the name suited him better than “Ronnie”. Has since stated that his adopted name sounds “like a sneeze”, and he prefers to be called “Chris”.
At the time of filming The Rundown (2003), he had never seen the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), and was therefore reluctant to use the phrase “Oompah Loompah” in his final scene. When learning of this, director Peter Berg gave him a copy of the film, and he finally decided to use the phrase.
Has played 3 different characters with the name Max in Kiss Toledo Goodbye (1999), Batman Returns (1992) and A View to a Kill (1985).
Has different-colored eyes (one blue and one hazel). This is a condition known as heterochromia.
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame [October 8, 2004].
One of the few hosts of “Saturday Night Live” (1975) who has hosted enough times to have his own recurring skit (“The Continental”).
Loves horror films featuring zombies.
Was nominated for Broadway’s 2000 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for “James Joyce’s The Dead.”
In order to achieve the gaunt, withdrawn and hollow look of his character in The Deer Hunter (1978), it’s reported that he ate a diet consisting of only rice and bananas in preparation for this film.
Alternated with his brother Glenn Walken in the role of Mike Bauer on the soap opera “The Guiding Light” (1952) (1954-1956).
Ranked #1 on Tropopkin’s Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]
Said in an interview (July 2005) with the German magazine “Der Spiegel” that his father was a German baker from Essen, Germany.
His mother was Scottish-American.
He said in an interview that he has never turned down a role.
Was considered for the role of Number Two in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997).
Was considered for the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
Had read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” for an audio book.
His performance as Nick Chevotarevich in The Deer Hunter (1978) is ranked #88 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Lost out to Ryan O’Neal for the romantic lead in Love Story (1970).
Received the Shakespeare Theater’s Will Award in 1994 for his contributions to classical theater.
In the early 1960s he earned a job as one of three men dancing and singing with Andy Warhol favorite Monique van Vooren in her sultry nightclub act.
Was considered for the part of Andy in Dead of Night (1974).
Doesn’t use a computer or own a cell phone.
Was the first to play King Philip of France on stage for “The Lion in Winter” in 1966, at the Ambassador Theatre, New York City.
He lives in his house in the country, while his wife lives in their New York apartment. Walken says the only people he sees when he is not working are the garbage men.
Is a very skilled chef.
Was named after actor Ronald Colman.
His wife, Georgianne Walken, and his brothers, Ken Walken & Glenn Walken, still call him “Ronnie”.
Has said that a 200-film career is not out of the question.
Received Harvard’s “Hasty Pudding Man of the Year” award on February 15, 2008.
Has never learned to swim.
A frequent host of “Saturday Night Live” (1975), he has also been parodied on the show by Jay Mohr. The youngest ever regular cast member was Anthony Michael Hall, who succeeded him in the television series based on The Dead Zone (1983), and who, like Walken, has appeared in the Batman film series.
He was nominated for a 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for his performance in “Sweet Bird of Youth,” at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
He appeared on “Saturday Night Live” (1975) doing a Christmas medley called “Walken In A Winter Wonderland” which he dedicated to his mother who hated that he played so many villains.
When he did the Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter (1978), he was remembering being sent to summer camp by his parents, which he hated. He felt betrayed, ostracized, alone – which he felt the character was experiencing at that point in the film.
He has been a huge fan of Elvis Presley since his mid-teens.
Quit smoking cigarettes in his late thirties.
Rosie O’Donell said he was one of the scariest people alive. Later, he appeared on her show and gave her a box of chocolates, flowers and they sang ‘Getting to Know You.’.
His appearance in the video for Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” (directed by Spike Jonze) is credited with bringing a new generation of fans to his talents. Not only did he dance in the video, he did his own choreography.
Both of his parents were immigrants – his mother, Rosalie, from Scotland, and his father, Paul, from Germany – making him a first-generation American.
Was cast in the role of Eric Qualen in “Cliffhanger” but left before filming began. The part went to John Lithgow.
Lives in Wilton, Connecticut.
