Christopher Walken

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Birthday:

31 March 1943, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name:

Ronald Walken

Height:

183 cm

Nervous-looking lead and supporting actor of the American stage and films, with sandy colored hair, pale complexion and a somewhat nervous disposition. He won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Deer Hunter (1978), and has been seen in mostly supporting roles, often portraying psychologically unstable characters, though that generalization would not do justice to Walken's depth and breadth of performances.Walken was born in Astoria, Queens, to Rosalie (Russell), a Scottish immigrant, and Paul Walken, a German immigrant who ran Walken's Bakery. He learnt his stage craft, including dancing, at Hofstra University & ANTA, and picked up a Theatre World award for his performance in the revival of the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo". Walken then first broke through into cinema in 1969 appearing in Me and My Brother (1969), before appearing alongside Sean Connery in the sleeper heist movie The Anderson Tapes (1971). His eclectic work really came to the attention of critics in 1977 with his intense portrayal of Diane Keaton suicidal younger brother in Annie Hall (1977), and then he scooped the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 1977 for his role as Nick in the electrifying The Deer Hunter (1978). Walken was lured back by The Deer Hunter (1978) director Michael Cimino for a role in the financially disastrous western Heaven's Gate (1980), before moving onto surprise audiences with his wonderful dance skills in Pennies from Heaven (1981), taking the lead as a school teacher with telepathic abilities in the Stephen King inspired The Dead Zone (1983) and then as billionaire industrialist Max Zorin trying to blow up Silicon Valley in the 007 adventure A View to a Kill (1985). Looking at many of Walken's other captivating screen roles, it is easy to see the diversity of his range and even his droll comedic talents with humorous appearances in Biloxi Blues (1988), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Joe Dirt (2001), Mousehunt (1997) and America's Sweethearts (2001). Most recently, he continued to surprise audiences again with his work as a heart broken and apologetic father to Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can (2002). Show less «

I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that on my own.

I make movies that nobody will see. I've made movies that even I have never seen.

Is typecasting really a problem?

My hair was famous before I was.

If you want to learn how to build a house, build a house. Don't ask anybody, just build a house.

I can't imagine being somebody else. And anything I play, my reference is completely from the planet Showbusiness. I don't know anything abo...Show more »

I can't imagine being somebody else. And anything I play, my reference is completely from the planet Showbusiness. I don't know anything about anybody else, people that I've known all my life - my family, my brothers - I don't know... I only know about me. Show less «

Emotional power is maybe the most valuable thing that an actor can have.

At its best, life is completely unpredictable.

I think that a good movie creates its own world, and that world needn't refer to anything that's real. If it's consistent, if it's entertain...Show more »

I think that a good movie creates its own world, and that world needn't refer to anything that's real. If it's consistent, if it's entertaining, if it's interesting, it justifies its being there. Show less «

I always think that in movies or on stage, two people can be talking to each other - the audience doesn't necessarily have to know what they...Show more »

I always think that in movies or on stage, two people can be talking to each other - the audience doesn't necessarily have to know what they're talking about, just so long as they know that *you* know what you're talking about. Show less «

I used to be prettier than I am, but I think I look better now. I was a pretty boy. Particularly in my early movies. I don't like looking at...Show more »

I used to be prettier than I am, but I think I look better now. I was a pretty boy. Particularly in my early movies. I don't like looking at them so much. There's a sort of pretty thing about me. Show less «

Bear costumes are funny... Bears as well.

I've enjoyed making movies for lots of different reasons. Sometimes, it was the other people. Sometimes, it was the fact that I was really g...Show more »

I've enjoyed making movies for lots of different reasons. Sometimes, it was the other people. Sometimes, it was the fact that I was really good in it. Sometimes, it was the location. Sometimes, it was the paycheck. Sometimes, it can be lots of different things, or a lot of those things. Or there can be reasons why you'd like to avoid it the next time. Like the jungle. I've made a couple of movies in the jungle, and I don't want to go back to the jungle. Show less «

Back home, I do the same things every day. Exactly the same. I eat at the same time, I get up at the same time, I do the same things in the ...Show more »

Back home, I do the same things every day. Exactly the same. I eat at the same time, I get up at the same time, I do the same things in the same order. I read. I have coffee. Then I study my scripts, I exercise on the treadmill, I make myself a little something to eat. I am a great believer in the Mediterranean diet. Show less «

Careers are not often as chosen as people think they are. People talk to me about my choices. I don't make choices, hardly. Things happen, a...Show more »

Careers are not often as chosen as people think they are. People talk to me about my choices. I don't make choices, hardly. Things happen, and you say yes or no - usually 'yes', because it's always better to do something. What's the choice? Somebody will say, 'Don't do that part, you don't need to do that part.' And I'll say, 'Why not? What am I going to do? Sit around the house? I'd much rather go to work, and see actors, and have fun. Show less «

I believe in saving money. I believe in having a house. I believe in keeping things clean. I believe in exercising. Slow and steady is a ver...Show more »

I believe in saving money. I believe in having a house. I believe in keeping things clean. I believe in exercising. Slow and steady is a very good thing for me. It works for me. Show less «

[on how he selects his acting roles] I don't choose that much. I just sort of take what's there. I don't have much else to do. I don't have ...Show more »

[on how he selects his acting roles] I don't choose that much. I just sort of take what's there. I don't have much else to do. I don't have a lot of hobbies. I don't play golf. I don't have any children. Things that occupy people's time. I just try to take jobs. I basically work so much because I'm lazy. Show less «

[on guns] I don't even like holding them. Whenever I hold a gun, I want to get it out of my hand as quick as possible.

I don't particularly like to do anything dangerous. And here I was in Bangkok [filming The Deer Hunter (1978)]. I was in the jungle and in t...Show more »

I don't particularly like to do anything dangerous. And here I was in Bangkok [filming The Deer Hunter (1978)]. I was in the jungle and in the mountains. Being an actor has taken me places that I never would have gone to . . . It's been a very interesting life. Show less «

I eat the same things all the time: fish, hardly ever meat. Chicken, vegetables. I'm fond of steamed sea bass over leeks. I don't drink hard...Show more »

I eat the same things all the time: fish, hardly ever meat. Chicken, vegetables. I'm fond of steamed sea bass over leeks. I don't drink hard liquor. I like wine. Show less «

[on his routine] I get up early, at six or seven, and have coffee. I usually read in the morning. And then, if I have a script, I do that fo...Show more »

[on his routine] I get up early, at six or seven, and have coffee. I usually read in the morning. And then, if I have a script, I do that for a while. Then I exercise at a certain time. About noon. I like to cook, so usually, I'll be making something. And I have my script. My favorite thing is to have two scripts. It's great to study two things at the same time. Show less «

I have been in movies that I thought I wasn't very good in. I think, "Chris, don't let your mouth hang open like that next time. Look at tha...Show more »

I have been in movies that I thought I wasn't very good in. I think, "Chris, don't let your mouth hang open like that next time. Look at that facial tic. Don't walk in such a self-conscious way!" But sometimes, I watch myself and I think that I am terrific--and that is really nice. Show less «

I have this theory about words. There's a thousand ways to say "Pass the salt". It could mean, you know, "Can I have some salt?" or it could...Show more »

I have this theory about words. There's a thousand ways to say "Pass the salt". It could mean, you know, "Can I have some salt?" or it could mean, "I love you.". It could mean, "I'm very annoyed with you". Really, the list could go on and on. Words are little bombs, and they have a lot of energy inside them. Show less «

Create a list » User Lists Related lists from IMDb users Most Evil Looking Actors a list of 35 people created 21 Apr 20...Show more »

Create a list » User Lists Related lists from IMDb users Most Evil Looking Actors a list of 35 people created 21 Apr 2011 30 AWESOME ACTORS a list of 30 people created 10 Aug 2011 my favourite actors a list of 40 people created 14 May 2014 Greatest Actors Of All Time a list of 21 people created 10 Dec 2015 The Best of Troilus and Cressida a list of 30 people created 26 Dec 2015 See all related lists » Show less «