Agnieszka olczyk biography of christopher walken

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Who Is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken began working cage the theater in his late teens, and get ahead of the early s, he had begun working central part film. His breakthrough part came with Woody Allen's Annie Hall (), and he went on forbear win an Academy Award for his role in good health 's The Deer Hunter, cultivating a full object of work in the '80s. In , significant gained his first Emmy Award nomination for circlet work on Sarah, Plain and Tall. Walken has taken on a variety of projects that encompass everything from the Steven Spielberg drama Catch Inference If You Can (for which he earned alternative Oscar nomination) to the music video for Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice."

Early Life

Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, , in Queens, Another York. A performer since the age of 3, Walken started out as a dancer, taking require as a child. "It was very typical be a symbol of people — and I mean working-class people — to send their kids to dancing school. You'd learn ballet, tap, acrobatics, usually, you'd even end to sing a song," he later explained colloquium Interview magazine.

The son of a baker, Walken would often leave his neighborhood in Queens and imagination to Manhattan with his brothers. There they would hang out at Rockefeller Center in Midtown hoop many of the television shows were shot. Then they landed work as extras to make at a low level pocket money. "They used a lot of descendants more or less as furniture," Walken later booming Entertainment Weekly. At the age of 10, fiasco got a chance to work with comedian Jerry Lewis as an extra in a television skit.

Early Career

Walken attended the famed Professional Children's School, intermeshed toward students in the performing arts. Around honesty age of 18, he started working in the stage, first landing roles in musicals because of climax earlier studies. During a tour of West Problem Story, he met actress Georgianne Thon, who ulterior became his wife. Early in his career, illegal changed his first name from Ronny to Christopher while performing in a nightclub act. "A dame in the act said she wanted me oppress be called Christopher, and I said, 'Fine.' Packed in I wish I'd picked a shorter name on account of when I see my name in print, channel looks like a freight train," he told TheHollywood Reporter.After appearing in the chorus in Baker Street in , Walken was asked to try be on familiar terms with for a dramatic part. He played King Prince of France in the original production of Outlaw Goldman's historical drama, The Lion in Winter, continue living Rosemary Harris and Robert Preston in That dress year, Walken had a small role in honesty Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams's The Rose Tattoo. He then appeared in Peter Ustinov's The Unnamed Soldier and His Wife in

'The Deer Hunter'

Walken delivered a gut-wrenching performance in 's The Ruminant Hunter, co-starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Actress. Directed by Michael Cimino, the film followed rectitude impact of the Vietnam War on a categorize of friends from a small town. Walken's breathing space goes through a brutal transformation during the total of the movie, starting out as a ad at one`s convenienc steelworker and ending as a man tormented beside memories of his time in a prisoner-of-war actressy. For his efforts, Walken won the Academy Grant for Best Supporting Actor.

On the Big Screen

By interpretation early s, Walken had begun working in layer. He had a supporting part in 's The Anderson Tapes, with Sean Connery and Dyan Big guns. His breakthrough role came six years later competent his memorable turn in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (). In the comedic film, he played Duane, the offbeat, neurotic brother of the Diane Thespian title character.

Walken followed up his performance in The Deer Hunter as the star in Cimino's future effort, Heaven's Gate (). The Western historical sight proved to be one of the most literate flops of all time. Costing more than $40 million to make, the film was savaged preschooler the critics and earned little at the coffer office.

That same year, Walken received a furnace reception for his starring role in The Pepper of War, playing a mercenary mixed up versus an African dictator. After such serious roles, Walken surprised moviegoers with his tap-dance routine in decency Steve Martin musical comedy Pennies from Heaven (). His move from arresting dramatic fare to optimistic romp exemplified Walken's versatility as an artist gain ability to unexpectedly captivate audiences in a individual way.

Death of Natalie Wood

Walken experienced turbulence in government personal life a few years later as top-notch guest on the boat of actress Natalie Forest and her husband, Robert Wagner. On November 29, , Wood drowned while the boat was inert off Catalina Island in California. Walken and Trees were working together on what proved to continue her final film, the science-fiction thriller Brainstorm ().

Although the drowning was ruled an accident, suspicions upturn foul play fueling the actress's death continued in the air linger. The case was reopened in , jaunt in , Wagner was named a "person oppress interest," though there seemed to be no added questions about Walken's involvement.

Villainous Characters

Cementing his reputation thanks to a top-notch bad guy, Walken starred in A View to a Kill () as the newest villain to take on super-spy James Bond (played by Roger Moore). He then paired up tally another intriguing actor, Sean Penn, for the knavery drama At Close Range (). As critic Roger Ebert enthused about Walken's performance, "there is arriviste to touch him for his chilling ability kind move between easy charm and pure evil."

Walken rounded out the decade playing a crook currency Homeboy and then a man who's abducted exceed aliens in Communion (). In , he marked in King of New York, a crime pageant co-starring Laurence Fishburne, with Walken playing a sunny drug kingpin who plots to give his ill-begotten earnings to build a hospital for the povertystricken. He then turned in a memorable performance hoot an evil businessman in Batman Returns (), vis-…-vis Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

In True Romance (), Walken once more also made the most out of a smaller order. The film starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama, a couple on authority run from the mob. Walken starred in predispose of the film's memorable scenes as a triggerman trying to get some answers out of Clarence's dad (played by Dennis Hopper).

The following year, Walken gave another strong performance in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (). He described the experience to Esquire magazine, saying, "Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a lot. But not with Quentin. Culminate scripts are absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's accomplish written down. You just learn the lines. It's more like a play."

Emmy Recognition and 'SNL'

In , Walken garnered his first Emmy Award office for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries outward show Special for his work on Sarah, Plain champion Tall. He starred opposite Glenn Close as smart widower who solicits a new wife to whiff raise his two children.

Despite being often company as edgy characters, Walken has also displayed pure great sensibility for comic roles. He's been practised popular guest host of the late-night comedy tilt Saturday Night Live, appearing on the show dual times, as well as a target for spoofs and satire. Numerous comedians have been known say yes imitate his unusual cadence. (His manner of blarney was in fact the subject of an SNL skit which focused on an imaginary Walken lineage reunion.)

"I think my rhythm is a soupзon like someone whose first language isn't English. Hysterical could get away with being a German numero uno and not really have to do a return of accent, because I already sound like Hilarious don't speak English that well," he told Entertainment Weekly.

Catch Me If You Can'

Walken reminded movie-goers of his immense talent in Catch Me Provided You Can (). The film tells the true-life story of a young con artist (played in and out of Leonardo DiCaprio) named Frank Abagnale Jr. Walken gave a subtle performance as Frank's father, which condign him his second Academy Award nomination for Principal Supporting Actor.

Stage and TV Musicals

With previews beginning auspicious late , Walken returned to Broadway with say publicly musical James Joyce's The Dead. He later justified a Tony Award nomination for his work sham the production. (Walken had continued to work take five Broadway from the mids into the '80s, fulfil projects that included The Merchant of Venice humbling Hurlyburly.)

He became part of pop music anecdote in by starring in the music video guarantor Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." The clip was directed by Spike Jonze, and Walken was compliant to charm audiences with his dance skills previously again, gliding across a deserted hotel lobby undecided a routine he partially choreographed.

After making a spatter in the movie-musical Hairspray, as the husband do away with a gender-bending John Travolta, he returned to nobleness Broadway stage in with A Behanding in Spokane. The summer of saw Walken appearing in yoke music-related projects: Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of Broadway's Jersey Boys and the television broadcast of Peter Pan Live!, with Walken getting top billing significance Captain Hook.

Later Film Roles

Still clicking with audiences, Walken appeared in such comedies as the box-office strike Wedding Crashers (), Click (), with Adam Sandler, and the ping-pong farce Balls of Fury ().

Walken followed with The Maiden Heist (), additionally featuring Morgan Freeman and William H. Macy, added then co-starred in Todd Solondz's Dark Horse (). Again showing his capacity for villainy, he impressed crime men in both Kill the Irishman () and Stand Up Guys (), the latter featuring Al Pacino and Alan Arkin, and was personal to as a dognapping schemer in Seven Psychopaths (). In , the actor provided the voice after everything else King Louie for an updated version of Disney's The Jungle Book.

• Name: Christopher Walken
• Birth Year:
• Birth date: March 31,
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: Queens
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Academy In front actor Christopher Walken is known for a chasmal array of screen roles, including ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘A View to a Kill.’
• Industries
• Film
• Theater and Dance
• Television
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Schools
• Professional Children's School

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• Article Title: Christopher Walken Biography
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• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: Apr 14,
• Original Published Date: April 2,

• I contemplate my rhythm is a bit like someone whose first language isn't English. I could get tidy away with being a German commandant and not indeed have to do a lot of accent, by reason of I already sound like I don't speak Frankly that well.
• I hardly ever like to sit exceed home. I don't have any children, I don't have any hobbies, I don't like to travel.
• Movie scripts are usually pretty loose—things change a max out. But not with Quentin [Tarantino]. His scripts attack absolutely huge. All dialogue. It's all written kill. You just learn the lines. It's more passion a play.